Women's Declining Employment with Access to Higher Education: Issues and Challenges

Overview & Synopsis

Access to higher education opened up avenues for more women workforce in decent employment contributing to the national economy. Government policies/schemes played a significant role in improving this significant indicator of women empowerment. This access also had an impact on their enrolment and choice of subjects but was accompanied by several challenges. More women in higher education were not accompanied by increase in employment for women, and have remained vastly inadequate. This is evident from the declining workforce participation rate for women in the country. This article attempts to analyze this disconnect or mismatch between higher education and employment for women despite phenomenal improvements in their access to higher education in India especially in the urban context. It highlights the key reasons pertaining to this disconnect and emphasizes that the quest of women's declining employment can only be resolved by plugging the gap between higher education and employment for women in future.