1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

The empowerment of women is often identified as an important aim of international development

policies, and many donor agencies now include women’s empowerment in their development
strategies. Although empowerment is often conceptualized as a process (Cueva Beteta
2006; Kabeer 2001; Malhotra and Schuler 2005), most quantitative studies have been cross-
sectional, comparing individual women with others in their communities or societies (Malhotra
and Schuler 2005). In the development of indicators, it is usually implicitly assumed that higher
levels of empowerment represent a change from a pre-existing situation in which women have
more limited power, influence, freedom, or autonomy; but such changes have rarely been
measured using a common set of indicators. Such studies can be valuable for cross-national
comparisons (UNDP 1995; Ibrahim and Alkire 2007) and for documenting change over time,
particularly at the macro- or meso- levels, but we would argue that the meanings and salience of
empowerment indicators are likely to evolve over time, and that these changes too should be taken
into account, both in developing interventions to foster women’s empowerment and in
documenting empowerment processes. Only Access to education and earning which is an indicator
for the women in socio –economic condition can show them to the way of empowerment.

1.2 Background of the Study

Most governments and civil society organizations in developing countries of the world are fighting
poverty through a variety of strategies, such as agricultural and rural development, employment
promotion, programs in health and education, and social services. Bangladesh is a developing
country of the third world. Half of the total population is women whose socio-economic condition
is very low. Struggle for modernity, tradition, men-women equality, social dignity, security and
for multilateral pressure the position of women in the family is very complex. Here men and
women do not participate in social development is not equal. Many indoor and outdoor activities

2
of women are not treated as work. The devaluation of women labor in labor market also hinders
women right. But in market economy women of Bangladesh are always facing new challenges.
Though women work in educational institution, medical, factories, police, even in the uneven
areas, women are neglected, tortured and persecuted. In the society of gender disparity, it is
difficult for women to stay parallel and enjoy the right of equal participant. The fact is that although
women have been empowered in a good amount in recent times the rural women have not been
too much participatory compared to the urban area women’s due to a number of factors which are
in increasing in number. So, this needs attention as most of the people still live in rural areas for a
better development assurance. Keeping half of the population left behind if we think of
development.

1.3 Rationale of the Study

The topic holds the top most importance as the women empowerment ensures the contribution to
the GDP and national development in various sector. The women almost constitute the half of the
population and their situation of development are not in good swing which is a matter of concern.
The number of working women increased to 18.6 million in 2016-17 from 16.2 million in 2010.
Bangladesh secured the 47th position among 144 countries in 2017 as per The Global Gender Gap
Report, whereas India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Pakistan remain at 108, 109, 111, 124 and
143 positions respectively. Although the statistics is showing that situation has been improved but
still in the villages opportunities for becoming empowered is less and development is also needed
Although previous research has attempted finding causes along with the information accuracy it
will show cause, effect and measurements to the problem.

3
1.4 Problem Statement

Women are the nucleus of the family. It is impossible to think about social progress without woman
empowerment. When women are economically empowered, communities and nations benefit. Yet,
there has been a crucial knowledge gap regarding the most effective interventions that directly
advance women’s economic opportunities Empowerment of women is a holistic concept (Rahman
and Hafiz,2012). It is a multi-dimensional approach and it covers social, political, and economic
aspects. Empowerment is an active, multi-dimensional process which enables women to realize
their full identity and power in all spheres of life (Melven,2006). The women constitute half of the
population, but they are still lagging behind in the matter of development compared to man.
Although participation has been increased but there are differences among women in the matter of
empowerment. There are influencing factors which are the prime reasons the research aims to find
out those very factors and their extent of influence.

1.5 Significance of the study

Bangladesh is one of the high-density countries of the world. 40% of its population lives below
the poverty level where rural women are mostly deprived (David Ricadro,2016). In Bangladesh
like many other developing countries women’s access to positions of influence and power is
limited. Their occupational choices are narrower, and their earnings lower than those of men; and
they must struggle to reconcile activities outside the home with their traditional roles. While men
particularly among the poor also find themselves disenfranchised, it is a far more common
experience among women. This experience is rooted in the failure to value women for anything
but their reproductive role. The need for empowerment of women in Bangladesh arises from this
harsh social scenario. Economic empowerment: Women’s access to savings and credit gives them
a greater economic role in decision-making through their decision about savings and credit. When
women control decisions regarding credit and savings, they will optimize their own and the
household’s welfare. The investment in women’s economic activities will improve employment
opportunities for women and thus have a „trickle down and out‟ effect. The financial sustainability
and feminist empowerment paradigms emphasize women’s own income generating activities. In
the poverty alleviation paradigm, the emphasis is more on increasing incomes at the household

4
level and the use of loans for consumption. The topic holds the top most importance as the women
empowerment ensures the contribution to the GDP and national development in various sector.
Although previous research has attempted finding causes along with the information accuracy it
will show cause, effect and measurements to the problem.

1.6 Research Objectives

Women’s access to savings and credit gives them a greater economic role in decision making
through their decision about savings and credit. When women control decisions regarding credit
and savings, they will optimize their own and the household’s welfare. A combination of women
increased economic activity and control over income resulting from access to microfinance with
improved women’s skills, mobility, and access to knowledge and support networks. Status within
the community is also enhanced. These changes are reinforced by group formation, leading to
wider movements for social and political change.

General objectives

To ensure the all total contribution of women in the national contribution by finding out the
possible solution for reducing empowerment differences of women of Bangladesh.

Specific objectives

 Finding out the causes which are key factor for influencing women empowerment.
 Identifying the social benefits of women empowerment.
 Providing sustainable solution.

1.7 Research Question

i. To what extent the women empowerment is increasing or decreasing?

ii. What are the influencing factor in the matter of empowerment?
iii. What factor influences most the incensement or decreasing of women empowerment?
iv. Can a sustainable solution be provided to reduce the problem?

5
1.8 Limitations of the study

This paper used questionnaires and focus group discussions to shed light on the question if which
factors are basically working behind rate of women’s empowerment in Bangladesh. There were
some other limitations:

- Focus groups tend to become influenced by one or two dominant people.

-Woman empowerment incorporates with a holistic concept that is incorporated with social
perception, values and believes towards woman. It is difficult to perceive the perception of
interpret the qualitative data that incorporates with holistic concept and this is the foremost
limitation of the study.

- Depending upon the sample size taken it is too difficult to reach a conclusion.

- Some more research methods could have been used which couldn’t.

- The research is based on only primary data; the inclusion of secondary data could have used to
get more appropriate result.

- There were resource and money constraints.

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7
 CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Past Attempts

The first thing that comes to mind while defining women empowerment influencing factor is
nothing but her participation in the decision making and contribution to the national development.
While considering the situation of Bangladesh the first barrier to the empowerment is nothing but
the gender biasness (Sen, 1995). Studies have confirmed that the indicator can be the to access
information, take decision and act in their own interest or for their dependents (Kishor, 1997). The
informal empowerment was wide spread through women earning member decisions were
subjected to various degrees of discrimination by males (Giriyappa, 1997). The most common
form used for data collection is DHS survey and personal interview as data are not easily available
for conducting research. Some NGO programs worked to some extent to bring about the women
empowerment in third world countries including Bangladesh. The collected data from purposively
selected personnel of the society through specific questionnaires and observed that all the
respondents have accepted women’s education as the prime source of women empowerment
(Mahmud). However, the decision making is nothing but the prime factor and source which
justifies that women are empowered.

Women: A woman is an adult female human being, as contrasted to men, an adult male, and a girl,
a female child. The term woman (irregular plural: women) is used to indicate biological sex
distinctions, cultural gender role distinctions, or both Women constitute about half of the total
population of the country (Martin,1986). Apart from the household activities, they are contributing
substantially to the national economy.

Empowerment: Empowerment means the transformation of structures of subordination, through

radical changes in law, property rights, control over women’s labor and bodies, and the institutions
that reinforce and perpetuate male domination (Batliwala, 1993). But more specifically, the
outcome of empowerment should manifest itself as a redistribution of power between individuals,
genders, groups, classes, castes, races, ethnic groups or nations (Nelson,2012) Empowerment of

8
women is now a global issue. Although this term is usually used for improving women’s condition,
in real sense it may be applied to any disadvantaged group of society for bringing them to the same
level of advanced section (George,2005). In simple sense, empowerment is a process which
redistributes power from the powerful to the powerless. In the context of Bangladesh,
empowerment of women means women should be given freedom of choice for fulfillment and
self-development, as well as equal access to domestic and community resources, opportunities and
power. In this study focus will be given on the strategic needs (decision making ability in the
family, economic freedom like ability to make small and big purchases for her, children and family
as well as her gendered position in the family and society).

Economic empowerment: Women’s access to savings and credit gives them a greater economic
role in decision-making through their decision about savings and credit (Tyseer and Niholas,2007).
When women control decisions regarding credit and savings, they will optimize their own and the
household’s welfare. The investment in women’s economic activities will improve employment
opportunities for women and thus have a „trickle down and out‟ effect (David,2009). The financial
sustainability and feminist empowerment paradigms emphasize women’s own income generating
activities. In the poverty alleviation paradigm, the emphasis is more on increasing incomes at the
household level and the use of loans for consumption.

Freedom of movement: While significant progress has been made on securing the rights of girls
and young women, they still face legal and cultural restrictions on their movement. In many
countries in Africa and Asia (Nelson,2012), however, laws still prevent women and girls from
travelling alone, while family and community pressures discourage leaving home to attend school
or look for work. Globally, 32 countries require women to get permission from their husbands to
apply for a passport and 70 per cent of these are in Africa and Asia (Robert wallence,2009). Safety
concerns are also often a major issue; as independent movement opens girls up to the threat of
violence. As a result, girls often find it difficult to build the self-belief and access the information
they need to find and realize their ambitions. A recent Organization for Economic Co-operation
and Development(OECD) report found that, even with similar or higher proficiency in school
subjects, especially mathematics and science, girls‟ career aspirations for the future were more
limited than those of boys (Albert,2015). Role models provide tangible examples of the different
paths girls can take to economic empowerment.

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Access to quality education: More girls than ever before have access to education, but 130 million
are still out of school globally, with over 90 per cent of these in Africa and Asia, and quality of
education remains poor (David,2008). Despite wide scale adoption of free primary education, 29
million girls of primary school age were reported to be out of school in Africa and Asia in 2014.
(Mark,2001) The challenge is even greater at the secondary school level, with approximately 64
million girls out of school in the two regions. This has staggering implications for girls‟ economic
prospects, as each year of schooling has been found to increase a woman’s income by 10-20 per
cent (Melven,2011). Factors such as financial costs, lack of schools, teenage pregnancy and child
marriage constrain access. For girls that attend school, the quality of education remains poor: low
teacher availability and quality, limited learning supplies (e.g. textbooks), lack of well-maintained
and appropriate school infrastructure and limited access to sanitation (e.g. toilets) make it difficult
to learn effectively. (Wallence,2005).

Access to employment: Youth unemployment is high and rising, especially among young women.
Young women are much less likely to be employed than men. In South Africa, for example, 60
per cent of young women are unemployed compared to 48.6 per cent of young men (Barren D.
Silva,2005). Further, they are much more likely to be underemployed, working in jobs that either
don’t uses their skills or don’t pay them enough to remain out of poverty. 80 per cent of women in
South Asia and 74 per cent of women in Sub-Saharan Africa in non-agricultural jobs are informally
employed (Henry,2014). for example, Girls‟ lack of access to quality education is a big driver of
this, but a lack of job-relevant curricula and poor linkages between job-seekers and employers are
also major issues. Cultural and legal factors heighten these challenges: in at least eight countries
in Africa and nine in Asia, for example, women still need their husbands‟ permission to get a job
(Robert,2014).

Access to healthcare and contraception: Girls lack access to health services and suffer from high
rates of teenage pregnancy. While adolescent births have become less prevalent in low-income
countries over the past twenty years, one in three women still gives birth before age 20. Pregnancy
related morbidity and mortality rates are particularly high for this age group - double those of
women aged 20 or over (Nicholas,2011). If the need for modern contraception and quality care
were met and girls were free to use it without stigma or resistance from others,

10
unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions would decrease by 70 per cent and 74 per cent
respectively (Joe Carter,2007).

Role models and support networks: Girls lack sufficient exposure to role models and support
groups, including male allies, to equip them with the tools and confidence they need to navigate
economic life. Girls have limited access to support networks that allow them to share their
challenges and cooperate in addressing them. In particular, they lack access to support networks
that involve men and boys, who often have significant control over girls‟ lives. Furthermore, girls
lack exposure to credible female role models who they both respect and see as similar to
unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions would decrease by 70 per cent and 74 per cent
respectively (Joe Carter,2007).

Financial inclusion: New technologies are making it easier for girls to access bank accounts, but
they have some way to go to catch up to men and boys. Mobile money accounts have significantly
expanded access to financial services, including for girls. Furthermore, countries such as
Indonesia, Philippines and South Africa have equal or greater proportions of women accessing
formal financial services compared to men. Still, the global gender gap in access to formal accounts
is nine percentage points, which mirrors the situation in Sub-Saharan Africa and rises to as high
as 18 percentage points in South Asia(Hopkins,2004). Given that youth are 44 per cent less likely
to save in a formal institution (Parker,2009), this gap is probably greater for girls and young
women. Legal restrictions, lack of relevant and affordable products and services and cultural
restrictions on girls accessing and controlling money help explain this. Even where girls and young
women have bank accounts, they struggle to access and use capital. In Pakistan, for example,
women can open accounts, but male relatives often have a say in the use of funds (Hafiz and
Azha,2011).

Dreze and Sen (1995) have described women empowerment as ability to define self-interest and
choice and consider woman as not only able but also entitled to make choices. In order to improve
the level of women’s empowerment they have proposed to reduce gender biasness in mortality rate
and natality rates, in access to education and professional training, in employment, in the
ownership of property and in household work and decision making (Sen, 1995). Analyzing the
data from India they have illustrated that female literacy reduces child mortality rate while both
female labour force participation as well as female literacy reduced female child mortality rate.

11
They have interpreted these results as evidence of the fact that women’s access to education and
employment had enhanced their ability to exercise agency, i.e., the process of empowerment.

Kishor (1997) has conceptualized empowerment in terms of ‘control’ by which women would be
able to access information, take decision and act in their own interest or for their dependents. She
has considered three categories of composite indicators to measure women’s empowerment. These
are ‘direct evidence of empowerment’, ‘source of empowerment’ and ‘the settings for
empowerment (Kishor, 1997). She has grouped the indicators of behavioral and attitudinal factors
into ten dimensions. A through reading was done these indicators including the variables.

Gita Sen and Caren Grown (1987) have stated that women's empowerment is the transformation
of the structures of subordination, including changes in the law, civil order, property and
inheritance rights, and control over women's bodies and labour, and the social and legal institutions
that endorse male control. They call for resources (finance, knowledge, and technology), skill
training, leadership on the side and democratic process, dialogue, participation in policy and
decision-making, and techniques for conflict resolution, if women are to be empowered.
Empowerment should lead to capacity building and personal enrichment (Grown, 1987). It also
should help them develop leadership qualities, entrepreneurship, and exposure to the outside
world.

Giriyappa (1997) has analyzed the women empowerment with the corresponding levels of
discrimination and effectiveness of decision-making by women in different rural enterprises and
concluded that the female headed households were effective in taking decision in respect of work
mobility, schooling, health care, asset creation, employment generation and social participation in
low social status households. The informal empowerment was wide spread through women earning
member decisions were subjected to various degrees of discrimination by males (Giriyappa, 1997).

Amin et al. (2012) come to the conclusion that women who participate in such NGOs are more
likely to a) use contraceptives, b) want no additional children, and c) desire smaller families than
women who do not participate or who live outside of the NGOs’ program areas.

Jahan and Mahmud (2006) had conducted a successful attempt to reveal the sources of women
empowerment. They collected data from purposively selected personnel of the society through
specific questionnaires and observed that all the respondents have accepted women’s education as

12
the prime source of women empowerment (Mahmud). From the overall discussion it is clear that
there is no single factor to be the source for empowering women.

Shraboni et al., (2014) has described that the survey method goes beyond the traditional practice
of interviewing only a household “head” (often a male) to interview both a principal male and
principal female, 5DE measures can be computed for both the principal male and the principal
female in a dual-adult household, although the 5DE component of the WEAI only includes
women’s 5DE. Household characteristics include age, age-squared, and years of schooling of the
household head, 7 household sizes, and proportion of males and females in various age groups
(with males aged 60 and above as the excluded category. We also include diversity in food crop
production (that is, the total number of food crops produced by the household) as a regressor; if
households consume some of the food that they produce, then more diverse agricultural production
is expected to increase dietary diversity at the household level. Table 10 presents the elasticities of
per capita calorie availability, household dietary diversity, and adult BMI with respect to the
empowerment indicators and three household characteristics—number of food crops produced by
house-hold, years of education of household head, and area of cultivable land owned by household.
Reducing the gender gap in empowerment or improving women’s relative empowerment is
associated with greater food security at the household level, consistent with the existing literature
on female bargaining power within the household and household welfare outcomes.

A combination of women increased economic activity and control over income resulting from
access to micro-finance with improved women’s skills, mobility, and access to knowledge and
support networks. Status within the community is also enhanced. These changes are reinforced by
group formation, leading to wider movements for social and political change (Kevin and Matt
2008). The financial self-sustainability paradigm and the poverty alleviation paradigm assume that
social and political empowerment will occur without specific interventions to change gender
relations at the household, community or macro-levels. By contrast, the feminist empowerment
paradigm advocates explicit strategies for supporting women’s ability to protect their individual
and collective gender interests at the household, community and macro-levels (Mayoux, 2001).

Julie Wallence (2018) finds there are specific essential elements of women empowerment each
representing a hurdle. Julie Wallence (2018) stated that a girl won‟t be able to go to school and
get a job, without being healthy and free from violence. She needs freedom of movement and a

13
break from household duties, if she is to have time to learn and earn. And financial inclusion is
essential, so she can control her spending and save for the future, whether it’s school fees, a
hospital visit or a bus ticket to a job interview. All elements have seen big improvements over the
past few decades: more girls are now going to school, accessing healthcare and benefiting from
new laws penalizing violence against women and girls. But too many in Asia and Africa still face
disproportionate barriers to economic empowerment. In South Africa, for example, 60 per cent of
young women are unemployed compared to 47 per cent of young men (Piter,2016). And in at least
eight countries across the two regions, a woman still needs her husband’s permission to get a job,
according to the World Bank. (Julie Wallence 2018).

Economic empowerment is the ability to access and control economic resources. As the
International Centre for Research on Women notes, it includes “both the ability to succeed and
advance economically and the power to make and act on economic decisions” (David
Ricard,1998).

The elements are highly interrelated. The elements interact in a complex way. For example, lack
of contraception affects access to education through teenage pregnancy; lack of time affects access
to healthcare through fewer opportunities to seek out medication or doctors, and violence affects
movement and support networks through fear and physical impairment. The core idea of the
elements is that economic empowerment is a system, not a series of steps to be tackled in sequence.
Where one element is strong, it makes it easier to strengthen others; where one is weak, others are
at risk of weakening. This applies both between individual elements and groups of them: access to
economic opportunities makes it easier for girls to tackle social, cultural and political enablers, but
at the same time those enablers make it easier for girls to access and control economic
opportunities. The core idea of the elements is that economic empowerment is a system, not a
series of steps to be tackled in sequence. While there have been significant improvements across
the elements over the past several decades, especially in girls‟ enrolment in school, access to
healthcare, and the introduction of laws penalizing violence against women and girls, and young
women still face disproportionate barriers to economic empowerment in Asia (Mark,2014).

Miedema et al., (2018) This measurement validation test of measures for women’s empowerment
in DHS surveys is the first to test the underlying factor structure of women’s empowerment and to
assess cross-national factor invariance. In sum, the invariant measure enables improved cross-

14
national comparison of women’s empowerment measures and improves confidence in measures
of association between women’s empowerment and achievement outcomes, such as child and
maternal health outcomes. In this theory-based measurement validation of women’s empowerment
measures, we draw on the interdisciplinary body of development theory on women’s
empowerment and focus on three interrelated domains of women’s empowerment measured in the
DHS. Other measures, including women’s time-use, civil, cultural and political participation,
digital inclusion, land ownership and structural factors such as discriminatory laws, are also salient
to the underlying construct of women’s empowerment, and recognized in the SDGs as important
to women’s overall empowerment (Klugman et al. Yet, these measures omit salient domains of
women’s empowerment, such as women’s self-reported human, social and economic resources for
empowerment (Kabeer 1999), as well as attitudinal and behavioral evidence of empowerment,
such as women’s attitudes about gender and violence against women, their freedom of movement
and their domestic, sexual, and reproductive decision-making (Mistry, Galal, & Lu, 2009,
Upadhyay & Hindin, 2005; Yount et al. 2017; Moghadam & Senftova, 2005. 2016.)

Various researcher has used several methods in the course of trying women empowerment and its
influencing factor. Among them they have found the DHS and 5DE measurement most fruitful
one. Effect has shown that education has been confirmed as the prime influencing factor and
decision making and participation as the prime identified variable. To ensure women
empowerment education is the top most necessity and assurance of the gender rights and equity
and sufficient training can bring about the phenomena for improving the situation.

2.2 Research Gap

The previous research has certain gaps like they did not consider some facts and factors which are
very much important for the findings of the causes of the differences of women empowerment.
The report aims at to find these causes and facts. Also, there are some gap in finding accurate
information regarding village women empowerment. They have mostly done qualitative analysis
and used DHS (Domestic Health Survey). The factor that is number of working hours and number
of children they did not consider while there are two important factor influences women
empowerment such as the women have more children they give less time to work a result they earn
less

15
16
 CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

3.1 Study Area & Target Population

As the study will be based on women empowerment in Bangladesh which is a macroeconomic

issue, so the study area will be the contribution or empowerment of women of Bangladesh using
data from primary source. Women from different background will be the target population from
whom data will be collected through questionnaire. Data will be collected from empowered
women from Mirpur, Manikgonj and Saver area.

3.2 Questionnaire Design

The questionnaire has been designed in Likert Scale and it has been distributed to the expected
respondents by face to face communication. In some cases, the questionnaires were sent in the
mails. Questions gradually developed by knowing the current empowerment level of the women
and their average earning was taken into consideration.

3.3 Research Design

Methodology plays an important role in any research. Appropriate methodology enables the
researcher to collect valid and reliable information and to analyze the information properly to draw
a clear-cut conclusion. Research design is a deliberate procedure for research that spread the
decisions from wide suppositions through methods of data collection and examination to findings.
The current research is correlational in nature where the researcher will collect all the required
data and analyzed the variables based on the theoretical framework. Alongside, the current study
is considered a cross-sectional type of research data will be collected at one point of time and
decisions were drawn through analysis at a specific point of time. Data for this study will include

17
different influential factors of women empowerment as the independent variable and women
empowerment as the dependent variable.

A quantitative research method will use in the current study where the structured questionnaire
will be considered as the main source of the research instrument. Salkind (2006) recommends that
the exploitation of the questionnaire survey technique to scrutinize the connection between
independent and dependent variable. Finally, data will analyses to acquire empirical supports for
the assumed associations among the variables identified. The study used both qualitative and
quantitative methods and three data collection instruments. The research is a survey based
exploratory research which was conducted using primary data. To collect primary data for the
study several methods such as questionnaire, in-depth interview and observation as well as Focus
Group Discussion were used. Collected data was analyzed and interpreted through statistical
techniques.

3.4 Sample size of the study

Sampling Technique: Probability sampling technique has been applied as the target population
are the empowered women so every one of them has an equal possibility of being selected as a
sample. As the data of the factors should be authentic for a proper calculation so cross-sectional
study design has been used to collect data. For that personal interview method has been chosen
which will be done through asking questionnaire. The technique used will be simple random
sampling.

Sample Size:

Sampling size is the number of individuals from the sampling frame who will participate in the
data collection process. Depending on the research work, the sample size may vary. Following are
some of the observations that need to be kept in mind while selecting a sample size (Brown, 2006):
For this the sample size are determined by following below process:

18
 𝑍 2 𝑝𝑞
Initial Sample Size n =
𝑑2

1.962 ×.5×.5
=
.0052

= 384.16

𝑁×𝑛0
Final Sample Size =
(𝑁+𝑛0)

300×384.16
=
( 300+384.16)

= 49.87

= 50

Symbols

n. = z^2.pq/d^2

n=n0xN/(n0+N)

z=1.96
d=0.05
p=.5
q=1-p=.5

N=Population
n.=initial Sample size

n=Final sample size

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Women are performing their tasks with their (direct involvement) in economic and social progress
(Grameen Trust,2017). Therefore, operators are considered as the valid sample respondents to
measure the women empowerment as they are impacting the socio economical context of
Bangladesh.

In the current study several cities like Gulshan, Bonani and villages of Bangladesh will be
considered as the sampling frame. Sampling frame can be described as the list containing of the
elements of the population. A sampling frame is the set of source materials from which the sample
is selected (Turner, 2003). Warnecke (2005) clarified that the sampling frame is the part of the
entire population from which the actual sample will be selected. Sample frames are normally
defined by geographic listings of blocks or other topographic units, maps, directories, membership
or other kinds of list, or they may be defined from telethon or other electronic formats. The study
used both dependent and independent variables and different data analysis instruments. The
research is a survey based exploratory research which was conducted using primary data. To
collect primary data, several methods were used as questionnaire, in-depth interview and
observation as well as Focus Group Discussion. For conducting the study, 50 women from
different background were selected.

3.5 Conceptual Framework of the study

Klasen and Miller (2002) define women’s empowerment as a process whereby the lives of women
and girls are transformed from a situation where they have limited power to one where their power
is enhanced. (Melven,2005). This framework recognizes these independent variables Number of
children, working hour, number of family members, career growth after marriage that are
influencing women earnings as the dependent variable (y).

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 Figure 3.1: Conceptual Framework of the study (Richard,2011)

3.6 Research Method

3.6.1 Descriptive Analysis

Descriptive statistics are brief descriptive coefficients that summarize a given data set, which can
be either a representation of the entire or a sample of a population. Descriptive statistics are broken
down into measures of central tendency and measures of variability (spread). Measures of central
tendency include the mean, median, and mode, while measures of variability include the standard
deviation, variance, the minimum and maximum variables, and the kurtosis and skewness. All
descriptive statistics are either measures of central tendency or measures of variability. These two
measures use graphs, tables, and general discussions to help people understand the meaning of the
analyzed data. Measures of central tendency describe the center position of a distribution for a data
set. A person analyzes the frequency of each data point in the distribution and describes it using
the mean, median, or mode, which measures the most common patterns of the analyzed data set.

21
Measures of variability, or the measures of spread, aid in analyzing how spread-out the distribution
is for a set of data. For example, while the measures of central tendency may give a person the
average of a data set, it does not describe how the is distributed data within the set. So, while the
average of the data may be 65 out of 100, there can still be data points at both 1 and 100. Measures
of variability help communicate this by describing the shape and spread of the data set.
Range, quartiles, absolute deviation, and variance are all examples of measures of variability.

3.6.2 Correlation Analysis

Correlation analysis is a method of statistical evaluation used to study the strength of a relationship
between two, numerically measured, continuous variables (e.g. height and weight). This particular
type of analysis is useful when a researcher wants to establish if there are possible connections
between variables. It is often misunderstood that correlation analysis determines cause and effect;
however, this is not the case because other variables that are not present in the research may have
impacted on the results.

If correlation is found between two variables it means that when there is a systematic change in
one variable, there is also a systematic change in the other; the variables alter together over a
certain period of time. If there is correlation found, depending upon the numerical values
measured, this can be either positive or negative.

Positive correlation exists if one variable increases simultaneously with the other, i.e. the high
numerical values of one variable relate to the high numerical values of the other. Negative
correlation exists if one variable decreases when the other increases, i.e. the high numerical values
of one variable relate to the low numerical values of the other.

22
Correlation equation -

Pearson’s product-moment coefficient is the measurement of correlation and ranges (depending

on the correlation) between +1 and -1. +1 indicates the strongest positive correlation possible, and
-1 indicates the strongest negative correlation possible. Therefore, the closer the coefficient to
either of these numbers the stronger the correlation of the data it represents. On this scale 0
indicates no correlation, hence values closer to zero highlight weaker/poorer correlation than those
closer to +1/-1.

3.6.3 Regression Analysis

A linear regression is constructed by fitting a line through a scatter plot of paired observations
between two variables. The sketch below illustrates an example of a linear regression line drawn
through a series of (X, Y) observations. A linear regression line is usually determined
quantitatively by a best-fit procedure such as least squares (i.e. the distance between the
regression line and every observation is minimized). In linear regression, one variable is plotted
on the X axis and the other on the Y. The X variable is said to be the independent variable, and
the Y is said to be the dependent variable. When analyzing two random variables, you must
choose which variable is independent and which is dependent. The choice of independent variable.

23
24
 CHAPTER 4

DATA ANALYSIS

4.1 Descriptive Analysis

Because there are several factors related to it. But in consideration with the surroundings and social
perception the woman’s earning is mostly considered as woman’s economic empowerment, that
is influencing other variable and for this the dependent variable is (y). Because it has been seen
that the women who contributes to the family income they are influential in the matter of decision
making. There are so many independent variables by which is possible to study the dependent
variable. But not all can take as maximum of them are qualitative data. But for the purposes of
regression analysis of quantitative ones so we have taken five variables as independent variable
which are number of children, number of family member, working time /office time, education
level and career growth. Then the regression test has been done to justify the influence of the
variable and its importance in woman empowerment.

Table 4.1: Descriptive statistics for the dependent and independent variables

Mean Std. Deviation Skewness Kurtosis

Number of children (x1) 2.78 1.25 0.31 -0.39

Working Hour (x2) 6.58 1.23 -0.09 -0.64

Number of family members(x3) 5.20 1.56 0.59 -0.21

Career growth after marriage (x4) 1.58 0.95 1.70 1.90

Woman Earnings (Y) 7050.00 7703.20 3.01 9.49

25
From the descriptive analysis it is clear that the average number of children per women is 2.78 and
its standard deviation is 1.25. The average working hour per women is 6.58 hours. In the family,
the number of family members is 5.20 on an average. The average earning of the women is 7050
taka with a high standard deviation value of 7703 taka. This implies that the earning of the women
is highly fluctuated, some are earning more, and some are earning very low.

Table 4.2: Education distribution of the women in the study

Education Category Frequency Percent

Primary 31 62.0

High school 11 22.0

college 3 6.0

Diploma 5 10.0

Total 50 100.0

Education is the prime factor that are influencing other variables of the women empowerment. To
access of skill employment, to raise awareness and making entrepreneurship and employment
opportunity education has a vital role. Table 1 denotes the Education distribution, Based on the
questionnaire 1 =Primary,2=High school ,3=college 4=Diploma. Here study significantly shows
that 10 percent women who got skilled Diploma course has high income. If their education level
is increased by one unit then they are earning will increase by 5230.13 taka on average.

26
 1= Primary School

2= High school

3= College

4= Diploma

Figure 4.1: education distribution of the women (source: field survey)

Here study significantly shows that 10 percent women who got skilled Diploma course has high
income. Figure 4 shows that education has a positive incorporation with earnings

Table 4.3: Distribution of career growth after marriage of the women in the study

Growth Classification Frequency Percent

1 32 64
2 12 24
3 1 2
4 5 10
Total 50 100

27
Woman who has higher education tend to have better career growth after marriage. Table 3
demonstrates that 10 percent among 50 respondents has highest level of education. Hence the
opportunity of employment is higher those who have better education level. Here
1=Primary,2=Secondary,3=College 4=Diploma.

1= Primary School

2= High school

3= College

4= Diploma

Figure 4.2: career growth after marriage (source: Field survey)

It also important to be mention that there is a Grameen Caledonian nursing college under the
affiliation of Grameen Bank (George,2016)). Figure 5 indicating that women who have received
nursing diploma course, they have a high career growth even after marriage.

28
 4.2 Correlation Analysis

Table 4.4: Co-relation analysis

Correlations
Woman Number Working Number of Education Career
Earnings of Hour family level growth
children members after
marriage
Woman r 1
Earnings p-value
Number of r -.312* 1
children p-value 0.03
Working Hour r 0.27 0.16 1
p-value 0.06 0.25
Number of r -0.27 .837** 0.13 1
family p-value 0.06 0.00 0.37
members
Education level r .828** -.497** 0.09 -.416** 1
p-value 0.00 0.00 0.53 0.00
Career growth r .848** -.475** 0.09 -.368** .948** 1
after marriage p-value 0.00 0.00 0.53 0.01 0.00
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

The correlation analysis reveals that the women earning that is used as a proxy of women
empowerment is positively correlated with working hours, career growth after marriage and
education level. That means, to ensure the empowerment of a women, the education of the
women is a vital factor with their workability for longer periods in the office. It is also found that
if the women are allowed to work after their marriage, they are more likely to be empowered.
However, Number of children that the women are having is significantly negatively correlated
with the empowerment by means of money earning. Moreover, number of family members is
also negatively correlated with the earning of the women so does the empowerment.

29
4.3 Regression Analysis

In this study, linear regression model, in which the dependence of the response on the predictors
is through the mean and the mean of the response given the predictors is a linear function of the
predictors. This is a frequently encountered regression model.

Goodness of Fit

Table 4.5: Summary statistics on goodness of fit of the regression model

Model Summary

Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate

1 .876a 0.768 0.742 3915.38

a. Predictors: (Constant), Career growth after marriage (x4), Working Hour (x2), Number of family
members(x3), Number of children (x1), Education level (x4)

The R-square value is 0.768 that implies about 76 percent variation of women empowerment can
be explained by the considered independent variables. This ensures the goodness of fit the
regression model.

Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)

Table 4.6: Analysis of variance calculation for the regression model

ANOVAa

Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.

Regression 2233097545 5 446619509 29.133 .000b
Residual 674527454.6 44 15330169
Total 2907625000 49

30
a. Dependent Variable: Woman Earnings (Y)

b. Predictors: (Constant), Career growth after marriage (x4), Working Hour (x2), Number of
family members(x3), Number of children (x1), Education level (x4)

From ANOVA it is clear that the functional relationship between women empowerment and the
predictor variables are statistically significant. So, the model can be used for the prediction
purpose.

Regression Parameter Estimation

Table 4.7: Estimation of regression parameters by least squares method

Regression
Coefficients
t p-value
Std.
B
Error

(Constant) -11881.21 3706.195 -3.206 0.003

Number of children (x1) 971.493 876.412 1.108 0.274

Working Hour (x2) 1058.632 470.723 2.249 0.030

Number of family members(x3) -412.164 662.144 -0.622 0.537

Education level (x4) 1917.254 1836.905 1.044 0.302

Career growth after marriage (x5) 5230.136 1879.598 2.783 0.008

Dependent Variable: Woman Earnings (Y)

31
After the correlation analysis, the regression analysis is done in order to find the influence of the
predictor variables on the dependent variable which is women empowerment by a proxy variable.
It is clearly seen that number of children; number of family members and the education level have
no significant effect though they had significant correlation with the empowerment of the women.
However, working hour is significantly influencing the money earning of the women at a rate of
1058.63. This number implies that if a woman works one hour more than what she is working now
will earn on average 1058.63 taka more than what she is earning now. Besides, career growth after
marriage is also found significantly positively influencing the empowerment of women by means
of money they earn. If their career growth is increased by one unit after marriage, then they are
earning will increase by 5230.13 taka on average.

32
33
 Chapter 5

Discussion

To further girls‟ economic empowerment in Africa and Asia, there is a need to create more forums
for partnership and coordinated action, include workplace readiness and job placement
programmers for wage labor in education initiatives, engage gatekeepers more and in better ways
to change norms, provide more funding, diversified funding and better access to existing funding,
create initiatives that see girls as consumers rather than only beneficiaries provide more role
models and girls support networks.

With improvement in female education, women’s awareness of the importance of independence

increases. This encourages them to participate in economic activities. Hence the emergence of
cycles of higher female education, more female employment and enhancement of economic
growth takes place. With economic growth, cultural factors may undergo changes to promote
women empowerment, eliminating gender biases in wages and avenues of employment. It is
encouraging to note that during the last two decades’ female representation in high level
occupations has increased in Bangladesh. Thus, it can conclude on an optimistic note that the focus
on quality of life issues. Family planning, access to quality education and career growth after
marriage has certainly influenced the rate of employment and empowerment for women and and
economic solvency equal to men.

34
 CHAPTER 6

CONSLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

6.1 Conclusion

The main cause of poverty in Bangladesh is the lack of productive employment opportunities for
the huge number of unemployed and under employed work force which is tremendously increasing
and posing serious problems for the country. Nearly half of the populations in Bangladesh are
women and most of them are living in the rural area of the country. They need to have engaged in
income generating activities. So, creating self-employment for women in the rural areas can play
a vital role in reducing the rural unemployment and acute poverty. Participation also has a
beneficial effect on women’s welfare since it increases their total employment time by reducing
their other work responsibilities. Participation of women in micro credit program has also
increased their mobility. Accomplishing the above will be complex and difficult. We should expect
nothing less. Women’s empowerment is itself complex and difficult. But momentum is building,
minds and habits are changing, and a growing movement of actors focused on the issue is making
itself heard. The potential of girls is clearer than it has ever been. It is a collective duty to support
them and realize it.

35
6.2 Recommendations

 There is a need to continue and expand the good work that many organizations are doing
to increase the visibility of female private, public, and civic leadership, and to create safe
spaces for girls to connect with and support one another through peer groups and
networking opportunities.
 As this work progresses, organizations should think of ways to actively promote female
role models to girls, including at schools and during the transition to work. When combined
with information about their choices, for example, the earning potential of different career
paths, girls could be encouraged to elevate and pursue career or other earning ambitions.
Where girls are already in the process of defining such ambitions, exposure to role models
can help them develop these into realistic and achievable goals, while providing them with
examples of how others have achieved theirs.
 The growing reach of digital and specifically mobile platforms should be taken advantage
of here, as they allow organizations to reach a large number of girls quickly, cost-
effectively and with engaging content.
 Confronting the complexities and difficulties surrounding girls‟ economic empowerment
can be daunting.
 There is much to be done, the doing needs to be nuanced and it’s difficult to know how to
be effective.
 To help actors interested in the space figure out what they should start doing and to add to
what is already being done, below interventions that draw together of the research and
insights discussed in this paper.
 Acting holistically is important, as noted, but it is also very difficult. Unless we find ways
of bringing together organizations with complementary offerings, our collective ability to
deliver the whole of economic empowerment, as opposed to only its parts, will be limited.
Such collaboration applies not only to implementation - doing things together is not the
only way to cooperate.
 Cooperation is needed in research, knowledge sharing and funding. As such, it underlies
all other interventions to economically empower girls. Many girls fail to successfully
transition from secondary or tertiary education to the earning world because they lack the

36
 networks, time, information and job-relevant skills to find and realize earning
opportunities.
 While there are several programs that focus on entrepreneurship and livelihoods more
broadly, interviewees repeatedly noted a lack of initiatives focused on helping young
women transition to wage labor. This is troubling, especially since there is strong evidence
that these are effective. Existing education initiatives should consider incorporating
vocational training, workplace readiness, or job placement components.
 These should speak to and build on other activities, merely adding them as separate
exercises is unwise.
 These should also be forward-looking and help to prepare girls for the evolutions in
workplace demand, for example, through training in digital skills.
 Partnerships with private firms will be particularly critical here, either for help in designing
content or in placing young women in jobs. The current momentum around impact
sourcing, a practice where corporate organizations train and hire previously unemployed
youth into entry level jobs, will be interesting to watch for those looking to get into this
space.

Accomplishing the above and closing the other gaps touched on, will be complex, difficult and
resource intensive. It will require a process of trial, error and collaboration that will unfold over
years and decades rather than days or months. It is our collective duty to support them and
recognize it. From recommendations, it can be concluding that the goal of women’s empowerment
can be achieved by making them conscious about their rights through the provision of education,
by making them economically empowered through labor force participation and by focusing on
integrated development through enhancing women’s overall development.

37
Appendix

Name: Village /City:

Age: Marital Status:

Questions Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly

Disagree Agree
1. Do you think education is only
the medium from where women
empowerment is possible?
2. Do you think the access to
mobility can be a influencing
factor?
3. Do you think dowry as an
impediment?
4. Are you empowered in family
decision making?
5. Do you have the freedom of
making financial decision?
6. Do you had your freedom to take
decision for marriage?
7. Are your allowed to work
outside your home yards?
8. Career growth developed after
marriage is hardly seen in
Bangladesh?

9. Do you have Freedom of

expenditure from your own
earnings?
10. Do you have your opinion to
make family budget?
11.Do the number of children and
family members influence the
working hour of women?
12.Do you think NGOs have a
significant impact in increasing
women empowerment in
Bangladesh?
13.Government subsidies are
enough?
14.Only women who have earning
are empowered?

38
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