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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND WOMEN

EMPOWERMENT A STUDY
B.PERUNDEVI,
Asst.Professor of History,
History Wing, DDE,
Annamalai University.
Empowerment is a multi-faceted, multi-dimensional and multi-layered
concept. Women's empowerment is a process in wic women gain greater
sare of control over resources - material, uman and intellectual li!e
!nowledge, information, ideas and financial resources li!e money - and access
to money and control over decision-ma!ing in te ome, community, society
and nation, and to gain "power'. According to te #ountry $eport of
%overnment of &ndia, 'Empowerment means moving from a position of
enforced powerlessness to one of power'
Education is a potent tool in te emancipation and empowerment of
women. (e greatest single factor wic can incredi)ly improve te status of
women in any society is education. &t is indispensa)le tat education ena)les
women not only to gain more !nowledge a)out te world outside of er eart
and ome )ut elps er to get status, positive self esteem, and self confidence ,
necessary courage and inner strengt to face callenges in life. Apparently it
also facilitates tem to procure a *o) and supplement te income of family and
acieve social status. Education especially of women as a ma*or impact on
ealt and nutrition as an instrument of developing a sustaina)le strategy for
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population control. +oreover educated women can play an e,ually important
role as men in nation )uilding. (us tere is no denying fact tat education
empowers women. &ndeed te different organs of te United -ations and e.perts
on women/s li)eration argue for women0s education as te )asic step to attain
e,uality wit men
Higer education facilitated women0s entry into gainful employment. (is
is more true a)out te middle class women. &n te early days of te 12
t
century
only women from te lower classes sougt outside *o)s. (e middle and upper
class women stayed ome, caring for teir cildren and attending to teir
domestic cores. (e increasing participation of women in te economic activity
in &ndia reflected )y te growt in te num)er of women employees. (e
%overnment of &ndia is considering various measures for increasing sare of
women in pu)lic employment including rela.ing age and e.perience limit. &n te
administration and economic speres, despite te increased participation of
women, teir sare remains minimal. -o dou)t, economic independence will
contri)ute to /gender0 e,uality. 3inancial independence is li!ely to )ring more
social status, power and independence for many women. &n recent years women
ave come in forefront in different wal!s of life and are competing successfully
wit men despite te social, psycological and economic )arriers. (ey are
leading consultants, eminent scientists and matematicians, administrators and
)usiness entrepreneurs. (ey ave disproved te old teories and assumptions
a)out women. &n recent times several women are now willing to )ecome
entrepreneurs due to various factors. Wit te spread of education and new
awareness, women entrepreneurs are spreading teir wings to iger levels of
4E0s namely engineering, electronics and energy.
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Education relating to &( is one of te most important means of empowering
women. &t e,uips women wit !nowledge, s!ills and self-confidence necessary
to participate more fully in te development process. &t may )e considered as te
single most important investment tat a country can ma!e for its women at te
individual level and at te macro level. (amil -adu as registered an impressive
performance in te information tecnology in te second alf of fiscal year
1225-1226.
#omputeri7ation radically increases te spread of decision ma!ing wile
providing leads for furter action and innovations. A new We) site was
designed and developed for (amil -adu #orporation for Development of
Women 8td. 9ttp:;;www.tamilnaduwomen.org< to sare te information on
+aalir (ittam, latest status reports, sceme details, pro*ect partners details,
etc. #omputer training for all staff 9(amil -adu #orporation for Development of
Women 8td< is underta!en periodically to update teir !nowledge in te latest
software and tecnologies for te effective use of &( and to !eep pace wit
canging tecnology.
(e good news on te gender front is tat &( companies are actively
see!ing to recruit women at senior or leadersip levels. 3or e.ample, companies
li!e =atyam #omputers as >? per cent of women in its wor!force of around
1@,222 )ut at te leadersip level tis percentage comes down to A per cent.
%enerally spea!ing, te &( #ompanies are desperate to get more women at
senior levels and are prepared to )e fle.i)le. (e &( companies want to improve
te percentage of women in senior positions. +any women don0t ave suc
am)ition. Bnce tey reac te age of 42, 45 or C2 years, tey get placement and
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do not want to forgo aead. +arriage and cildren are deterrentD married
women face pressure from in-laws and us)ands. =ome of te divorced women
find it difficult to fit into teams. At senior levels family women fit in muc
)etter. (us wit certain set)ac!s at senior levels, family women fit in muc
)etter.
Bnline education is a )oon to women. Welcome to te new generation,
mecanical life and materialistic people. 3rom espressos to ands free pones
and laptops, everyting ave )ecome easy. (e concept, i.e., Espend more time
learning anytime;anywereF as developed in recent times. &t is online education
wic is a powerful EEducation (oolF provided )y &-(E$-E(. (ese we)-
)ased virtual classrooms ave transformed many students and teacers to e-
sisyas and e-gurus. Women ave lot of advantages due to te online
education. (ey are a)le to continue or furter teir pursuit for iger studies
rigt from teir room. Bnline education provides more interaction wit te
faculty in carge tan te distance learning programmes do. Bnline education
elps in saring common caracteristics and elp in saring ideas and views.
3rom aeronautics to marine e.ploration women ave acieved a lot and
created a nice for temselves in various fields. Bnline Education is not
someting )eyond teir limits. (ere are numerous we)sites osted )y women,
for women. (eir we)sites provide necessary information, assistance, tips and
guidance for women of all ages. Bnline education is not only offering significant
advantages )ut also a )oon especially for women in tis /WB+E-0= E$A0.
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(e =elf Employed Women's Association 9=EWA< as )een organi7ing women
in te informal sector in &ndia since >?A1. &t was one of te first organi7ations
glo)ally to reali7e te potential of using &( for te productive growt of te
informal sector. =EWA is esta)lising (ecnology &nformation #entres in >>
districts of %u*arat to provide computer awareness training and )asic computer
s!ills for teir E)arefoot managersF, )uild te capacity of women organi7ers and
leaders, and strengten teir mem)ers0 micro-enterprises. Electronic networ!ing
is e.pected to strengten te connections )etween te various cooperatives
wor!ing in different sectors and areas.
(ere are many sites osted )y women. =ome of te sites are:
www.womenexe!.om
(is we)site offers a complete guidance on various courses from fitness to
gardening and &( courses for women. (ey ave colla)oration wit foreign
universities in order to maintain te standard of online education. 3urter, tey
conduct online tests, ,ui77es, tutorials and wor!sops to develop new s!ills.
www.worldwidelearn.com
(is we)site was esta)lised twenty years ago )y Women0s Education
E,uity Act 9WEEA< of United =tates to educate girls and women in U=A. (ey
put te power of learning at fingertips )y offering wide variety of degrees,
courses, tutorials and online pro*ects. &t follows a continuous educational
system.
Bter we)sites tat offer suc online courses andled )y women are :
www.mindflas.com and www.uc4>>.com. (e GG# provides a complete we)
page for women on ealt related pro)lems and ealt care tips. -A=A as also
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provided a separate we) page for women, updating women advances and
acievements in space tecnology. Eac day appro.imately 44,222 new users go
online. A)out one-tird of te &nternet users are women. Bnline trading 9=toc!
+ar!et< is )etter suited for women since tey can trade from ome. =tudies in
te U= and UH found tat women are )etter investors tan men. Women are
also )etter at investing game and add some spice to te game to pit men against
women. =tudying te results of 45,222 stoc!older0s clients, it as )een found
tat women earned >.CI per annum more tan men in teir stoc! profits
)etween >??> and >??A. Women do far )etter tan teir male peers and ma!e
profits muc )etter. Even at grass roots level, women find tecnology a
li)erating force.
Women, especially in ur)an areas are mostly recruited in call centers as
tey ta!e a largely instrumental approac to teir employment and ave
promising prospectus of self-development. /#ommunication s!ills0 and
/Professionalism0 are te two !ey pre re,uisites for *o) at call centers. Women
posses )ot tese ,ualities and ave a positive outloo!s towards tis profession.
3emale dominance in te field of call-centers is due to teir increasing demands
of ig-status *o)s re,uiring tecnical !now-ow and e.pertise. (ose were te
days wen women considered teir family as te wole world. Gut times ave
canged. -ow women consider te wole world as er family. (e attractive
salaries and allowances ave attracted women towards te call-centers, wic
ave some positive aspects.
Gy te end of te 12
t
century women ave received appro.imately one-
tird of te Gacelor0s degrees o)tained in computer science and as made up
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one-tird of te internet community. (ere are many female programmers,
systems administrators, software engineers. And #ief E.ecutive Bfficers of
software and ardware companies currently in wor!face. =till, te num)er of
women entering computer science continues to dwindle, and tose already in te
field consistently report feelings of discomfort and uneasy. A tecnology may )e
appropriate to a women if reduces er drudgery, improve er environment and
s!ills, and enance er comforts.
Women in large num)er use te &nformation and #ommunication
(ecnologies in education, employment, )usiness, entertainment etc. (ey are
te producers and designers of information tecnology. (ey are te decision
ma!ers and leaders in te &( industries and te &( educational institutions. (eir
role in e-governance, e-ealt, e-pu)lising, e-)an!ing, cy)er policing and
e-development is commenda)le. &( is a perfect place for women. Gut sadly tere
are only>4I - >CI of women in tis field. Especially women senior associates
are very few. However, many women ave dived into te remar!a)le world of
Bceanograpy and ave made significant and priceless contri)utions to te
world. &n rural areas also women ave access to computer education.
#omputeri7ation as radically increased te spread of decision ma!ing among
tem. #omputer education undou)tedly as )een identified as one of te critical
issues for promoting women0s empowerment.
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REFERENCES"
1. -.8.%upta91224<Womens Education Through Ages, #oncept Pu)lications
#o,-ew Deli.
2. $.H.$ao9122># Women and Education, Halpa7 Pu)lications, Deli
4. =.P.Agarval9122>#,Womens Education in India(1995-98)Present Status,
Perspective, Plan, Statistical Indicators with Global View, Jol &&& #oncept
Pu)lications #o, -ew Deli.
C. -A==#B+. T$e IT %n&'()*+ %n In&%,: =trategic $eview 122A. -ew Deli
122A, ttp:;;www.metrics1.com.
5. Dr.Kaya Hotai Pillai, >??5, Women Em-owe*men) , %yan Pu)lising
House, -ew Deli.
6. =araswati +isra, S),)'( o. In&%,n women , %yan Pu)lising House ,
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A. De =ou7a,A.9ed.<, women in contemporary &ndia, -ew Deli, >??5.
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