Women and Empowerment

This volume uniquely highlights women’s empowerment, bringing in theoretical understandings, research studies and auto-ethnographic narratives of women belonging to different parts of the globe and paving the way towards achieving United Nations Sustainable Development goal 5. Its five distinct themes discuss the approaches, models, strategies, and a few success stories for empowering women, correlating and working towards a more equitable world. It also brings about other sustainable development goals integrated with gender equality and is essential for women’s overall well-being, safety, personal growth and development as individuals. A whole gamut of women’s development unfolds in the context of barriers and challenges to carve a niche to become empowered. The book is of interest to all those involved with women's studies, sociology, and anthropology, with inspirational examples toward achieving women’s equality.

Dr. Rekha Koul is Professor and the Deputy Head at the School of Education, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.  She has over three decades of teaching and research experience.  Her expertise lies in the development, refinement and validation of questionnaires, investigations of the effects of classroom environments on student outcomes; evaluation of educational programs; teacher action research aimed at improving their environments and curriculum evaluation.  She has successfully secured many local, national and international research grants.   She has delivered invited keynote addresses and also conducts teacher-professional learning workshops.

Dr. Renu Gupta M.A (Psychology), M.Ed., Ph.D.(Education) is working as the Chairperson of the MIER group of Institutions, Jammu, India. She has forty years of experience in teaching, research, and training.   Her areas of specialization are Educational Psychology, Distance Education, Women Development and Child Welfare, Teacher Education, Educational Management, Civic Education and Special Education respectively. She was a national-level trainer for the capacity-building programme for women managers in higher education under the UGC.  She has published many research papers nationally and internationally.  Besides, she is associated with many women  organisations and NGOs.

Dr. Bharti Tandon is an Associate Professor and Deputy Head in the School of Education and a Convener of Centre for Women’s Studies at MIER College of Education, Jammu, India. She has twenty-two years of experience in teaching and research. She is the recipient of several accolades including Endeavour Executive Award by the Australian Govt., Asian Staff and Faculty Award, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA and Research Award. She has served as a reviewer on various peer-reviewed journals and also as a resource person. Her research interests include Gender and Disability, Inclusive Education, Teacher Education and Mental Health.

Mrs. Rupa Gupta M.A (Sociology), M.Ed, is working as the Joint Director, Model Institute of Education and Research (MIER). She has eighteen years of teaching, administrative and managerial experience at the school and college level.  She has professional qualification of a one-month online certificate course on ‘Women in Leadership’ from Case Western Reserve University, USA. Besides, she has attended around thirty webinars/ workshops/training programmes on different themes.   She is a member of the editorial board of newsletters of the school and college. She is presently the Director of Smt. Shanti Gupta Centre for Women’s Studies, MIER College of Education doing exceptional work on the Gender Champions Scheme for students.