Women’s realm — studies and research

The Centre for Women’s Development Studies, New Delhi, develops, promotes and disseminates knowledge about women’s roles in society and economic trends which affect their lives.

Pliloting a trend: A woman drives a metro train in Bangalore.

Those who are interested in carrying out serious research on women’s issues can gainfully utilise the rich infrastructure and enlightened and committed faculty in the unique Centre for Women’s Development Studies in New Delhi.

The centre was established in 1980. The initiative had come from a group involved in the preparation of the first comprehensive government report on the “Status of women in India.”

Later on, the members of the group were associated with the Women’s Studies Programme of the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR). The Advisory Committee on Women’s Studies of the council recommended the need for an autonomous institute to build on the knowledge already generated, but with a wider mandate and resources to expand its activities in research and action. This was taken up by the Women’s Bureau of the Union Ministry of Social Welfare. This in brief is the genesis of the Centre for Women’s Development Studies, 25, Bhai Vir Singh Marg, New Delhi – 110 001; Website: www.cwds.org. The centre is supported by the ICSSR.

Develops, promotes and disseminates knowledge about women’s roles in society and economic trends which affect women’s lives and status.

Organises and assists training programmes in the field; collaborates with institutions engaged in allied activities, especially in areas where under-privileged women are involved.

In a nutshell, the centre is a catalyst in assisting women in realising their full potential and exercising their active influence on society and its transformation. It discourages any action that marginalises women’s role in, or contribution to, society. Women’s special needs such as maternity protection, child care, literacy education and expanding employment opportunities are being focussed.

The mainstay of the centre since its inception has been research. “Women’s studies” is not a simple entity of one dimension, but it involves facing the rigours and challenges in a broad interdisciplinary field of scholarship. Research has to be responsive to contemporary problems and new questions demanding investigation.

The centre makes regular studies and goal-oriented research on a wide range of topics that are intimately connected with women’s problems, and steps to empower them to be strong participants in nation-building. Even issues that may look unimportant in the first look may have immense impact on the roles of women in society. Let us take some of the topics that are/were studied at the centre to get a clear picture of the opportunities that await future students and researchers at the centre.

The special issues concerning women’s healthcare, such as coverage, type of service-providers, nature of service provided, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, sustainability and equity, were identified. The role of the private sector in healthcare is on the rise in our country. A judicious mix of the private and the public sectors can meet the requirements of low-income groups among women effectively. Studies based on PPP (public private partnerships) were held, analysing different health areas affecting women’s life.

This is an interesting study of motivation, compulsions and women’s experiences of domestic migration.The primary focus has been on labour migration rather than demographic movements. Changes in personal and work lives and identification of the new possibilities and tension generated by migration were analysed.

There is significant impact on family relations, economic structures and a broad range of citizenship rights. There is a paradox of a high rate of female migration along with a falling rate of female work participation.The field surveys conducted in 17 States showed an inexplicable jump in the rates of marriage migration. This deserves a detailed study and exploration. Higher education, gender and discrimination:

Study on the relationships between higher education, gender and discrimination is made with some comparison between the conditions in India and China.

Though there are several initiatives in this area, questions of gender are often forgotten. Women’s participation in higher education is sometimes shaped by the interlocking markets of labour, education, and marriage. factors such as class, region, caste and community also become significant in shaping women’s higher education.

The study demonstrates how the multidimensional nature of care-giving and its quantitative or qualitative time and labour demands are not recognised.

The findings suggest a stratified familialism in care practices owing to the differences in time available to family members for care. (Familialism is an ideology that promotes the ‘nuclear family.’)

Care becomes reduced when mothers in poor families go for paid work. Crèches and pre-schools may be beyond their reach. However, women from the elite and upper middle classes can break out from the gendered moulds.

Official denial of the time and skill requirements of care, along with the non-recognition of women’s multi-layered work, adds to women’s burden.

This issue has to be addressed to liberate women and ensure justice to them.

Some of the other areas explored are:

Adverse child sex ratio in North-West India.

Globalisation and women’s work.

Multiple vulnerabilities and marginal identities: exploring violence in the everyday lives of women with disabilities.

Gender and democratic governance.

Study on women migrants of Tamil origin in France.

Women in Indian engineering: An analysis of graduate degree level education.

Gender, status, and migration of Malayali nurses.

From oppression to assertion: Women and Panchayats in India.

Winning with English

Not much is being done in colleges and universities to improve the English communication skills of students. A recent survey comes as a wake-up call.

“I can’t able to tell you.” This might just be one instance of a grammatically wrong sentence that often is a part of everyday conversations but it is just the tip of the iceberg as far as communication in business rooms is concerned.

According to the survey by employability measurement company Aspiring Minds, the English learning level among engineering graduates is very poor in India. The survey which analysed the English skills of over 55,000 aspiring engineers in 250 different engineering colleges, said “around 36 per cent of engineering graduates would be unable to read official reports and transcripts and derive information out of them, even when the information is explicitly stated.”

“The worse of it often comes out in mails — the most important medium of communication in corporate offices,” says R. Rajaram, HR head of an IT major. He explains, “They write incomplete sentences; their punctuation is non-existent and grammar very poor. This is why most companies have readymade templates with sentences, and employees just have to choose what they have to say.”

While Tamil Nadu has an excellent recruitment record with the State supplying the largest number of engineers, surveys on employability have cast the State in a poor light. A few months ago, Aspiring Minds also came out with a survey that said Tamil Nadu figured the lowest on the employability index. “This is mainly because they are not able to converse in English. Most of them are not confident of themselves,” the study concluded.

“Companies take communication very seriously and there are frequent training sessions for them. But all of that is focussed on their speaking skills. There is little done to improve their vocabulary or grammar,” says a senior HR Official.

One reason for the problem is the limited use of English in colleges though the language is the medium of instruction. “More than 70 per cent of the class is from rural areas and they understand nothing when taught in English. Once students get the concept and learn to communicate it in Tamil, English will definitely follow,” says G. Sathyamurthy, mechanical engineering professor, Anna University, explaining why the language is not used much in classrooms.

Colleges need to do their bit to inculcate an interest in the language among students but it must not just be for the sake of ensuring placements, says R. Prabha, who trains students on communication skills. “Every one thinks business English is sufficient to get a job and sustain it. But that way, one does not get a hang of conversational English, which is very important as you climb up the ladder. “As a result, students will be able to explain technical points but are at a loss when it comes to interacting and conversing comfortably with others,” she adds.

For instance, R. Gnanam, who studied computer science at Anna University and graduated last year, is yet to find a job. “I have an 8.7 CGPA but I get rejected by every company. English is a must to get into companies,” he points out. Those like R. Jayaprakash, who works as a senior software engineer, add that one cannot take it easy even after entering a company. “We are expected to constantly brush up our communication abilities. We need to network, and present demonstrations, send regular mails and make sure people understand what we are saying and vice-versa.”

There is dire lack of awareness of the issue. For instance, most bulletin boards are insensitive to the topic and common mistakes in conversation are at best a source of humour. “Companies want the best communicators who can work in tandem with clients and there is no other way to that without knowing to speak English,” says Jayaprakash.

With maths in Plus 2 must, demand for MCA goes down in Tamil Nadu

Only 6,109 applied for the 12,500 seats

That a change in a single eligibility criterion can lead to many not being able to take up a postgraduate degree was evident from the number who had applied for the Tamil Nadu MCA Counselling 2012.

Only 6,109 had applied for the counselling under the single window system for admission to MCA degree courses offered in Government, Government-aided, and self-financing engineering and arts and science colleges of Tamil Nadu for the academic year 2012-13, which began here at the Government College of Technology (GCT), on Monday.

And, this number looks less because there are nearly 12,500 government quota seats up for grabs.

While there were over 9,000 aspirants who attended the counselling in 2010-11, the number rose to 11,014 in 2011-12. But in sharp contrast, this year has witnessed only half that number opting for counselling. This decline is being attributed to the new All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) guideline that lays down that only a candidate who has studied mathematics in Plus-Two is eligible to apply for MCA. This is irrespective of him/her studying mathematics in graduation.

With so many seats under the government quota available, there were only very few making use of these seats, because they were not able to meet the criterion. There were 8,841 seats in engineering colleges, and as many as 3,576 seats in arts and science colleges, with a total of 12,417 seats.

It was the second rank holder with 56.00 who received the first allotment letter. This year too there were no surprises with the toppers choosing to pursue their course at PSG College of Technology.

M. Vishnu Narayanan from Tiruchi was the first to get provisional admission into PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore. He received the allotment letter from V. Lakshmi Prabha, Principal of GCT, and Secretary of Tamil Nadu MBA/MCA Admissions 2012. Sixth rank holder from Coimbatore, J. Vicky, with a TANCET score of 53.75 got the second allotment letter for admission into PSG College of Technology. Seventh rank holder H. Manish Kumar for Chennai with a TANCET score of 52.75, received the third allotment letter for admission into SSN College of Technology, Chennai.

R. Krishnaswami, Regional Manager, State Bank of India, Coimbatore, gave away prizes to the first three toppers who received the allotment letters.

On Sunday, a separate counselling was held for the physically challenged where only eight candidates attended. Here too, though there were more than 200 seats allotted under the three per cent disability quota, there were just eight orthopaedically challenged candidates who appeared.

The seats that did not get filled under the disability quota would be added to the general category.

The general counselling for MCA would go on till July 30 including Sundays. It would start at 8 a.m. each day and would be held in five batches.