Mahatma Gandhi is famously known as the "Father of the Indian Nation." People closely associated with him also lovingly call him "Bapu," which means father. His contribution to the Indian freedom movement has been immense and noteworthy. His educational views were transformative and provided the first blueprint on which modern…

In this paper, a novel education framework for a gender-inclusive, development oriented approach is investigated within the context of a non-formal vocational education and training programme implemented in rural India. Analysis of the two-year intervention that delivered vocational and life skills education to women in rural India has led to a…

This article reports the results of a network analysis on the financing and implementation networks of private foundations characterized as regional and/or domestic that supported targeted girls' and women's education initiatives in two subregions of Asia: South Asia and East Asia and the Pacific. It analyzes an originally constructed dataset of…

Student input is usually limited to expression, while collaboration and leadership increase student engagement and investment. This study sought to collect and elevate the voices of students from a small school for girls in rural East India. Participants included staff and former students. During multiple cycles of data collection, participants…

Articles 28 and 30 of the Indian Constitution (1950) guarantee the right of religious minorities to establish their educational institutions and impart religious education. Analysing the curriculum, textbooks, and pedagogical practices of one such minority-run institution for girls makes it possible for us to see how contemporary Muslims in India…

Using a comparative perspective, this study explores determinants of college STEM diversity in gender, focusing on female youth in India as an under-represented sub-group in STEM. Much of the current literature understand female under-representation in college STEM as a result of individual traits, e.g., STEM self-efficacy. Yet recent qualitative…

Indigenous women in India struggle to maintain their traditional knowledge, education and livelihoods in the face of colonization, neoliberalism and development. The paper analyzes the vocational education and skills training programmes implemented for indigenous women in India by the national government and local agencies. It considers the…

In 2018, Nuh, barely 75 km from India's parliament, was ranked by the Government as the country's most 'backward' district. It is a region fraught with many challenges including endemic poverty and simmering communal tensions, which among other factors have contributed to historically limiting women from pursuing higher education or building…

This report is one in a series of case studies RAND researchers are conducting as part of an independent evaluation of the BHP Foundation's Education Equity program. This case study traces the development of two efforts by UN Women's Second Chance Education Programme (SCE) in India to support policy changes that improve women's access to education…

Gender disparity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in higher education is a matter of concern across the world. Expansion of the higher education sector in the early twenty-first century in India has enabled to bring attitudinal changes in Indian families especially towards females' STEM higher education. The present…

This theoretical research article delves into the necessity of embracing digital pedagogy as a transformative force for girls' education in contemporary India. This study is grounded in three main objectives: (1) assessing the current state of girls' education in India, (2) exploring the potential benefits of digital pedagogy, and (3)…

The empowerment of women is one of the focusing issues in the process of developing countries over all the world. The International Women's Day celebrated on 8th March each year has become a day of demonstration for equal opportunity and solidarity. But the question arises how relevant is a celebration of Women's Day because their position in the…

The gender dimension of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) has intrigued social scientists for a long time. Although in India, women's entry to STEM higher education has been improving over the last few decades, the reality of premier institutions remains broadly unaltered. The current qualitative research was an attempt: (a)…

One of the main objectives of the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) System is to increase the participation of people in higher education and to accelerate the growth and development of a country. Today, the importance of education for women is realized worldwide because higher education for women is vital for the social, economic, political and…

Since 2014, India's Swaach Bharat Mission (Clean India), launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has garnered international attention for dispersing millions of toilets across the subcontinent. The five-year campaign goes much further, though, in the educational realm, where it attempts to make sustainable change through the country's national…