HIGHER EDUCATION AND WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN URBAN  BANGLADESH: A CASE STUDY FROM KHULNA CITY  CORPORATION OF SOUTHWESTERN BANGLADESH

Nusrat  Jahan; Md. Tanvir  Hossain; Selina  Ahmed; Quazi Moshrur-Ul Alam

doi:10.53808/KUS.2016.13.1.1503-S

Authors

Nusrat Jahan Sociology Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna 9208, Bangladesh
Md. Tanvir Hossain Sociology Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna 9208, Bangladesh
Selina Ahmed Sociology Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna 9208, Bangladesh
Quazi Moshrur-Ul Alam Aquaculture for Income and Nutrition Project, WorldFish, Goalchamot, Faridpur 7804, Bangladesh

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53808/KUS.2016.13.1.1503-S

Keywords:

Women empowerment, higher education, economic activities, reproductive health

Abstract

One hundred and forty educated married women, selected randomly from Sonadanga and Nirala residential areas of Khulna City Corporation (KCC) of Bangladesh, were interviewed through a interview schedule, containing 46 Likert-type questions under eight mutually interlinked domains on measuring empowerment. Findings show that the respondents were, on an average, ±32 years of age, three-fourth of which from Muslim families, and a significant percent of them (39.3%) were economically inactive. Yet, the educated women, postgraduates in particular, have greater control over household resources (p<.004) and enjoyed more social mobility (p<.000) than graduate women. Postgraduate women also played decisive role in personal as well as familial affairs, including making decisions in reproductive health (p<.001) and other family issues (p<.005), and they have more knowledge and access to women’s legal rights (p<.001) compared to graduate women. Women’s exposure to higher education, indeed, marked noteworthy changes in women’s capacity to control over, access to and participate in crucial issues within and outside their households (p<.006).

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