Empowerment Beyond Education and Employment: Evidence from Highly Educated Women in Urban Bangladesh
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58718/bigmjpa/2026.3.1Keywords:
Women’s empowerment, patriarchy, gender equality, gender stereotypes, decision-making autonomyAbstract
Despite higher education and formal employment, many women in Bangladesh remain hesitant to exercise decision-making authority, control their earnings, or assert personal choices in domestic and professional spheres. This study explores the empowerment dynamics of highly educated urban women employed in government organizations, addressing a critical gap in existing research that largely focuses on rural or less-educated populations. Guided by three objectives—examining whether education and employment translate into empowerment, identifying social, psychological, familial, and institutional constraints, and exploring strategies to enhance agency—the study adopts a mixed-methods approach. Quantitative data were collected from 63 women, and qualitative insights were obtained from 10 key informants with expertise in gender policy and institutional administration. Findings reveal that empowerment remains uneven despite formal achievements. Women exhibit autonomy in certain domains, such as household expenditures and healthcare decisions, yet patriarchal norms, low self-esteem, limited family support, and weak implementation of gender-sensitive policies continue to restrict decision-making power. Only 34.9–66.1% reported joint or independent authority in key household decisions, highlighting persistent structural and psychological barriers. The study emphasizes that meaningful empowerment requires a multi-level approach: fostering self-esteem, promoting family support, leveraging media to challenge gender stereotypes, and implementing robust gender-sensitive policies. By integrating individual, familial, and structural interventions, the research provides evidence-based guidance to transform formal educational and professional gains into substantive autonomy and decision-making power.
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