Unlock Potential 1.0 – The aspirations of young Vijayapura women
- By Ranjini Rao HS
- December 14, 2020
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Women, Networking, Careers
‘I am Ranjini from the Skill Office; I have called to get a confirmation of your participation in our upcoming women-only meeting’, I said to a 25 year old interested candidate. As I spoke, a feeble voice requested me to seek permission from her parents to attend the event and immediately disconnected the call. Many more such conversations over days of follow-up with young women registered on the Kaushalkar skilling portal, hinted at the strict, conditional norms laid out for movement, interaction and participation by many families of young women.
Large programs such as DAY-NULM and NRLM typically attract women in their thirties, who are well settled with care giving and have limited scope to work outside the confines of their communities. What about younger women who are caught between the beckoning of professional life, financial independence, and the pressure to fulfil domestic responsibilities? The aim of one of my projects (Women Work Wonders) is to institutionalize professional networking support to women through a chain of district skill development offices spread across Karnataka, and provide reliable professional migration support. Hence, a meet and greet session was organised at the skill office , which saw 15 women between the ages of 20-30 years interact, discuss and share their aspirations with us.
A 24 year old M.SC Mathematics graduate wished to do her B.Ed and work at a local school, a B.Com graduate wished to clear the IBPS exam and secure a bank job, and many more young women wished to clear the KAS exam. There was clearly an inclination towards government jobs, and the most common reasons cited were; a guaranteed job which can facilitate ‘settling down’, and fixed work timings. There was a serious mismatch between the aspirations of these women and the world where more and more short-term training, contractual work and quick adaptation is the key to survival and professional growth. An hour into the session, what I did realise is the familial and societal factors at play resulting in their ‘practical aspirations’. Restriction of movement to other districts let alone other states, for non-governmental jobs, lack of a robust transportation system facilitating independent, safe movement of women, disproportionate domestic responsibilities and the burden of early marriage and care giving deeply influence and limit the professional capacity of these women and their subsequent participation in the workforce (as per the 2011 census, it is 32.6% for women and 52% for men, in Vijayapura). Three women subsequently expressed their strong desire to migrate elsewhere for work; better salary, the desire to live under better climatic conditions, and the freedom to live independently were cited as the underlying reasons to migrate. Abrupt change in culture and work environment, fear of exploitation, lack of communication skills, lack of legitimate source of work opportunities in other cities (only 1 out 15 women knew about Linkedin/Naukri.com), and a lack of familial support continue to hinder the career growth of young women.
While there are innumerable overarching social issues hindering the professional growth of women, it is undeniable that capacity building and providing institutionalising support to those who come forward is extremely important to instil confidence in more young women to take a brave and confident step in the right direction.
IBPS – Institute of Banking Personnel Selection
KAS – Karnataka Administrative Services
DAY-NULM – Deendayal Antyodaya National Urban Livelihood Mission
NRLM – National Rural Livelihood Mission
Kaushalkar - https://www.kaushalkar.com/
MGN Fellow Ranjini with participants of the 1st meet-and-greet session
Ranjini Rao HS