Women empowered: The Purkal Project – weaving the fibers of transformation through education and entrepreneurship in rural northern India

Dimopoulos, Carol A.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/109383 Copy

Description

Title

Women empowered: The Purkal Project – weaving the fibers of transformation through education and entrepreneurship in rural northern India

Author(s)

Dimopoulos, Carol A.

Issue Date

2020-11-25

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Witt, Allison

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Witt, Allison

Committee Member(s)

• McCarthy, Cameron
• Pak, Yoon
• Kang, Hyun-Sook

Department of Study

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Discipline

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ed.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• women’s empowerment
• social intervention
• feminism

Abstract

In this paper, the researcher presents the findings of this original qualitative study on the human experience of the participants of The Purkal Project, change-makers in social innovation that provide free, world-class education and vocational development in an economically challenged rural community in the Himalayan region of Northern India. In this paper, the researcher explored the history of the conditions of poverty for women in India, reviewed the development of the Purkal Project, and shared personal perspectives from participants. Societal engagement through family and education are core fundamentals of development and community empowerment; however, social conditions exist which contribute to and perpetuate women’s state of poverty in this region. The researcher addressed the unprecedented challenges to the international research process, as well as the effect on the Purkal Project’s participants, based on the lockdown conditions created by the COVID-19 global pandemic. An examination of these past and present conditions was essential before presenting the participants’ stories to determine their perception regarding social intervention projects, which can have a lasting impact on societal development in rural Northern India. Changes in rural societies must begin with the examination of women's status, which is related to other components of development that benefit children and society, as well as oppositional factors which could impede women’s agency. The purpose of this study was to explore the history of the conditions that created and continue to perpetuate the feminization of poverty. The researcher also examined participants’ perspective on the effect of the Purkal Project as a social intervention which has developed sustainable methods of poverty alleviation, thereby encouraging agency and empowerment for women and their families in economically challenged rural communities in the Himalayan region of Northern India.

Graduation Semester

2020-12

Type of Resource

Thesis

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/109383

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2020 Carol Dimopoulos

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