Skill development in the informal hairdressing sector in South Asia: the case of India

ABSTRACT

Despite many schemes, barely 5% of India’s workforce is skilled. In India, there is a shortage of trained workers in the informal hairdressing sector, suggesting the relevance of skill development. This is crucial as one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) emphasizes developing skills for vulnerable groups. Thus, this study uses the example of India to explore skill development, engaging an exploratory approach. The study finds that several skill development initiatives are neglected in the hairdressing sector, and some of the programmes fail to provide the desired results. Therefore, rather than expanding the vocational training system, a comprehensive skill development program is required that improves the socioeconomic conditions of the hairdressers, solves gender inequality in the sector, and the problem of skill development to the vulnerable.

KEYWORDS:

• Informal sector
• hairdressers
• hairdressing salons
• skill development
• skill mismatch

Acknowledgments

The paper benefited from the insights from the African Scholars Mentorship Network (ASMN) hosted by DePECOS Institutions and Development Research Centre (DIaDeRC), Nigeria. The helpful comments from the anonymous reviewers are greatly appreciated. The views expressed are those of the authors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).