Prospects of higher education of the challenged women in India

Abstract

The present study aimed to explore the various constraints faced by orthopaedically challenged women in their way towards higher education in Indian society. The tools used for the investigation are the General Information Schedule (GIS), Socioeconomic Schedule, and Interview Schedule. The sample consisted of 100 orthopaedically challenged women collected on the basis of a situational sampling technique from eastern parts of India (West Bengal). The findings are discussed in relation to the barriers to higher educational opportunities for challenged women in India. The study found that the brute physical or architectural barriers, financial constraints and the attitudinal barriers have a significant influence on higher education of the challenged woman. Furthermore, the study also found huge rates of wastage and stagnation at the primary and secondary level of education. The paper concludes by recommending the need for an overall approach for counteracting various constraints that exist in the early level of their education, without which we can hardly dream of higher education of the challenged women in a country like India.

Keywords:

• orthopaedically challenged woman
• higher education
• dropout
• stagnation