Abstract:
The struggle for professional success for women is often intrinsically linked with challenges they encounter in their personal lives. To consider either one in insolation is to miss out on the larger picture. Gender roles and responsibilities need to be demystified time and again to engage in the gender equality discourse. This approach gains significance for women professional in teaching, especially in the recent times of unprecedented crisis where the boundary between professional and personal space is blurred.
Challenge is universal as some would argue, beyond gender roles and is as true for women as it is for men. Such an approach is problematic to say the least. A women’s identity at work is delinked with her gender roles and responsibilities. There is either an underlying presumption that there is a support system back at home or such an issue is not considered to merit a consideration. The marker of success for the same women in personal life is her dedication and devotion to her family. Such women who prioritze family over work are not only celebrated but made examples of. The result is a part rise of a highly stressed workforce which compromises with the goal of academic excellence.
The scope of the paper is limited to the challenges faced by women teaching professionals since choice of the profession itself is a manifestation of gender construct. The paper briefly traces the struggle of women’s movement in education and educational sector. It then outlines the structural barriers for working women and for women teaching professionals in particular. The third part of the paper deals with the impact of recent COVID pandemic on the gender politics in educational sector with specific reference to Indian context. The paper towards the end offers suggestions for minimizing the gender disparity in educational sector and a step towards gender equilibrium.
Speaker:
Prof. Snigdha Singh, Assistant Professor of Law, School of Law, Christ University, Bengaluru, India
Snigdha Singh, graduated from Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar and joined as an associate in India’s leading law firm, erstwhile Amarchand Mangaldas Suresh A. Shroff, Mumbai (now Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas). She thereafter completed her post- graduation from National University of Study and Research in Law, Ranchi with specialization in Constitutional Law and Governance. She was awarded the University Gold Medal for scoring the highest in the batch and Endowment Gold Medal for scoring the highest in her specialization paper. She was working at National Law University, Odisha before joining as an Assistant Professor at School of Law, Christ University, Bengaluru. She is simultaneously also pursuing her Ph.D. from National Law University, Odisha.
She has presented many papers in various international and national conferences in India on consumer rights and protection, gender issues, witness protection programme etc and participated in Youth Parliament (conceptualized by the UNESCO, the YP Foundation and the UNFPA), seminars, workshops and training programmes. She was a Core Member of the Project titled ‘Effectiveness of Government Measures for the Reduction of Court Cases’ which was awarded to Gujarat National Law University by Legal Department, Government of Gujarat. Her areas of general interest include Constitutional Law, Medical and Health Law. She has edited a book on ‘Socio-Legal Status of Unwed Mothers: Issues, Challenges and Way Ahead’ by Centre for Women and Law NLUO and published by Satyam International and various other university law journals. She also has few publications on Constitutional Law to her credit.