Income-Generating Activities and Multidimensional Empowerment of Rural Women in Tamil Nadu

V. Pavithra; Sonam  Agarwal; Seema  Naberia; Chandrika  Sharma; Sanjana Shrivastava; Prashish Singh

doi:10.48165/IJEE.2026.62433

Authors

V. Pavithra Master's Scholar, Department of Extension Education, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur-482004, Madhya Pradesh, India
Sonam Agarwal Assistant Professor, Department of Extension Education, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur-482004, Madhya Pradesh, India
Seema Naberia Assistant Professor, Department of Extension Education, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur-482004, Madhya Pradesh, India
Chandrika Sharma Lab Technician, Department of Extension Education, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur-482004, Madhya Pradesh, India
Sanjana Shrivastava Guest Faculty, Department of Extension Education, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur-482004, Madhya Pradesh, India
Prashish Singh Guest Faculty, Department of Extension Education, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur-482004, Madhya Pradesh, India

https://doi.org/10.48165/IJEE.2026.62433

Keywords:

Gender equity; Livelihood diversification; Market participation; Rural entrepreneurship; Self-help institutions

Abstract

The study was conducted during 2026 in three villages of Watrap block, Virudhunagar district, Tamil Nadu, to assess multidimensional empowerment among rural women participating in income-generating activities and examine its socioeconomic associations. A descriptive-correlational, cross-sectional design with retrospective pre-post assessment was adopted. Approximately 5% of eligible women were sampled from village-specific lists, yielding 130 respondents from Ammapatti , Kunnur and Vadukapatti; the unequal allocation reflected differences in village sampling-frame sizes. Empowerment was measured using a 30-item, five-dimensional schedule covering psychological, decision-making, social, economic and political domains, adapted with minor modifications from an existing empowerment scale and administered through a pre-tested interview schedule. Retrospectively reported overall empowerment increased by 16.47 percentage points after participation. Psychological empowerment recorded the largest gain (20.46), followed by social (18.08), economic (15.29), decision-making (15.00) and political empowerment (13.54). The largest indicator-level gains were observed in human-rights awareness (30.77), technology-adoption decisions (26.92) and access to modern technology (25.39). Education (r=0.479) and landholding (r=0.532) were positively associated with overall empowerment (p<0.01). Given the retrospective design, absence of a comparison group and restricted study area, findings represent perceived changes and associations rather than causal effects.

Author Biographies

V. Pavithra, Master's Scholar, Department of Extension Education, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur-482004, Madhya Pradesh, India

Master's Scholar, Department of Extension Education, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur-482004, Madhya Pradesh, India
Sonam Agarwal, Assistant Professor, Department of Extension Education, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur-482004, Madhya Pradesh, India

Assistant Professor, Department of Extension Education, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur-482004, Madhya Pradesh, India
Seema Naberia, Assistant Professor, Department of Extension Education, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur-482004, Madhya Pradesh, India

Assistant Professor, Department of Extension Education, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur-482004, Madhya Pradesh, India
Chandrika Sharma, Lab Technician, Department of Extension Education, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur-482004, Madhya Pradesh, India

Lab Technician, Department of Extension Education, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur-482004, Madhya Pradesh, India
Sanjana Shrivastava, Guest Faculty, Department of Extension Education, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur-482004, Madhya Pradesh, India

Guest Faculty, Department of Extension Education, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur-482004, Madhya Pradesh, India
Prashish Singh, Guest Faculty, Department of Extension Education, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur-482004, Madhya Pradesh, India

Guest Faculty, Department of Extension Education, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur-482004, Madhya Pradesh, India

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