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What is behind the recent rise in women’s workforce participation?

Women’s workforce participation in India increased from 32% in 2022-23 to 37% in 2023-24, with the rise concentrated in rural areas. This article demonstrates that this significant change may be dri...

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Can conversations about minorities reduce discrimination? Evidence from anti-transgender discrimination in Chennai

Discriminatory behaviour is known to adversely impact equity and efficiency in a range of economic and social domains. In the context of discrimination against transgender people in urban Chennai, thi...

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How class and caste influence school choice

Families' socioeconomic status impacts how parents make decisions regarding their children's education. Taking into account the interplay of caste and class, this paper finds that when families are to...

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Girls in tech: Evaluating IIT’s Supernumerary Seats Scheme

Introduced in 2018, the Supernumerary Seats Scheme seeks to improve gender ratios among undergraduate engineering students at IITs, which have historically been male dominated. This article shows that...

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What is behind the recent rise in women’s workforce participation?

Women’s workforce participation in India increased from 32% in 2022-23 to 37% in 2023-24, with the rise concentrated in rural areas. This article demonstrates that this significant change may be dri...

  • Articles

Female labour force participation: Measurement and data quality

Official data revealed a sharp decline in female labour force participation in India between 2004-05 and 2011-12, despite fast economic growth in the country. Examining the measurement of women’s wo...

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International Women’s Day 2025: Towards equality and empowerment

Throughout this week, I4I has been sharing some of the latest evidence and ideas around women’s empowerment to mark International Women’s Day 2025. Discover the five-part series, and more about I4...

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Can job ad language help explain the gender gap in the Indian labour market?

Women applying for jobs tend to earn a lot less than men of the same age and education qualifications. Understanding the factors contributing to this disparity is crucial for addressing gender inequal...

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Fighting gender inequality through mobility: Assessing Delhi’s ‘Pink Ticket’ scheme

To address gender inequities in mobility, Delhi launched a fare-free bus travel scheme for women in 2019. Based on a survey of female passengers in the city, Nishant and Archana highlight positive eff...

  • Notes from the Field

Mind matters: How destigmatisation drives help-seeking in Nepal

Common mental health problems such as anxiety and depression constitute a significant public health challenge, with stigma being a key barrier to seeking proper care. Based on a study in Nepal, the ar...

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Road to empowerment: Rural roads programme and women's outcomes

Lack of spatial mobility is recognised as a critical constraint on women's socioeconomic participation. This article presents findings from a study examining the impact of India’s rural roads progra...

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Economic development and crime against women

With economic development, technology becomes more skill-intensive than brawn-intensive, increasing the earning potential of women. Analysing Indian data from 2004-2012, this article shows that the de...

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Defensive cooperation: Understanding pro-social attitudes in Indian Muslims

Mainstream theories of development predict greater willingness to contribute to public goods in more homogeneous settings. This article reports findings from a study in Delhi slums to assess how Hindu...

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Reporting of gender-based violence: Why public activism and dialogue matter

The recent case of an on-duty female doctor being brutally raped and murdered in a Kolkata hospital, has sparked nation-wide protests and yet again raised serious questions and concerns around women...

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Digital gender divide amidst India’s service-led growth

While India’s growth in recent decades has been services-led, entering high-productivity business services requires an adequate supply of high-skilled workers. In this context, Isha Gupta discusses ...

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Recent Contributors

Nandana

Nandana Sengupta

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

Swati

Swati Sharma

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

Priyanshi

Priyanshi Chaudhary

O.P. Jindal Global University

Avanindra Nath

Avanindra Nath Thakur

O.P. Jindal Global University

Karan

Karan Bhasin

University at Albany, SUNY

Surjit

Surjit Bhalla

International Monetary Fund

Tirthatanmoy

Tirthatanmoy Das

Indian Institute of Management Bangalore

I4I

I4I Team

Ideas for India

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Most Popular Social Identity Posts

Hindu-Muslim fertility differentials in India: An update

Building on past research, Saswata Ghosh and Pallabi Das estimate the state- and district-level fertility differentials between Hindus and Muslims using data from the latest round of the NFHS. They sh...

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A division of labourers: Caste identity and efficiency in India

Castes in India are closely associated with certain occupations and determine the jobs done by millions. This study uses a new dataset to show that a large proportion of workers still work in their ca...

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Measuring caste inequality across Indian states

Although recent research on inequality shows that upper castes have the highest levels of material well-being, there is a wide variation in caste inequality across India. Measuring three forms of cast...

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