Women in Indian engineering: a preliminary analysis of data from the graduate level engineering education field in Kerala and Rajasthan

"Engineering has been associated with development ever since the origin of human civilization and it has always been included as an important agenda in the development discourse of the nation states especially in the context of their infrastructure growth. Participation in engineering by genders- numerically as well as qualitatively- is taken as an indicator of not just gender equality but as development of the society and the nation as well. Since the definition of infrastructure also has moved on from ‘hard’ objects like dams and bridges and so on to ‘light and soft’ things like computers -software and internet- engineers and engineering also underwent certain image changes. This image change is reflected in women being included as engineers in ‘a profession that has been dubbed as masculine’ (Carter and Kirkup 1990). Nevertheless images apart, are there substantial changes in the relationship between women and engineering? This is a fascinating question to explore considering that so little is studied on women engineers especially in India, situating them within the context of women’s status and their role in the national development. This study is trying to understand the trends and changed relationship in India, using the resources available from the engineering education field mainly in the states of Kerala and Rajasthan.

Transcending boundaries: Indian nurses in internal and international migration

"This paper discusses the case of Indian nurses who take up their profession as part of a family strategy, where planning for education and migration are intrinsic to the whole process. In effect, they migrate in a step-by-step phased manner: first within Indian states, mainly to metropolises, then to countries in the Persian Gulf, and further towards the West. It is not a simple, linear course of migration for them nor is it unique in any extraordinary way: yet their stories offer a terrain that is hitherto unexplored. The processes of migration start in the family milieu and involve considerations of job opportunities and information networks, working through precarious work contracts and unreliable middlemen. Meanwhile, their plans often include the life stages of marriage and motherhood. But anyhow, becoming a nurse in India today is in effect preparing to leave one’s homeland, if not forever, at least for long periods of time. The question of constant mobility and negotiation of boundaries within family and the outside world are, therefore, at the heart of the matter.

A profession on the margins: status issues in Indian nursing

"This joint paper attempts an unusual collaborative approach that offers an understanding of the problems that registered nurses of India have faced. Through this paper, we seek to locate the problem of ‘social status’ in both historical and contemporary landscapes, representing a relatively rare attempt to bridge the gap between studies of the institutions of colonial society, and studies of the current fortunes of their post-colonial inheritors. The study of nursing provides an important opportunity to understand the complex interaction between colonial and post-colonial modernities, and some of the results of that interaction. This is an important exercise, especially because of the invisibility of nurses and nurse leaders anywhere in the discourse on/by the women’s movement. Women teachers and doctors are highly visible, and nurses, who are seen as personification of women professionals, are almost completely absent. Even accounts of women’s movements’ history which are critical of elitism elsewhere and recognise, like Forbes, that ‘our sources on women’s work in the nineteenth and even much of the twentieth century are vague and unanalytical’ (1996: 157), do not go beyond the scope of earlier writings and look only at women like Haimavati Sen, Anandibai Joshi and Muthulakshmi Reddy, , who were doctors, as representatives of women in modern professions, while pioneer nurses are lost to history.

Causes, Consequences, and Policy Responses to the Migration of Health Workers: Key Findings from India

Background: This study sought to better understand the drivers of skilled health professional migration, its consequences, and the various strategies countries have employed to mitigate its negative impacts. The study was conducted in four countries—Jamaica, India, the Philippines, and South Africa—that have historically been “sources” of health workers migrating to other countries. The aim of this paper is to present the findings from the Indian portion of the study. Methods: Data were collected using surveys of Indian generalist and specialist physicians, nurses, midwives, dentists, pharmacists, dieticians, and other allied health therapists. We also conducted structured interviews with key stakeholders representing government ministries, professional associations, regional health authorities, health care facilities, and educational institutions. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression models. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically. Results: Shortages of health workers are evident in certain parts of India and in certain specialty areas, but the degree and nature of such shortages are difficult to determine due to the lack of evidence and health information. The relationship of such shortages to international migration is not clear. Policy responses to health worker migration are also similarly embedded in wider processes aimed at health workforce management, but overall, there is no clear policy agenda to manage health worker migration. Decision-makers in India present conflicting options about the need or desirability of curtailing migration. Conclusions: Consequences of health work migration on the Indian health care system are not easily discernable from other compounding factors. Research suggests that shortages of skilled health workers in India must be examined in relation to domestic policies on training, recruitment, and retention rather than viewed as a direct consequence of the international migration of health workers

The development of the nursing profession in a globalised context: a qualitative case study in Kerala, India

In the paper, we are looking at the relationship between globalisation and the professional project, using nursing in Kerala as an exemplar. Our focus is on the intersection of the professional project, gender and globalisation processes. Included in our analysis are the ways in which gender affects the professional project in the global south, and the development of a professional project which it is closely tied to global markets and global migration, revealing the political-economic, historical, and cultural factors that influence the shape and consequences of nurse migration. The phenomenon that enabled our analysis, by showing these forces at work in a particular time and place, was an outbreak of strikes by nurses working in private hospitals in Kerala in 2011–2012

Women in Indian Engineering: A Preliminary Analysis of Data from the Graduate Level Engineering Education Field in Kerala and Rajasthan

"Engineering has been associated with development ever since the origin of human civilization and it has always been included as an important agenda in the development discourse of the nation states especially in the context of their infrastructure growth. Participation in engineering by genders- numerically as well as qualitatively- is taken as an indicator of not just gender equality but as development of the society and the nation as well. Since the definition of infrastructure also has moved on from ‘hard’ objects like dams and bridges and so on to ‘light and soft’ things like computers -software and internet- engineers and engineering also underwent certain image changes. This image change is reflected in women being included as engineers in ‘a profession that has been dubbed as masculine’ (Carter and Kirkup 1990). Nevertheless images apart, are there substantial changes in the relationship between women and engineering? This is a fascinating question to explore considering that so little is studied on women engineers especially in India, situating them within the context of women’s status and their role in the national development. This study is trying to understand the trends and changed relationship in India, using the resources available from the engineering education field mainly in the states of Kerala and Rajasthan.

Transcending Boundaries: Indian Nurses in Internal and International Migration

"This paper discusses the case of Indian nurses who take up their profession as part of a family strategy, where planning for education and migration are intrinsic to the whole process. In effect, they migrate in a step-by-step phased manner: first within Indian states, mainly to metropolises, then to countries in the Persian Gulf, and further towards the West. It is not a simple, linear course of migration for them nor is it unique in any extraordinary way: yet their stories offer a terrain that is hitherto unexplored. The processes of migration start in the family milieu and involve considerations of job opportunities and information networks, working through precarious work contracts and unreliable middlemen. Meanwhile, their plans often include the life stages of marriage and motherhood. But anyhow, becoming a nurse in India today is in effect preparing to leave one’s homeland, if not forever, at least for long periods of time. The question of constant mobility and negotiation of boundaries within family and the outside world are, therefore, at the heart of the matter.

Comment s’ouvrir les frontières du monde ? La migration des infirmières indiennes

Presque toutes les jeunes femmes indiennes qui, aujourd’hui, optent pour la profession d’infirmière le font avec le but affiché d’émigrer : le diplôme d’infirmière est ainsi considéré comme un véritable passeport pour le monde, d’autant que de plus en plus de pays cherchent à les recruter. Le parcours migratoire des infirmières indiennes (dont presque toutes viennent du Kerala) s’est ainsi complexifié depuis ces dix dernières années : débutant par une migration interne vers les grandes métropoles indiennes, il débouche ensuite sur un séjour plus ou moins long dans le Golfe et se poursuit de plus en plus souvent en Occident où les jeunes infirmières pensent s’installer.Pour cette nouvelle génération d’infirmières, la migration est certes en partie une nécessité économique, mais elle représente surtout une stratégie de vie : c’est une façon pour elles, en tant que femmes, de gagner en autonomie et en indépendance, une façon d’échapper à la pression sociale qui s’exerce dans leur propre pays et qu’elles ressentent comme trop pesante et comme trop éloignée de leurs aspirations.L’objectif de cet article est de décrire et d’analyser ces stratégies migratoires, les changements induits par la migration dans leur statut en tant que femme et infirmière, ainsi que les réseaux féminins qui se sont mis en place au fil du temps. Un autre aspect pris en compte est l’émergence de « territoires » kéralais induits par la migration aussi bien dans des métropoles indiennes comme Delhi que dans certains pays du Golfe ou plus récemment dans quelques pays occidentaux.Almost all the young indian women who, nowadays, choose the nursing profession, do it with the clear goal of migration : the nursing diploma is thus considered as a true passport for the world, since more and more countries are looking to recruit them. The migratory path of indian nurses (almost all of them coming from Kerala) is more complicated since these last ten years : starting with an internal migration to the big indian cities, followed by a time in a Gulf countries, aiming actually to end up in a Western country where young indian nurses intend to settle down.For this new generation of nurses, migrating is partly an economic necessity, but it is mainly a question of life strategy : it is a way for them to get more autonomy and independence, a way to escape the social pressure of their own country that they feel as to heavy to live and far from their live expectation.This paper’s goal is to describe and analyse these migratory strategies, the changes they induced in these women status, but also the mostly female networks they used. Another point discussed will be the emergence of the different Keralese territories induced by this specific migration in indian metropolis like Delhi as well as in Gulf countries (Oman or UAE) or more recently in Western countries