{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/109383"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/109383","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Women empowered: The Purkal Project – weaving the fibers of transformation through education and entrepreneurship in rural northern India","abstract":"In this paper, the researcher presents the findings of this original qualitative study on the human experience of the participants of The Purkal Project, change-makers in social innovation that provide free, world-class education and vocational development in an economically challenged rural community in the Himalayan region of Northern India. In this paper, the researcher explored the history of the conditions of poverty for women in India, reviewed the development of the Purkal Project, and shared personal perspectives from participants. Societal engagement through family and education are core fundamentals of development and community empowerment; however, social conditions exist which contribute to and perpetuate women’s state of poverty in this region. The researcher addressed the unprecedented challenges to the international research process, as well as the effect on the Purkal Project’s participants, based on the lockdown conditions created by the COVID-19 global pandemic. An examination of these past and present conditions was essential before presenting the participants’ stories to determine their perception regarding social intervention projects, which can have a lasting impact on societal development in rural Northern India. Changes in rural societies must begin with the examination of women's status, which is related to other components of development that benefit children and society, as well as oppositional factors which could impede women’s agency. The purpose of this study was to explore the history of the conditions that created and continue to perpetuate the feminization of poverty. The researcher also examined participants’ perspective on the effect of the Purkal Project as a social intervention which has developed sustainable methods of poverty alleviation, thereby encouraging agency and empowerment for women and their families in economically challenged rural communities in the Himalayan region of Northern India.","abstract_html":"In this paper, the researcher presents the findings of this original qualitative study on the human experience of the participants of The Purkal Project, change-makers in social innovation that provide free, world-class education and vocational development in an economically challenged rural community in the Himalayan region of Northern India. In this paper, the researcher explored the history of the conditions of poverty for women in India, reviewed the development of the Purkal Project, and shared personal perspectives from participants. Societal engagement through family and education are core fundamentals of development and community empowerment; however, social conditions exist which contribute to and perpetuate women’s state of poverty in this region. The researcher addressed the unprecedented challenges to the international research process, as well as the effect on the Purkal Project’s participants, based on the lockdown conditions created by the COVID-19 global pandemic. An examination of these past and present conditions was essential before presenting the participants’ stories to determine their perception regarding social intervention projects, which can have a lasting impact on societal development in rural Northern India. Changes in rural societies must begin with the examination of women's status, which is related to other components of development that benefit children and society, as well as oppositional factors which could impede women’s agency. The purpose of this study was to explore the history of the conditions that created and continue to perpetuate the feminization of poverty. The researcher also examined participants’ perspective on the effect of the Purkal Project as a social intervention which has developed sustainable methods of poverty alleviation, thereby encouraging agency and empowerment for women and their families in economically challenged rural communities in the Himalayan region of Northern India.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Dimopoulos, Carol A."],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ed.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Witt, Allison","McCarthy, Cameron","Pak, Yoon","Kang, Hyun-Sook"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2021,"date_issued":"2021-03-05T21:38:03Z","date_published":"2021-03-05T21:38:03Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:24:50Z","subjects":["women’s empowerment","social intervention","feminism"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2020 Carol Dimopoulos"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/109383","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Witt, Allison","McCarthy, Cameron","Pak, Yoon","Kang, Hyun-Sook"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Dimopoulos, Carol A."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2021-03-05T21:38:03Z","2020-11-25","2020-12"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text","Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ed.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["women’s empowerment","social intervention","feminism"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2020 Carol Dimopoulos"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/109383"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["In this paper, the researcher presents the findings of this original qualitative study on the human experience of the participants of The Purkal Project, change-makers in social innovation that provide free, world-class education and vocational development in an economically challenged rural community in the Himalayan region of Northern India. 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Changes in rural societies must begin with the examination of women's status, which is related to other components of development that benefit children and society, as well as oppositional factors which could impede women’s agency. The purpose of this study was to explore the history of the conditions that created and continue to perpetuate the feminization of poverty. The researcher also examined participants’ perspective on the effect of the Purkal Project as a social intervention which has developed sustainable methods of poverty alleviation, thereby encouraging agency and empowerment for women and their families in economically challenged rural communities in the Himalayan region of Northern India.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. 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In this paper, the researcher explored the history of the conditions of poverty for women in India, reviewed the development of the Purkal Project, and shared personal perspectives from participants. Societal engagement through family and education are core fundamentals of development and community empowerment; however, social conditions exist which contribute to and perpetuate women’s state of poverty in this region. The researcher addressed the unprecedented challenges to the international research process, as well as the effect on the Purkal Project’s participants, based on the lockdown conditions created by the COVID-19 global pandemic. An examination of these past and present conditions was essential before presenting the participants’ stories to determine their perception regarding social intervention projects, which can have a lasting impact on societal development in rural Northern India. Changes in rural societies must begin with the examination of women's status, which is related to other components of development that benefit children and society, as well as oppositional factors which could impede women’s agency. The purpose of this study was to explore the history of the conditions that created and continue to perpetuate the feminization of poverty. The researcher also examined participants’ perspective on the effect of the Purkal Project as a social intervention which has developed sustainable methods of poverty alleviation, thereby encouraging agency and empowerment for women and their families in economically challenged rural communities in the Himalayan region of Northern India.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. 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