Young women’s aspirations in the times of Covid-19: economic impact and aspirations in India

Gangadhar, Aiswarya (2022) Young women’s aspirations in the times of Covid-19: economic impact and aspirations in India. Master thesis, Psychology.

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Abstract

This thesis set out to investigate how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected young women’s aspirations and motivations in India. Initial statistics showed an increase of domestic duties, domestic violence, child/early marriages, early school dropouts, and job or income loss that have weakened the position of women around the world, including India. I examined how these impacts may have further decreased aspects of gender inequity. I interviewed 197 young women between the ages of 16 and 23 years in rural parts of Karnataka, India. I expected that the young women would have faced a surge in the negative effects of the pandemic. Linking this to aspirations, I explored to see whether women who were more affected due to Covid-19 would have less SMARTer aspirations and lower motivation to achieve them. Furthermore, I predicted a higher endorsement of traditional gender norms, as I expected a reinforcement of existing gender norms due to the negative effects. Interestingly, the only observed impact of the pandemic was that 66.5 % of the women indicated job or income loss. This supported our hypotheses as the the impact of job or income loss was significantly correlated to less SMARTer aspirations and motivations (intrinsic and extrinsic). However, with lower endorsement of traditional gender norms than expected. To explain the link between the pandemic and aspirations, it was also expected that the motivations and traditional gender norms would act as a mediator. This study provides first insights into how the pandemic has changed women’s lives in India, demonstrating first possible detrimental effects for gender equity. Especially due to the economic impact as observed in this thesis. However, interpretation of the results must be taken with caution as the data violated all the normality assumptions.

Item Type:	Thesis (Master)
Supervisor name:	Hansen, N.
Degree programme:	Psychology
Differentiation route:	Applied Social Psychology (ASP) [Master Psychology]
Date Deposited:	13 Apr 2022 11:34
Last Modified:	13 Apr 2022 11:34
URI:	http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/390

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