Ongoing Projects
Over the years, ISST has conducted several pioneering research studies with a view of designing alternative development strategies that recognise the role and contribution of vulnerable groups including women.
Our research projects are geared to:
Working closely with grassroots groups in conducting research, identifying information gaps and building up a database on gender and poverty.
Disseminating information obtained from field studies to research scholars, planners, development agencies, policy implementers and decision-makers.
Completed Projects
The Playgound: A place full of interactions and diverse expectations, 2007, ISST (Delhi). The study was designed to understand the dimensions of the interaction among the children on the playground. The field investigation for this research was done in East Delhi. (Working paper)
Women and the NREGA, (2006), ISST (Delhi). This study sponsored by ILO aims to analyse National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) from the gender perspective with reference to strengthening of rural infrastructure through creation of durable assets, regeneration of natural resources that would provide the livelihood resource base of local rural economy, etc. A household survey was carried in the four districts of Sirohi in Rajasthan, Dhar in Madhya Pradesh, Gulbarga in Karnataka and Sundargarh in Orrissa. The study reveals that the proportion of eligible men and women are roughly the same, but in Rajasthan there are more women workers than men on the EGA sites. A very high level of illiteracy was found among the female between the age group of 7-20years.The level of mobilization among the villagers has been studied through their affiliation with the membership groups. As far as awareness about NREGA is concerned, in Sirohi 50% of the sample came to know about the scheme through word of mouth and in Dhar it is 30%. In Sundargargh, 80% said they got to know from others. In Gulbarga all but one respondent said that this information had come from sarpanch.
Social Protection for Informal Home-Based Women Workers in South Asia (2004-2006). ISST (Delhi). ISST collaborated with Home Net South Asia (a network for home based workers promoted by SEWA and UNIFEM) in the above action research project which highlighted the myriad of socio-economic insecurities South Asian female informal home based workers face in their daily lives. The study canvassed Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Women in various trades were covered including those working in the garments and weaving sectors. The study develops an argument for an integrated approach to social protection based on the needs and priorities mentioned by respondents. Social Protection policies for home based workers need to be cognizant of local societal, community and habitat based realities of the working process and the larger picture influenced by development policies relating to sectors and the economy. The project was supported by Ford Foundation. (Click here to see full report)
A Regional Gender Network in South and South East Asia, with special reference to Gender Dimensions of Macro Economic Reforms (1998-2006). The Gender Network Project initiated in 1998 is a thematic regional research program under the Micro Impact of Macro Adjustment Policies (MIMAP) Program Initiative of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada with a mandate to investigate the gendered impact of macro economic policy changes. Under its overall umbrella, studies were carried at the micro, meso and macro levels to understand various dimensions of the changing situation of women, and men under rapid economic change.
The Network has broadened the scope of gender research by introducing the mental health dimension of gender bias in its fold. Mental health indicators have been used to bring in the phenomenon of violence against women as a crucial parameter for gaining insight into the true measure of gender development. The research on the contradictory signals of gender development has led to a number of studies on the highly acclaimed case of the Kerala woman where high female literacy goes hand in hand with disquieting evidence of violence against women. (Click here to see details)