Transnational feminist discourse has critiqued the pursuit of women's empowerment through international development programs. Empowerment, when reduced to the provision of financial resources and services, is unlikely to lead to wider changes in gender inequality unless programs strategically combine credit with other vital services. We interviewed women participating in a multifaceted empowerment program in Mumbai, India, to explore the potential of the ''Credit-Plus'' model to facilitate pathways of individual and collective empowerment. Emergent themes of empowerment were enhanced socioemotional well-being, increased economic assets, and improved household gender equity. Interview responses demonstrate changes in individual, household, and collective agency dynamics.
This article examines the emerging concerns of professional working women in India, highlighting their unique needs within the context of rapidly changing environs and sociocultural gender expectations. An innovative intervention model that supports the goals of female professionals to sustain and succeed in their career, created by a women-managed consulting and training firm in Bangalore, India, is presented. An exploratory analysis of the impact of the group-based intervention modules, drawing upon detailed case studies and posttraining surveys, is summarized. The qualitative analysis identified participants' outcomes using interview data from two availability samples: (a) case studies drawn from multiple multinational organizations (N ¼ 16) and (b) case studies drawn from a single multinational organization (N ¼ 12). Descriptive evaluation survey outcomes from a third organization sample (N ¼ 71) were utilized. The identified themes included the evidenced adaptations of participants to work-life stressors, gender issues, and internal and organizational glass ceilings through their use of mentors, networking, assertiveness, and strategies for taking control of their career paths. The findings are relevant to advancing female career support services.
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