Women’s empowerment, particularly through education and skill development, holds the key to unlocking significant economic and social outcomes for India.

Despite the literacy rate of women in India having improved in recent years – making a major leap from about 9% literate at the time of India’s Independence, according to a World Bank report, to around 64.63% in 2024 – it still lags behind male literacy rates of 80.88%. The gender gap is starker in rural areas, where female literacy is very low.  These barriers multiply when women enter the workforce, where they face challenges ranging from gender pay gaps and limited opportunities for leadership to lack of access to mentorship and networking opportunities and societal expectations.

Education and skilling can be the great equaliser, as they enable women to respond to day-to-day challenges more effectively, defy gender roles traditionally ascribed to them, and ultimately change the course of their lives.

Unlocking India’s Growth

India’s ambitions in emerging as a global economic powerhouse depend on unlocking the full potential of its workforce. Although women make up nearly half of the population, women are under-represented in the workplace – in 2024, out of India’s estimated 625 million workforce, only 215 million are women.

Much of the disparity comes from systemic challenges – women continue to shoulder a disproportionate share of unpaid household and caregiving opportunities. 

Education: The Launchpad

Education is the first and most fundamental step in the empowerment journey. An educated woman is more likely to enter the workforce, make informed health and financial decisions, invest in her children’s education, and break intergenerational cycles of poverty. This must go beyond basic literacy, as true empowerment requires access to quality education that fosters critical thinking, digital fluency, and self-agency. Without this foundation, other interventions will struggle to take root.

The Next Step: Skilling

The role of skilling in increasing the employability of women cannot be understated, whether it’s in enhancing productivity, strengthening economic competitiveness, or increasing earning potential, confidence, and informed decision-making.

There are various challenges facing India in bridging its skill disparity, some of which include:

• Mobilisation: Low participation from women in vocational education.

• Streamlined Private-Public Partnerships: Participation from all stakeholders is vital to ensuring progress.

• Lack of Infrastructure: In addition to a lack of sufficient infrastructure overall, there isn’t sufficient women-friendly training institutes.

Government programs such as the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), National Skill Development Mission (NSDM), and Women Entrepreneurship Program under the NSDC are currently equipping women with practical and technical skills across sectors. These efforts help bridge the rural-urban divide and open doors to formal employment and enterprise creation.

In addition, digital literacy initiatives under programmes like Digital India are empowering women to access information, participate in the digital economy, and build online businesses. This convergence of skill, technology, and access is laying the foundation for sustainable economic inclusion.

However, given the enormous task at hand, publicly funded initiatives alone are not sufficient to create a substantial impact. It would require both the private and public sectors to collaborate and leverage each other’s expertise. Companies bring industry-specific knowledge and manpower to design market-aligned training. For them, it’s also an opportunity to create a future-ready talent pool, enhance productivity, and meet ESG and DEI commitments.

Bridging the gap between education and employment requires integrated pathways that link formal learning with real-world experience. A promising model is a degree-linked apprenticeship, which combines classroom education with on-the-job training. These apprenticeships help young women gain experience, build confidence, and transition into long-term careers. For employers, investing in apprenticeships fosters a future-ready, diverse workforce.

The Way Forward

To realise the full potential of women’s empowerment through skilling, India must adopt a multi-stakeholder, future-focused approach:

1. Strengthen PPPs: Facilitate deeper partnerships between corporates and public institutions to co-design training programmes that align with real-world industry needs, as well as build women-centric skill hubs. 

2. Drive Digital Inclusion in Training: Harness the reach of online learning platforms and AI-based learning tools to expand access to skilling for women in rural and underserved regions. Position digital literacy not as an add-on but as a core competency in every skill development initiative.

3. Build Gender-Inclusive Infrastructure: Make skilling programmes more accessible to women by embedding gender-responsive design. This includes offering transport stipends, childcare facilities, flexible training hours, and safe learning environments to reduce attrition and ensure equitable participation.

4. Shift Social Norms Through Awareness: Invest in community outreach and behaviour change campaigns that challenge long-standing gender biases. Use grassroots networks to highlight the social and economic value of working women, especially in non-traditional roles.

India cannot afford to leave half its potential untapped. Empowering women through education and skills isn’t just the right thing to do — it’s an economic imperative.