Challenges Faced by Underprivileged Female Students in Indian Higher Education: A Comprehensive Analysis

Developed countries such as Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Germany and Iceland when compared with India offer better facilities for women in research and development fields. The state of affairs in the developed countries demonstrate that women empowerment is proportionate to the progress of a country. India is a developing country so concentrating on women's education and women empowerment in the long run would help India and other developing countries boost their economy. As mothers are the first teachers of children, it can also be said that women empowerment would lead to empowerment of future generations and the holistic development of a country.

Therefore, empowerment of women is one of the major concerns of developing countries such as India. For centuries, it is observed that women occupy a secondary role in Indian Society. In India, women occupying political, social, economical, defence, educational, media, agricultural and several other spheres are less in percentage. Moreover, in any working sphere, throughout the world, women earn less when compared to their male counterparts. In India, the practice is more even though times have changed. For girl students belonging to low income group the problems are manifold. Girl students belonging to low income group should overcome numerous barriers to pursue higher education.

Hence, the present paper focuses on the challenges faced by women belonging to low income group families. The paper deals with opportunities available for women belonging to low income group in research and development of education sector. In the present article, the advantages of women empowerment would be reviewed. Numerous prospects available to the present generation women to empower themselves in research and development of education sector would be discussed.

Due to the nature of the topic, a theoretical methodology and one-to-one interviews are used to study the present topic. Issues and challenges related to societal, familial, religious and economic spheres faced by women belonging to low economic group to pursue research and development in education would be discussed in this article. Recommendations include utilizing village community centers and schools as educational platforms for girls, alongside district forums to showcase higher education opportunities and mandatory teaching assistantships for postgraduates and embedding higher education awareness in research curriculum to expand academic outlooks.