An Empirical Study of Measuring Relative Gender Bias in the Rural Development Programs in Bangladesh

S. M. Ikhtiar Alam¹, S.M. Naser Iqbal², Mohammad Ahsan Chowdhury^3*

This study examines gender bias in rural development activities in Bangladesh through inter-temporal clock analysis, highlighting NGO and government roles.

Abstract

This study is an attempt to analyze whether there is any relative gender bias in various development efforts in Bangladesh and to evaluate the contributions of NGOs and the contributions of government in reducing the relative gender bias, if any. Gender bias is a regular topic of discussion not only in the development circles but also in all areas of sociological studies. Rural development programs constitute an area which may be recognized as a dependable indicator of the relative gender bias with special focus on women’s empowerment. A study shows that since rural development programs imperatively includes both men and women, the issue of relative empowerment poses a query. According to modern theories of rural development and economics of gender a very low level of empowerment of women, with high relative empowerment of men, is not complementary to the empowerment of men. If the level of empowerment of men increases at a rate faster than that of women, then the relative empowerment will be in favor of men and in such cases, it cannot be always concluded that the true level of empowerment of women has increased, despite the fact that absolute level of empowerment of women has increased. The present study uses inter-temporal national clock analysis (2009 and 2019) to discuss this issue of relative gender bias. This study finds that there is a relative bias towards men in various development activities in Bangladesh.

Keywords: Relative, Gender Bias, Rural Development, Women Empowerment, Economics of Gender.

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