The women in our society have been designated a subordinate status where the head of household is always man. Social conditions of women have always been miserable and they have always been confined to household work. Efforts in educating women started in the nineteenth century. This paper is an attempt to answer the question that whether education has been successful in empowering women. First of all, how the reforms took place and education was imparted to the weaker gender? What were the proportions of women being educated over the time? What subjects were opted by them and how it helped them? What were the transitions that society as a whole has gone through regarding women's education? When did women entered into higher education and in which streams and how their priorities and preferences changed over time? What proportion of women entered into research and doctoral courses over time and how they balance it with family life? At last, did education transform the society to be favourable for women? The paper starts with conditions of women in the 19th century; it also deals with the various social evils that were prevalent at that time and how social reforms took place and legislation were passed to curtail them. The paper describes chronologically various efforts that have been done from time to time to educate women. It discusses some eminent women writers who were educated in worst of times and whose writings sparked a social change. The paper then discusses some women movements of the twentieth century and how women were always involved in major social movements including freedom struggle, Chipko movement, peasant movements, and others. The paper then discusses the status of women regarding higher education and doctoral courses. At the end, the role education played in empowering women is discussed and the paper concludes on a positive note.
Women empowerment; education of women; gender, historical
