The Programmes in Design and Development stages include:

• MPhil in Gender and Development Studies
• PG Diploma/MA in Women’s and Gender Studies (ODL mode)  (Email Id : wgs@ignou .ac.in )
• PG Diploma in Women’s and Gender Studies will propose to be on offer from January2012  (Email Id : wgs@ignou .ac.in )
• PG Diploma/ Certificate in Gender in Law
• PG Diploma/Certificate in Gender and Science
• PG Diploma/ Certificate in Gender/Agriculture and Sustainable development
•  Post -Graduate Certificate in Gender, Entrepreneurship and Development
• Post-Graduate Certificate in Gender-sensitive Project Cycle Management

Several programmes are being planned in areas such as Gender and Labour; Gender and Ecology; Gender and Cinema; Gender Issues in Asia.

MPhil in Gender and Development Studies

Research programmes in Gender and Development Studies will help in encouraging indigenous research, provide an impetus to collection of gender-disaggregated data and use of gender analysis tools. They will contribute to the major initiatives undertaken by governmental and non-governmental agencies in gender mainstreaming and gender budgeting/gender auditing.

The University has a key role to play in strengthening the capacities of learners from a broad range of backgrounds to undertake indigenous research and database building in this crucial national effort. Open and distance learning provides the opportunity to students across the country and abroad to pursue research in this critical area.

Appropriate course work would form part of the MPhil Programme and would provide pointers to suitable research methodologies in the context of India and other developing countries. Building on concepts and theories in the field, the learner would be equipped to review current research and explore applications of Gender and Development Studies in various development sectors. The M Phil degree will provide learners with the skills, competencies and tools to undertake research in this critical area in national development.

Preliminary need assessment undertaken with non-governmental organisations and experts in the field highlights focal research needs linked to planning and implementing gender-sensitive development projects; skill enhancement in gender-sensitive participatory action; planning and implementing gender awareness programmes for a range of target groups and conducting gender impact studies. Thus appropriate and need based research can lay the foundation for positive, affirmative interventions.

 Programme Structure

 In accordance with the University policy, the MPhil programme will have workload equivalent to 48 credits. Course work would be governed by University ordinances.

Course Work (32 credits)

 The component courses are:

• Gender and Development: Concepts and Theories (8 credits)

• Gender and Development: Applications in Development Sectors (8 credits)

• Gender Planning and Development Policies (8 credits)

• Research Methodologies in Gender and Development Studies (8 credits)

Master of Arts in Women’s and Gender Studies [MA (WGS)][ODL mode]  (Email Id : wgs@ignou .ac.in )

The MA in Women’s and Gender Studies in the ODL mode would equip students with the ability to deconstruct the complex power hierarchies and relationships operating in society, from the perspective of women and gender. This degree will equip students with the ability to deconstruct the complex power hierarchies and relationships operating in society, from the perspective of women and gender.

Structure:

First Year (PG Diploma)

The first two semesters of the Programme will introduce students to core, foundational courses in the field of gender and women’s studies with the aim of disseminating knowledge and critical abilities in these areas. Students exiting with a PG Diploma will be qualified with the ability to situate women/ gender in both academic and social science contexts.

Second Year Specialisations

The specialisation in Gender, Literature and Culture will enable students to familiarise themselves with salient topics in the humanities from the perspective of gender. Courses in third and fourth semesters will enhance their critical understanding of important issues such as marginalised cultural spaces, relationships between gender and discourse (especially literary), and the mutually constructive relationships between literature and society.

The specialisaation in Women’s Studies will expose students to multidisciplinary approaches of addressing historical and contemporary women’s issues. It will equip the students in conceptualising and developing analytical skills required to understand women’s issues through praxis, research and practicum.

PG Diploma/Certificate in Gender in Law

The Certificate/ Diploma in Gender in Law is designed to address the knowledge gap between the gendered reality and the discourse of law. The major objectives of the programme include: understanding, exploring and acquiring a critical understanding of gender in law; developing competencies for dealing with implementation and practice in the case of gender-related laws and their impact in everyday-life; explaining the ideology of patriarchy and its existing forms within the framework of universal/ value-neutral laws; analysing the construction of gender-related legislation and understanding of the interlinkages between legal institutions and the existing gender inequalities. The programme will have a modular structure.

PG Diploma/Certificate in Gender, Agriculture and Sustainable Development

Women are involved in agricultural activities for centuries from ploughing to post harvest stage. Women’s knowledge and their engagement in agricultural activities include preserving, processing and sowing of seeds. In spite of their consistent involvement in agriculture, their labour is highly devalued by both policy makers and development planners. In India, women identity as farmers is highly contested creating problems like migration and increasing labour in the informal sector.

The contribution of women in agriculture is not recognised and their knowledge on agriculture was not documented so far. The UN international conferences on women and the studies carried by Esther Boserup et al brought women’s contribution to agriculture and highlighted the problems faced by the women in agriculture.

The UN Conference in Beijing in 1995 urged the governments and civil societies to mainstream the gender issues in policies and the programmes in all areas, so that men and women needs and concerns will be addressed. In this context the proposed programme will be developed to acknowledge the need of women’s contribution in agriculture.

PG Diploma/ Certificate in Gender and Science

The School of Gender and Development Studies will introduce PG Certificate/Diploma Programme in ‘Gender and Science’ (ODL mode) in collaboration with Raman Chair for Science and Education, IGNOU. This would be an interdisciplinary programme, to be offered to students and learners from disciplines of natural and social sciences, and applied field. The objective of the programme is to expose the learners to the understanding of scientific practices and development while taking gender as an analytical category.

This Programme aims at providing students an overview of the central issues such as emergence of modern science, political usage of science, public sphere and scientific development, commercialization of science, innovation and knowledge production and science-technology interface in the contexts of agriculture, extension, and bio-medicine within gender discourse. The programme is in the process of development and planning to have its first expert committee meeting for developing the final course structure.    

Post-Graduate Certificate Programme in Gender, Entrepreneurship and Development

Preliminary need assessment has indicated that there is a substantive pool of supervisory level personnel in the voluntary sector engaged in activities linked to gender and development. They would benefit from a practical ‘hands-on’ approach to development planning and capacity building to promote gender equality and gender equity. The programme would, therefore, focus on promoting capacity building of women in particular in entrepreneurial activities combined with soft skill development such as improving motivation and confidence. A programme directed at functionaries aiming to work at the supervisory or senior level in organisations would need to enable them to consider the needs of women and men separately as well as in relative terms in order to cater for them in development activities. Women’s productive roles, for example, need to be related to the wider context and prevailing realities.

Attempting to meet the training needs of trainers particularly those involved in promoting small and microenterprises for women, the programme would seek to combine basic resource material and training methodologies/ materials which could be useful for trainers working for low income, less-educated and assetless women’s groups. Training of enterprise support teams is aimed at enhancing the capacities of self-help group leaders and staff of NGOs/VOs to understand the elements of microenterprise management incorporating gender-sensitive perspectives, motivating women SHG leaders to invest savings and loans in productive activities and provide them with the skills to manage their enterprise activities. These specific interventions would serve to address the ‘gender gap’.

Entry points like training provision and credit may be seen as tactically important, but are mainly a means for initiating wider processes of change. The importance of participation is stressed in all stages of enterprise promotion projects.

Social Relevance of the Programme

Achieving sustainable development with gender equality and equity is a key development imperative. Women’s participation in the workforce, in self-employment in particular, would make a critical difference to their life choices and quality of life. The promotion of meaningful participation by women would need to be undertaken by functionaries trained to respond with sensitivity to barriers and problems women encounter in contributing on an equal footing with men in development initiatives. The proposed programme is an attempt to address the ‘gender gap’ and would help to build a cadre of dedicated professionals in this field.

Programme Objectives

The programme is expected to enable learners to:

•  Critically assess development programmes with regard to equal outcomes for women and men;

• Suggest ways to devise and implement changes in policies and programmes to achieve greater equality of outcomes for women and men

• Function as trainers and community organizers in addressing gender issues;

• Improve soft skills of trainees especially confidence building, improving motivation;

• Discharge supervisory level functions;

• Provide multimedia training packages for use in training contexts by individuals and institutions

Target Group

Functionaries belonging to organisations involved with promotion of entrepreneurship, microcredit and microfinance initiatives especially those who seek to overcome barriers and achieve gender equity and equality in the sphere of work and enterprise.

Eligibility

Graduation in any discipline

Broad Programme Structure

Some of the proposed emphasis areas in course development with the credit weightage are as follows:

• Gender-sensitive Development Programmes (4 credits)

•  Organising Gender-sensitive Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (4 credits)

• Group Formation, Organisation and Leadership (4 credits)

• Savings and Credit Operations (4 credits)

The courses would be offered to learners as individual stand-alone packages which will earn them a certificate of completion if they meet the stipulated requirements.

Postgraduate Certificate Programme in Gender-Sensitive Project Cycle Management

Preliminary need assessment has indicated that there is a substantive pool of supervisory level personnel in the voluntary sector engaged in activities linked to gender and development. They would benefit from a practical “hands-on” approach to development planning and capacity building to promote gender equality and gender equity. The programme would, therefore, focus on promoting capacity building in planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating gender-sensitive development projects. A programme directed at functionaries aiming to work at the supervisory or senior level in organizations would need to enable them to consider development activities through the “gender lens”. Attempting to meet the training needs of trainers particularly those involved in promoting gender equality and gender equity through appropriate intervention would be the major focus of the programme.

Social Relevance of the Programme

Achieving sustainable development with gender equality and equity is a key development imperative. Development projects are often planned and implemented in a gender-blind manner. Rather than using a superficial approach to incorporating gender concerns, such a programme would focus on meaningful and pragmatic strategies for change. The proposed programme is an attempt to address the “gender gap” in development planning and implementation and would help to build a cadre of dedicated professionals in this field.

Programme Objectives

The programme is expected to enable learners to:

• Critically assess the project cycle through the “gender lens”;

• Suggest ways to incorporate gender concerns in development project;

• Function as key personnel in addressing gender issues in development projects;

• Improve soft skills of trainees especially in important generic skills;

• Discharge supervisory level functions;

• Provide multimedia training packages for use in training contexts by individuals and institutions.

Broad Programme Structure

Some of the proposed emphasis areas in course development with the credit weightage are as follows:

• The Project Cycle: Gender-sensitive Planning, Implementing, Monitoring and Evaluation (8 credits)

• Options (Two to be selected)

1.       Data Collection and Analysis (4 credits)

2.       Reporting, Documentation and Dissemination (4 credits)

3.       Gender Mainstreaming (4 credits)

4.       Gender Budgeting and Gender Audits (4 credits)

The optional courses are intended to be functional 'hand on' courses emphasiSing essential knowledge and functional skills.