The Influence of Educational Attainment and Social Context on the Empowerment of Adolescent Girls in Relation to Power and Entitlement

Abstract

The study aimed to examine: i) the independent effect of educational level on the empowerment of adolescent girls concerning power and entitlement; ii) the independent effect of social setting on the empowerment of adolescent girls concerning power and entitlement; and iii) the interaction effect of educational level and social setting on the empowerment of adolescent girls concerning power and entitlement. A sample of 120 adolescent girls was randomly selected, comprising 30 each from secondary and higher secondary schools located in urban areas, and 30 each from secondary and higher secondary schools located in rural areas. The Adolescent Girls Empowerment Scale (AGES), developed by Sisodia and Singha (2009), was employed by the researchers for data collection. The analysis of the data using the F-test revealed that: i) there was no independent effect of education on the empowerment of adolescent girls concerning power and entitlement, as girls attending secondary and higher secondary schools were equally empowered; ii) there was an independent effect of social setting on the empowerment of adolescent girls, with those from urban areas being more empowered than those from rural areas concerning power and entitlement; and iii) there was an interaction effect of education and social setting on the empowerment of adolescent girls concerning power and entitlement, such that a) girls from urban higher secondary schools were more empowered than those from rural secondary schools; and b) girls from rural secondary schools, rural higher secondary schools, and urban secondary schools were equally empowered concerning power and entitlement.