IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0250000.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How the persistence of patriarchy undermines the financial empowerment of women microfinance borrowers? Evidence from a southern sub-district of Bangladesh

Author

Listed:
  • Tunvir Ahamed Shohel
  • Sara Niner
  • Samanthi Gunawardana

Abstract

A significant body of multi-disciplinary research supports the proposition that women may experience empowerment from microfinance programs. This is based on the assumption that an increase in women’s financial contribution to the household helps to transform gender norms and relations which increases their decision-making power. However, the relationship between the strength and persistence of patriarchal gender norms within the household and women’s financial empowerment needs further exploration. This paper presents the findings of a mixed-method study comprising 331 surveys and 33 in-depth interviews with women receiving microfinance and their husbands in a southern sub-district of Bangladesh; it draws upon gender socialisation and gender performance theory to understand how patriarchal gender norms influence women’s financial empowerment in households receiving microfinance. Findings demonstrate that participation in microfinance programs has not shifted gender norms, nor financially empowered women. Women’s loans were largely controlled by men as prescribed by underlying, unchanged patriarchal gender norms. The inter-generational reproduction of patriarchal gender relations continued to reproduce a strict gendered division of labour that reinforced restrictions on women’s behaviour, mobility, and decision-making domains, and men’s dominance in household and economic decision-making.

Suggested Citation

  • Tunvir Ahamed Shohel & Sara Niner & Samanthi Gunawardana, 2021. "How the persistence of patriarchy undermines the financial empowerment of women microfinance borrowers? Evidence from a southern sub-district of Bangladesh," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(4), pages 1-21, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0250000
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0250000
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0250000
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0250000&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0250000?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Henry K Bagazonzya & Zaid Safdar & A.K.M Abdullah & Cecile Thioro Niang & Aneeka Rahman, 2010. "Linking Up and Reaching Out in Bangladesh : Information and Communications Technology for Microfinance," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2406.
    2. Esther Duflo, 2012. "Women Empowerment and Economic Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 50(4), pages 1051-1079, December.
    3. Shahidur Khandker & Hussain Samad & Zahed Khan, 1998. "Income and employment effects of micro-credit programmes: Village-level evidence from Bangladesh," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(2), pages 96-124.
    4. Mario Torre, 2006. "A New Conception of Microfinance," Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Banking and Financial Institutions, in: Microfinance, chapter 1, pages 1-19, Palgrave Macmillan.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tunvir Ahamed Shohel & Sara Niner & Samanthi J. Gunawardana, 2023. "‘Even Though I Get a Loan, My Husband Controls It’: Rhetoric Versus Reality of Empowering Bangladeshi Women Through Microfinance Programs," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 35(4), pages 794-819, August.
    2. Linda Nakato, 2024. "Including Men in a Female Financial Model: An Analysis of Informal Grassroots Financial Associations," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 36(1), pages 25-52, February.
    3. Indrajeet Kumar, 2024. "Banking services and financial inclusion in India’s poorest regions," Journal of Banking Regulation, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 25(2), pages 145-159, June.
    4. Saman Herath Bandara, 2024. "Unveiling the Prospects, Impacts, and Constraints of Women’s Microfinancing Initiatives in South Asia: A Systematic Review," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-22, August.
    5. Samer Ali Al-shami & Abdullah Al Mamun & Nurulizwa Rashid & Mohammed Al-shami, 2021. "Microcredit Impact on Socio-Economic Development and Women Empowerment in Low-Income Countries: Evidence from Yemen," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-18, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. S Anukriti & Catalina Herrera‐Almanza & Praveen K. Pathak & Mahesh Karra, 2020. "Curse of the Mummy‐ji: The Influence of Mothers‐in‐Law on Women in India†," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(5), pages 1328-1351, October.
    2. DeJaeghere, Joan & Pellowski Wiger, Nancy & Le, Hue & Luong, Phuong & Ngo, Nga Thi Hang & Vu, Thanh Thi & Lee, Jongwook, 2022. "Why do aspirations matter for empowerment?: Discrepancies between the A-WEAI domains and aspirations of ethnic minority women in Vietnam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    3. Sevias Guvuriro & Frederik Booysen, 2021. "Family‐type public goods and intra‐household decision‐making by co‐resident South African couples," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(3), pages 1629-1647, August.
    4. Felix Meier Zu Selhausen & Jacob Weisdorf, 2016. "A colonial legacy of African gender inequality? Evidence from Christian Kampala, 1895–2011," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 69(1), pages 229-257, February.
    5. Tendai Zawaira & Matthew W. Clance & Carolyn Chisadza, 2020. "Social Institutions and Gender-Biased Outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers 2020101, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    6. Alnaa, Samuel Erasmus & Matey, Juabin, 2023. "Women's Access to Post-Secondary Education and Structural Inequalities," MPRA Paper 118327, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 15 Jul 2023.
    7. Saskia Vossenberg, 2014. "Beyond the Critique: How Feminist Perspectives Can Feed Entrepreneurship Promotion in Developing Countries," Working Papers 2014/14, Maastricht School of Management.
    8. Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2023. "Female unemployment, mobile money innovations and doing business by females," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-26, December.
    9. Mavisakalyan, Astghik & Tarverdi, Yashar, 2019. "Gender and climate change: Do female parliamentarians make difference?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 151-164.
    10. Clare Shamier & Katharine McKinnon & Kerry Woodward, 2021. "Social Relations, Gender and Empowerment in Economic Development: Flores, Nusa Tenggara Timur," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 52(6), pages 1396-1417, November.
    11. Joo, Hailey Hayeon & Lee, Jungmin, 2018. "Encountering female politicians," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 88-122.
    12. Dickerson, Andy & McIntosh, Steven & Valente, Christine, 2015. "Do the maths: An analysis of the gender gap in mathematics in Africa," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 1-22.
    13. Sonia Bhalotra & Abhishek Chakravarty & Dilip Mookherjee & Francisco J. Pino, 2019. "Property Rights and Gender Bias: Evidence from Land Reform in West Bengal," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(2), pages 205-237, April.
    14. Jacobus Hoop & Patrick Premand & Furio Rosati & Renos Vakis, 2018. "Women’s economic capacity and children’s human capital accumulation," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(2), pages 453-481, April.
    15. Ashish Kumar Sedai, Rabindra Nepal, and Tooraj Jamasb, 2022. "Electrification and Socio-Economic Empowerment of Women in India," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2).
    16. Deng, Yue & Zhou, Yuqian & Hu, Dezhuang, 2023. "Grandparental childcare and female labor market behaviors: Evidence from China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    17. Margaux Suteau, 2020. "Inheritance Rights and Women's Empowerment in the Labor and Marriage Markets," THEMA Working Papers 2020-17, THEMA (THéorie Economique, Modélisation et Applications), Université de Cergy-Pontoise.
    18. Sun, Ang & Zhao, Yaohui, 2016. "Divorce, abortion, and the child sex ratio: The impact of divorce reform in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 53-69.
    19. Khan, Azima & Masih, Mansur, 2017. "Does women empowerment Granger-cause economic growth or the other way around? evidence from Iceland," MPRA Paper 111186, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Da Ke, 2021. "Who Wears the Pants? Gender Identity Norms and Intrahousehold Financial Decision‐Making," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 76(3), pages 1389-1425, June.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0250000. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.