Resource information
The authors compare changes in gender
roles and women's empowerment in China, India, and the
Republic of Korea. Around 1950, these newly formed states
were largely poor and agrarian, with common cultural factors
that placed similar severe constraints on women's
autonomy. They adopted very different paths of development,
which are well known to have profoundly affected development
outcomes. These choices have also had a tremendous impact on
gender outcomes, and today these countries show striking
differences in the extent of gender equity achieved. China
has achieved the most gender equity, the Republic of Korea
the least. The authors conclude that: a) States can exert
enormous influence over gender equity. They can mitigate
cultural constraints on women's autonomy (as in China
and India) or slow the pace of change in gender equity
despite women's rapid integration into education,
formal employment, and urbanization (as in the Republic of
Korea). b) The impact of policies to provide opportunities
for women's empowerment can be greatly enhanced if
accompanied by communication efforts to alter cultural
values that place heavy constraints on women's access
to those opportunities.
