Chowdhury Shanjida, Khan Md Mehedi Hasan, Haque Md Aminul
Department of Population Sciences, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Southeast University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Front Sociol. 2024 Nov 12;9:1356756. doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2024.1356756. eCollection 2024.
This study is dedicated to refining and enhancing the measurement model of women's empowerment in Bangladesh. Women's empowerment, a crucial and multifaceted aspect of societal growth, is often hindered by gender disparities. This is particularly evident in societies like Bangladesh, where women face inequalities in education, economic opportunities, and decision-making power. To address these disparities effectively, it is essential to have a comprehensive understanding of women's empowerment. Therefore, this study aims to refine and enhance the measurement model to capture the multifaceted nature of women's empowerment accurately.
To gather data for this study, a structured questionnaire was administered to married women of reproductive age (15-49) in eight Mouza/Mohalla in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This unique approach allowed us to capture a diverse range of perspectives. We used thirty-three indicators across economic, socio-cultural, household, and psychological dimensions to measure women's empowerment. The sample data were then randomly divided for exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to identify and validate a comprehensive multidimensional framework.
Out of 625 respondents, only 36% of women worked, and ~39% married before age 18. Employing thirty-three items in EFA led to identifying eight critical factors (economic independence, control over household financial decisions, household decision-making, reproductive decision-making, freedom of movement, media exposure, positive self-esteem, and negative self-esteem). These factors, which explained 72.661% of the total variance in the data, provide a practical framework for understanding and addressing women's empowerment. Each component was then divided into two sub-dimensions to acquire a better understanding. The CFA indicated a good model fit for each dimension, and convergent and discriminant validity assessments were used to establish reliability and validity, further enhancing the practical implications of our findings.
The results of our rigorous exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses not only confirmed the sample structures and internal consistency but also provided significant insights. The findings suggested an adequate fit for all CFA models, indicating the robustness of our measurement model. According to the CFA results, each dimension's variables are satisfactory, and all the dimensions can be combined to create a single index measuring women's empowerment. This comprehensive understanding of women's empowerment, with its specific dimensions and factors, equips policymakers and practitioners with the knowledge to develop a wide range of interventions appropriate to particular facets of empowerment, thereby fostering societal growth and gender equality.
本研究致力于完善和强化孟加拉国妇女赋权的测量模型。妇女赋权是社会发展的一个关键且多方面的因素，但往往受到性别差距的阻碍。在孟加拉国这样的社会中尤为明显，女性在教育、经济机会和决策权方面面临不平等。为了有效解决这些差距，全面了解妇女赋权至关重要。因此，本研究旨在完善和强化测量模型，以准确捕捉妇女赋权的多方面性质。
为收集本研究的数据，对孟加拉国达卡八个穆扎/莫哈拉地区的育龄已婚妇女（15 - 49岁）进行了结构化问卷调查。这种独特的方法使我们能够获取各种不同的观点。我们使用了经济、社会文化、家庭和心理维度的33个指标来衡量妇女赋权。然后将样本数据随机分为探索性因子分析（EFA）和验证性因子分析（CFA），以识别和验证一个全面的多维框架。
在625名受访者中，只有36%的女性工作，约39%的女性在18岁之前结婚。在探索性因子分析中使用33个项目，得出了八个关键因素（经济独立、对家庭财务决策的控制、家庭决策、生育决策、行动自由、媒体接触、积极自尊和消极自尊）。这些因素解释了数据总方差的72.661%，为理解和解决妇女赋权问题提供了一个实用框架。然后将每个组成部分分为两个子维度，以获得更好的理解。验证性因子分析表明每个维度的模型拟合良好，并使用收敛效度和区分效度评估来建立可靠性和有效性，进一步增强了我们研究结果的实际意义。
我们严格的探索性和验证性因子分析结果不仅证实了样本结构和内部一致性，还提供了重要的见解。研究结果表明所有验证性因子分析模型拟合良好，表明我们的测量模型具有稳健性。根据验证性因子分析结果，每个维度的变量都令人满意，所有维度可以结合起来创建一个衡量妇女赋权的单一指数。对妇女赋权的这种全面理解，包括其具体维度和因素，为政策制定者和从业者提供了知识，以便制定适合赋权特定方面的广泛干预措施，从而促进社会发展和性别平等。
