20 Nov 2025

20^th November. Patna. Women should go beyond filling in traditional stereotyped roles like beauty therapists and being on sewing machines that are dictated by gender norms. They should aspire to modern jobs like that of the computer operator. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to help women realize the very aspirations that we encourage them to seek. The government has been striving to address this issue but we haven’t been able to provide enough jobs to women as there is a big gap when it comes to providing them skills. This was the view enunciated by Smt. Bandana Preyashi, Managing-Director of Women and Child Corporation at a Panel Discussion titled “Bridging Skill and Aspiration Gaps for the Marginalized: A Pathway to Growth” today. The event was organized by Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI).

Earlier, the Member-Secretary of ADRI, Dr. Ashmita Gupta reported the findings of a joint research study done by the University of Reading in the United Kingdom and ADRI. The study was about how to bridge skills gaps for making marginalized people employable in Bihar. She stated that people’s aspirations, gender, and caste play a decisive role in what kind of jobs they want to take up. Wages alone don’t determine the labor market in the state even as uniformed and government jobs are what Biharis hanker for. Multi-dimensional researcher and Professor Kambhampati of the University of Reading then elaborated on the impact of aspirations on people’s work preferences. She said that her research in collaboration with ADRI has brought up the fact that you can only aspire for something only if you know what is the ideal situation and what are the pathways to getting there.

Also taking part in the Panel Discussion were Shree Prem Prakash, Head of the Nity Aayog in Bihar and Drs. Sunita Lall and Ushasi Gupta. The discussion was attended by numerous academicians, budding researchers, policy makers, and civil society members.