The Empowering Economic Benefits of Women’s Self-Help Groups
By Doleatha J. Thomas
Humble awakening
As I was growing up in southeast Ohio, at a time of racial and economic disparity, I was fortunate to witness the phenomenon of women’s economic empowerment through self-help groups (SHGs). Of course, at the time, I had no idea what I was witnessing other than every woman in my community seemed to “specialize” in something for which they were paid in exchange for their needed service. For instance, if anyone needed baked goods, they would call Ms. Virginia. If they needed their “hair done” for church or a special occasion, they would see if Ms. Lela Mae could squeeze them in. If they needed a new outfit, they would stop by the house so that mom could take their measurements, turn the newspaper into a pattern, attach it to material and custom tailor the most beautiful clothing you ever saw.
No one, that I can remember, ever got “rich” from her home-based business. In fact, sometimes, there was no money exchanged at all. Instead, services were bartered. Mom would send one of us kids to pick up her favorite cake from Ms. Virginia and drop off Ms. Virginia’s skirt that mom had hemmed for her the night before. Often, the women would get together, mostly in the basement of the church after service or sometimes at each other’s home to discuss what was going on in the community, and how each of them could “help out” others, in their own way. I was witnessing the phenomenon of women’s economic empowerment through SHGs rooted in community-based support for the benefit of all. Together, the empowering economic benefits of SHGs as entrepreneurial initiatives were instrumental in personal growth and socioeconomic development (Finnis, 2017 as cited in Torri & Martinez, 2011). So, what is women’s economic empowerment through SHGs?
Poddar (2013) defines empowerment as a process that involves gaining the financial power to increase not only a women’s decision-making and bargaining position, but also their personal self-esteem and overall well-being. Torri and Martinez (2011) describes the concept of SHGs as a women’s collective that builds upon the intellectual, emotional, and cultural resources the participants bring to their social space. These definitions certainly fit the examples I shared above, in that mom and the other women in our community were empowered by the increase in their decision-making and bargaining position that came about through gaining financial power. They were confident and intelligent women who pulled their resources together to make a positive difference in their lives, the lives of their family, and in our community. My examples expand these definitions in that these traits are not exclusive to the women of my childhood community or to women in my home state or even to women living in the United States.
Addressing a need
In many underdeveloped nations that have significant wealth disparities, women are often marginalized and lack the resources, education, and training opportunities that could help them in rising above their circumstance. The literature reveals that women’s empowerment is a crucial benefit for women who feel the sting of marginalization within their own country (dé Ishtar, 2008). Such is the case of Afro-Mexican women in Cuajinicuilapa (“Cuaji”), Guerrero, Mexico.
Inquiry into borderless possibilities
As I began my research inquiry into the Afro-Mexican women entrepreneurs of Cuaji, I occasionally reminisced about the economic benefit that SHGs had on the women of my own family and others within our community. I wondered if it were possible if the same type of women’s collective power might serve the women of Cuaji in a similar manner. That is, “how might SHGs and networks support Cuaji women become more self-sufficient decision makers who financially support themselves, their families, and communities in which they live?” From that question, I began my search.
Throughout the amazing journey into my research inquiry, I found similar strengths and desires in the women of Cuaji as those that were present in the women of my childhood. The expressed joy of women who are raising their children and the pride of celebrating their accomplishments, the enjoyment of being in the company of friends and family, the afternoon chats of discussing fashion trends and swapping favorite recipes with other women in the community, contributing financial support to their family, and so on. Certainly, the women of Cuaji face similar entrepreneurial challenges as the women in my youth such as cultural separation of power and wage and or gender disparities. However, it is the legacy of strength and perseverance in overcoming those challenges that has been a positive influence in my life. As I pursue my doctorate degree, it is with a focus on building trust and collaboration with the Cuaji stakeholders to develop action plans, according to their goals, to help bring about change.
Through our research inquiries, PhD students are uniquely positioned to be change agents in support of economically marginalized women of society, both domestically and internationally. It is my hope that through my research, I might have an opportunity to play a small role in building a network of co-operative engagement among women entrepreneurs in the Cuajinicuilapa community and, in doing so, inspire other researchers to do the same for women in communities within and outside of their own.
References
dé Ishtar, Z. (2008). "Living on the Ground": Research which sustains living culture. In P. Liamputtong, Doing Cross-Cultural Research: Ethical and Methodological Perspectives (pp. 161-174). Springer.
Poddar, K. K. (2013). Role of self help groups in economic empowerment of women in India. Anusandhanika, 5(1), 237-241.
Torri, M., & Martinez, A. (2011). Gender empowerment and equality in rural India: Are women’s community-based enterprises the way forward? Journal of International Women's Studies, 12(1), 157-176. Retrieved from https://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol12/iss1/13
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