Contents

The paper is an analysis of career perceptions of students studying in three different streams at a women’s university in rural Haryana (India). Society in Haryana has a patriarchal social structure and gender inequalities are evident in most of the socio-cultural spheres. The ideas of educating women in such societies remain tied with processes of gender socialisation and prevailing ideological beliefs. Choices and perceptions of women students regarding career and professional orientation thus become markers of their identity negotiation processes through education. These processes in turn help to evaluate the relevance of education for addressing gender imbalances in such societies.

This study was conducted to find the relationship between social competence and home environment of adolescents. This study also aimed at finding the relationship between dimensions of social competence (Personal adequacy, interpersonal adequacy and communication skills) and dimensions of home environment ( Protectiveness, parental involvement, academic stimulation, reward, parental warmth, punishment, participation in home affairs, control, permissiveness and parental expectations). Descriptive method was used in this study. The study was conducted on a sample of 800 students of +1 class taken randomly from schools of Jalandhar and Kapurthala affiliated to Panjab school education board, Mohali. Social competence scale by Sharma & Rani (2012) was used to find social competence among adolescents. Home environment scale by Akhtar & Saxena (2014) was used to study the home environment of adolescents. The analysis of data was done by using product moment correlation, mean, standard deviation, coefficient of skewness and coefficient of kurtosis were also calculated to know the nature of data. The results of the study show that the Personal Adequacy (PA) dimension of social competence has positive, low but significant relation with academic stimulation dimension of home environment. All other nine dimensions of home environment have positive, very low and not significant correlation with personal adequacy of adolescents. The results show that there exists positive, very low but significant correlation between interpersonal adequacy dimension of social competence and parental involvement, academic stimulation, reward, parental warmth, participation in home affairs, permissiveness and parental expectation dimensions of home environment respectively while there exists a positive, very low and not significant relation between interpersonal adequacy & protectiveness, punishment and control dimensions of home environment. There exists a positive, low,but significant correlations between communication skills dimension of social competence and parental involvement, parental expectations, academic stimulation and permissiveness dimensions of home environment while the correlation of communication skills with the remaining dimensions of home environment is not significant. There exists a positive, low but significant correlation between social competence and home environment of adolescents. The results indicated that as home plays an important role in developing social competence among adolescents, such a loving and caring environment should be provided at home that gives academic stimulation, protectiveness, freedom to express ideas and opportunities to participate in home affairs.

The status of women is not homogenous throughout the social and economic fabric of Jammu & Kashmir; there exists wide range diversity on the status and role of women, but generally it has been observed in Jammu & Kashmir those women’s rights to inheritance, education, employment, and political rights, are considerably lower compared to that of men. The social construction in Jammu & Kashmir is predominantly patriarchal. Consequently, women are seen to succumb to subordination .Additionally women are provided with limited opportunities to create choices that allow them to change the realities of their lives. Public sphere activities in Jammu & Kashmir are predominantly male and the Jammu & Kashmir state Administration is governed by male actors. Administration is one of the most important instruments available to the Government to achieve the goals of the nation. Kashmir bureaucratic organization is not a gender neutral; the women in the organization are not a professional neutral but are sexualized by their gender. They are not rewarded for their competence or expertise, but are stereotyped and allowed to have limited access to excel in the bureaucracy. They are excluded from the power equation. This sort of discrimination not only ensures that women do not have powerful, successful career like their male counterparts, but also de-motivates and disillusions the women about future success in their career. In this context the present paper entitled women’s representation in bureaucracy: A sociological Analysis will try to analyze the various impediments that continue to hinder women in moving up the bureaucratic ladder in Jammu and Kashmir Administration.