Evolution of Self-Esteem of Uttarakhandi Women

The present book explores women's understanding of the concept of self-esteem. It also aims at finding out what characteristics women tend to associate with high self-esteem as against those determined by the male researchers in quantitative measures of self-esteem. It analyses women's construction of sense of self, keeping in view their socio- cultural context, and the contribution of education in this process. The women's definitions of Self-esteem revealed that their conceptualization of it was based on their own experiences with the world. They viewed self-esteem to be emanating from all fields of life that were important to them. Some of the women conceived self-esteem as consistent across time, space and situations, while others found it shaky and fluctuating with changes in conditions. The women identified three characteristics associated with high self-esteem, i.e. self-perspective, concern for others and sensitivity to context. All these characteristics were viewed as interconnected. The experiences of women showed that education contributed to positively change women's lives by developing their personality and improving their overall status.