A Hermeneutical Analysis of Women Experiences and Perception about Empowerment with Microcredit Programs in Lower Sindh, Pakistan

Abstract

This research study explores the experiences of women about empowerment which are realized through the utilization of microcredit. During the Literature iteration, it was evident that there is a positive verdict between women empowerment and microcredit; also it mitigates the feminization of poverty. This study has gauged the women's life experiences that how they precipitate their thoughts for realizing empowerment with microcredit. This is a qualitative study with abductive research approach, philosophy is hermeneutic phenomenology with the feminist paradigm, and overall research design supports the truth of several subjective perspectives and would help in constructing the meaning of empowerment from the Sindh's context. This study is conducted in the context of Sindh; the respondents are women who availed microcredit from microfinance institutions and banks which are registered under State Bank of Pakistan and Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan. For collecting the data, in-depth interviews have been conducted by using the interview protocol and they have been continued till the saturation level. Under the interpretative phenomenology, nomothetic and idiographic analysis has been practiced for mining the data. From the women's perspectives, it is gauged that small credit empowers women and also strengthen their families. This research would be valuable for the policy maker of microfinance they design policies accordingly.