Rethinking Women’s Economic Participation: Insights from Sabina Dewan at Charcha 2025

16 November 2025
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At Charcha 2025, JustJobs Network's Founder & Executive Director, Sabina Dewan, joined industry leaders in a high-impact conversation on what meaningful inclusion truly means — and how we can make work more equitable, dignified, and growth-oriented for women.

In the panel “Beyond Numbers: How Women Navigate the Workforce,” Sabina Dewan emphasized a powerful message: improving women’s economic participation is not just about increasing numbers — it’s about expanding choices, improving job quality, and transforming the structures that limit women’s opportunities.

Female Labour Force Participation has risen from 23% to 42% between 2017–18 and 2023–24. But much of this increase comes from women entering unpaid family work in agriculture — reminding us that women’s work is not just about how many participate, but how they participate.

🔹 Women perform a major share of work, much of it is invisible — care work, domestic work, and unpaid agricultural labour.

🔹 When their employment is visible, they are disproportionately represented in low-level self-employment and casual jobs.

🔹 Gendered biases in policy, hiring practices, and pay structures continue to limit their opportunities.

JustJobs Network in the News

Sabina Dewan, Founder and Executive Director, JustJobs Network, was featured in CXO Today for her insights at Charcha 2025.

Read the full article here: https://cxotoday.com/press-release/generation-india-foundation-leads-critical-conversations-on-building-an-inclusive-and-future-ready-workforce-at-charcha25/

To foster meaningful inclusion, Sabina underscored the need to:

🔹 Take women’s perspectives, needs, and their considerations into account in policy.

🔹 Build supportive ecosystems.

🔹 Raise awareness to shift social norms.

The panel included:

Aparna Mittal– Leading DEI Advisor & Corporate Lawyer; Founder, Samana Centre for Gender, Policy & Law

Alaa Murabit– Global Managing Partner, 500 Global

Dhruvi Shah– CEO, Axis Bank Foundation

Moderated by Arunesh Singh, CEO, Generation India Foundation