Publisher's Synopsis
INTRODUCTION Traditionally, an Indian woman had four fold status-role sequences. These were her role as a daughter, wife, housewife (homemaker), and mother. The woman, whose status and role traditionally was well defined and almost fixed in the society, is now experiencing far-reaching changes. The woman in modern time is entering into certain new fields that were unknown to the woman's sphere of role-sets. They are actively participating in social, economic, and political activities. The women of the present generation have generally received higher education than the women of their preceding generation. There have been far reaching consequences of the economic status of their families. In modern India educated women are just on the threshold of transition from tradition to modernity. The women themselves desire that their status and position in society should rise higher. Though a proper climate for such a change is still wanting, yet there have been many structural and statutory innovations for the improvement of their position. The traditional status and role sets of women are breaking up and new role-sets based on achievement, independence and equality are coming up. As contemporary Indian society is at the transitional stage, the working women phenomena is yet to be fully integrated in the larger patterns of culture. It requires ample modifications and readjustment in various aspects of the culture. Due to the rapid changes traditional roles for men and women have become dysfunctional to some extent. There is fluidity of sex role definitions causing lots of problems. Before delving into the analysis of working women of different strata, it is of,
