Phenomenological Experiences of Women through Microcredit Programs of Upper Sindh: Stepping towards the Empowerment.

Abstract

This research study extracts the women experiences about empowerment which are comprehended through the use of microcredit. During the Literature exploration, it was obvious that there is an optimistic verdict between women empowerment and microcredit; also it alleviates the poverty of women that is a feminization of poverty. This study has assessed the lived experiences of women that how they precipitate their feelings for grasping empowerment with microcredit. This is an abductive research strategy along with the philosophy of hermeneutic phenomenology within a feminist paradigm, and generally, research design reveals the truth of numerous subjective perspectives and would help in creating the meaning of empowerment from the upper Sindh’s context. This study is conducted in upper Sindh; women who availed microcredit from microfinance banks and institutions are respondents. For data collection, in-depth interviews by using interview protocol have been conducted till the saturation point. The interpretative phenomenological analysis is used to extract the themes and constructing meanings. Women associate financial ability for having three meals a day and decision taking capability as their empowerment, they think the transformation of families’ lives in a better way is their empowerment. From subjective views of upper Sindh women, it was seen that microcredit transforms their lives if used in some economic activity. This study would be valuable for the policy designers of microfinance that they can plan strategies and policies accordingly.