AN ASSESSMENT OF GENDER SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN BRICS COUNTRIES: WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO GENDER SOCIAL NORMS INDEX (GSNI)

Abstract

Greater gender equality will enhance economic productivity; and improve development outcomes for the upcoming generation. The Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI) stresses the importance of combining different dimensions to assess biases against gender equality, because they might interact in different ways to block a woman’s progress. The objectives of this paper are to interpret the GSNI Index of BRICS Countries, to identify the influential dimensions of GSNI of those Economies and to relate sustainable women empowerment with the valuation of this index. The major findings were based on the core GSNI value, with the computation of overall Average Value, it was found that the highest and lowest value of biasness lies in the Physical Integrity and Educational dimensions respectively. The regression analysis revealed that how each of the four dimensions influence the valuation of the core GSNI value. It was concluded that with adopting more inclusive data collection techniques and developing appropriate models for interpreting the index through proper valuation and assessment could facilitate the government in formulation and implementation of more women centric policies and welfare measures that would minimize the gender gap and paves way for the development of society and nation as on whole.