Empowering Female-Headed Households: Assessing the Impact of a Leadership Mentoring Program in Rural Indonesia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59175/pijed.v5i1.671Keywords:
Community Development, Female-Headed Households, Leadership Mentoring, Rural Indonesia, Women’s EmpowermentAbstract
The leadership management mentoring program for female-headed households, implemented through the Women Empowerment School in Hutamonu Village (Tanah Wangi), Boliyohuto Subdistrict, Boalemo Regency, was designed to enhance women’s leadership capacity in managing both family and community affairs. Female-headed households often face multiple challenges, including limited decision-making power, financial constraints, and restricted participation in community development. Strengthening their leadership and management capacity is therefore essential to improving family welfare and fostering inclusive rural development. The objectives of the program were: (a) to strengthen the leadership capacity of female-headed households in managing families and communities; (b) to increase women’s awareness and abilities in decision-making and financial management; and (c) to improve the overall quality of life for women and their families in Hutamonu Village. The program was implemented through leadership training and mentoring activities, employing a survey research design with a qualitative approach, and the findings were presented in a descriptive narrative form. Data were collected through questionnaires, in-depth interviews, observations, and documentation, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of both individual and collective changes. The results indicate that the program significantly improved the leadership skills of female-headed households, enhanced their awareness and decision-making capacity, and strengthened their financial management abilities. Furthermore, the program contributed to raising the quality of life for women and their families, while also increasing their participation in community development initiatives. In conclusion, the mentoring program demonstrates that targeted leadership and empowerment interventions can foster sustainable improvements in women’s capacities and promote equitable rural development.
References
Barbier, E. B. (2019). The Water Paradox: Overcoming the Global Crisis in Water Management. Yale University Press.
Bass, B. M., & Riggio, R. E. (2006). Transformational leadership (2nd ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Becker, G. S. (2002). The Age of Human Capital. In E. P. Lazear (Ed.), Education in the Twenty-First Century. Hoover Institution Press.
Boxall, P., & Purcell, J. (2016). Strategy and human resource management (4th ed.). Palgrave Macmillan.
Cornwall, A., & Rivas, A. M. (2015). From “gender equality” and “women’s empowerment” to global justice: reclaiming a transformative agenda for gender and development. Third World Quarterly, 36(2), 396–415. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2015.1013341
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Duflo, E. (2012). Women empowerment and economic development. Journal of Economic Literature, 50(4), 1051–1079. https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.50.4.1051
Geertz, C. (2017). The Interpretation of Cultures. Basic Books.
Giampiccoli, A., & Saayman, M. (2018). Community-based tourism development model and community participation. African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure, 7(4), 1–27.
Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G. J., & Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind (3rd ed.). McGraw-Hill.
Kabeer, N. (1999). Resources, agency, achievements: Reflections on the measurement of women’s empowerment. Development and Change, 30(3), 435–464. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-7660.00125
Kabeer, N. (2005). Gender equality and women’s empowerment: A critical analysis of the third millennium development goal. Gender & Development, 13(1), 13–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/13552070512331332273
Malhotra, A., & Schuler, S. R. (2005). Women’s empowerment as a variable in international development. In D. Narayan (Ed.), Measuring empowerment: Cross-disciplinary perspectives (pp. 71–88). World Bank.
Mansuri, G., & Rao, V. (2013). Localizing development: Does participation work? World Bank.
Narayan, D. (2005). Measuring empowerment: Cross-disciplinary perspectives. World Bank.
Nussbaum, M. C. (2011). Creating Capabilities: The Human Development Approach. Harvard University Press.
Ostrom, E. (2009). A general framework for analyzing sustainability of social-ecological systems. Science, 325(5939), 419–422. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1172133
Rao, A., & Kelleher, D. (2005). Is there life after gender mainstreaming? Gender & Development, 13(2), 57–69. https://doi.org/10.1080/13552070512331332287
Scheyvens, R. (1999). Ecotourism and the empowerment of local communities. Tourism Management, 20(2), 245–249. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0261-5177(98)00069-7
Sen, A. (1999). Development as Freedom. Oxford University Press.
World Bank. (2012). World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development. World Bank.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Novianty Djafri, Syamsu Qamar Badu, Heldy Vanni Alam, Isnanto Isnanto, Nina Lamatenggo
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
