The Capacity Development Evaluation of Women Occupational Groups of Women and Family Development Learning Center

Abstract

The objectives of this study aimed to survey and evaluate the operational performance of capacity development of women occupational groups, to classify the women occupational groups according to their capacity, and to prepare policy recommendations for elevating the capability of the women occupational group, whose most of the members are elderly people. The study was conducted on the basis of quantitative and qualitative study designs. As for the quantitative study, a questionnaire was used as the instrument for collecting data from 274 women occupational groups participating in the training for occupational skills development with 8 Women and Family Development Learning Centers.The qualitative study was conducted using group discussion and interviews with 32 groups and 3 management executives.

The results from the survey and operational performance evaluation of the capacity development of women occupational groups in communities were derived from 3 quality indicators, namely, the occupational training process of women occupational groups in communities, people participating in occupational training in communities, and the trainers themselves. Results of the capacity development of women occupational groups in communities revealed that this process enabled people participating in the training to gain more knowledge and skills, including generating more careers and income, ensured the products of the groups were assigned certified product standards, the preservation of art and local wisdom, strong family relationships, the promotion of women's roles and their self-esteem, and the strengthening of communities. As for capacity evaluation results of the occupational training program, this data stemmed from 4 main aspects, namely, the context or environment evaluation, input evaluation, process evaluation, and output evaluation, with evaluation results displaying high levels in all aspects. Evaluation results and classification of women occupational groups in communities according to their capacity in 5 aspects found leadership, management and production development to have high levels of capacity while membership and marketing displayed moderate levels of capacity. Factors rendering the groups stable and strong were leadership, group unity, promotion and support from government agencies, working capital, and products carrying strong identity.