Introduction

The capital city of Delhi with its neighbouring and growing satellite hubs such as Gurgaon and New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (henceforth NOIDA) offer varied and increasing possibilities for work, which is evident from the constant stream of in-migrants to the city. However, one of the most important trends, which has occasionally but casually been highlighted in the discussion on the city is the low participation of women in economic activities. The statistics on this aspect itself is shocking, given the expansion of service-oriented industries in recent years, which are often assumed to attract a large number of women. The data also indicate much deeper issues — of the nature and the gendered specificities of employment created, reflecting the existing notions and understanding of women's work both within the family as well as at work places. Sectoral/occupational concentration of women is universal and given this, the changing structure of employment would undoubtedly define the workforce in terms of gender. Alongside gender, social and demographic factors are also critical in determining as to who gets employed in various sectors/occupations. Thus, even within the overall poor participation of women, there are sectors or occupations where women's shares are higher or lower, or where women from a certain section of the population are more, indicating the larger social and economic factors that determine women's entry into paid work. These concentrations also indicate the gendered stereotyping of labour markets, which in turn are often based on the patriarchal notions of women's work — highly anchored in their role in social reproduction.

In more contemporary context, the liberalized economic regime, underlined by the growth of modern service sectors with gendered notions of skills skewed in favour of women, has resulted in an expansion of women's participation in the labour market in many countries of the world. The education and skill characteristics of these workers are often assumed to have further enhanced the positive vibes in the labour market with better wages, working conditions and renegotiation of women workers rights. This economic attainment alongside their social capital could pose challenges to existing power structures, questioning gender relations both at the workplace as well as at the individual level.