Empowering Women Library Professionals

Workforce Development in University Libraries in the Digital Era

Abstract

University libraries may improve their effectiveness, flexibility, and service quality by giving the same opportunities to women’s library professionals as men’s, which can be possible by decentralising authority & responsibility, leadership, and digital competency training. The previous research papers provide information on successful procedures and policies for empowering women in the changing academic library environment. The present study was conducted to know the workforce development, career opportunities & challenges of Women Library Professionals in selected central university libraries of Uttar Pradesh in the digital age. There are four selected central universities: Aligarh Muslim University, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Banaras Hindu University, and the University of Allahabad. The study conducted a survey method by utilising Google Forms to make a structured questionnaire for data collection to fulfill the objectives of the study. The collected data were analysed based on the working experience, administration support, job satisfaction, and challenge. The gathered data was presented in the form of graphs, tables, and figures. The key findings of the study states that majority of the respondents believe they having satisfactory administration support. While most of the respondents are using digital tools for their professional work, some of the professionals face several challenges such as limited opportunities for career advancement and lack of new skills for their professional development.