Women studies is an interdisciplinary subject. The purview of this book transcends the boundaries of classical gender studies. Therefore, the book is helpful for not only students / researchers of gender or women studies but also for those concerned with social science disciplines such as sociology, economics, social work, geography, political science, mass communication, etc. The book is divided into twelve chapters. The first chapter deals with a broad introduction on the background of the annals of worldwide women's movement and the history of establishment of women studies as an academic discipline. The second section of the chapter entails the history of women's movements in India. It also focusses on the development of women studies as an academic discipline along with a detailed analysis of the introduction of national committees, commissions, organizations and government departments for women empowerment in the country. Protracting from the first chapter, the second chapter explains the four models of feminism – its characteristics and major thinkers in these schools of thought. Additionally, the chapter also goes in detail on India women – the interlinkages between caste, class, culture and social system. The third chapter elucidates the concept of women in education. It details the gender bias in enrolment, the case of women dropouts. The second section of the chapter elaborates the concept of negative capability, recent trends in women's education. The chapter also analyses various government schemes for adult literacy, non-formal education for women. It also gauges on the existing committees and commissions relating to women's education in the country. Fourth chapter deals with the notion of productive and non-productive work. It also discusses the production relations and the role of women in organized and unorganized sector in the country. The chapter which is an analysis of the women’s contribution in the Indian economy, additionally also deals with the modules such as training, skill development and income generation for women. It also focusses on the impact of new economic policy, globalization and structural adjustment programmess on women's employment. Chapter five discusses the concepts such as definition, meaning and importance of entrepreneurship. It details the entrepreneurial traits and factors contributing to women entrepreneurship such as micro enterprises. Further, it also deals with the interconnectedness between gender and technology, technology transfer, appropriate technology, information technology and its impact on women's development. Sixth chapter is devoted to the discussion of women in health – health status of women, gender mortality, nutrition, HIV-AIDS control programmes, national health population policies and programmes. Additionally the chapter also centres on gender in health care sector of India - women in the five year plans and committees on healthcare for women. Seventh chapter is dedicated towards women development and empowerment. Along with a broad introduction of the concept, the chapter also focusses on the background of the theories of development, approaches in Indian five year plans and girl child labourers. It also explains the changing role of women in various areas such as self-help-group, leadership, Panchayati PREFACE Raj, NGOs, and women's contribution towards national and international funding agencies. Chapter eight is devoted to the discussion on women and laws. It deals with the Indian constitutional / legal provisions related to women such as personal laws, labour laws, laws on violence against women, family courts and the human rights as women's rights. Chapter Eight deals with the description on women and media. It details the portrayal of women in mass media, the role of women in mass media and communication (alternative media). Additionally, it also engages on the discussion on women related laws from the media perspective. Chapter ten is dedicated towards the research methodology for women studies. It details the feminist research methods – epistemology and theories in particular. Eleventh chapter comprises of the miscellaneous information in the domain of women studies such as on the terminology of women studies, contributions of western and Indian feminist thinkers and status of women studies in India. The last chapter provides the previous years solved question papers (2004-2017) of the UGC NET exam in the discipline of women studies