Digital Access Opportunities for Women’s Empowerment Collectives: A Theory of Change Based on Social Capital

The social and economic empowerment of women using digital technology is critical to global development. This article presents an expanded theory of change to explain how digital technology could augment pathways to women’s empowerment in self-help groups (SHGs), developed through an application of social capital theories to two existing theories of change. Drawing on the analysis of secondary data, it discusses SHGs in India, the determinants of mobile phone use among women in India, particularly patriarchal gender norms, and select theories of change for women’s empowerment in SHGs. The proposed enhanced theory of change has the potential to assist implementers, policymakers, researchers and SHGs themselves to more effectively leverage the empowering potential of digital technology to improve the economic and social opportunities for women in the context of global development strategies.