Women in development (WID):

• Women in development (WID) was coined in the early 1970’s by a Washington-based network of female development professionals (Tinker, 1990:30). Based on their experience they challenged the theories of development, arguing that modernization is having different impacts on men and women. The first position was made by Ester Boserup, who advanced critique against modernization which supervised colonial authorities imbued with western notions of sexual division of labor placed new technologies under the control of men. This process marginalized women reducing their status, power, and income. WID gave women a voice and pushed the issue of gender to the center of international development regime.
• Women were left out from developmental practices, research programs and policies to protect them. They were not fully benefitting from the development and it made their social status even worse. WID approach saw problem as the exclusion of women in developmental programs and approaches and women as a group were being treated as a lacking opportunity to participate in development. WID argued that the integration of omen in the development would improve their position in the society. Projects that would generate income and improve their reproductive roles and more gender policies by the national government and international agencies which would accommodate women better. Women should be given the equal access to resources, basic needs and opportunities in education and employment to improve their economic independence.
• WID approach had limitation such as lack of established structures within the government to plan, coordinate and monitor the implementation of women integration policy. This increased criticism based on the visibility of women in development programs, the approach concentrated on social, cultural, legal, and economic factors that influence those inequalities in the society.

Women and Development (WAD) Approach:

* WAD developed in the latter part of the 1970’s because of the criticism against the WID approach. WID argued that women should be bought into the modernization process, WAD argues that their link with modernization had made them poorer. WAD approach views that equality will be essential to improve women’s positions but still frames change in terms of providing women access to productive sectors. It focuses on social relations existing between women and men, with women plating the role of productive and reproductive actors in the society. It drew much insight from dependency theory and neo-Marxist approaches to underdevelopment. WAD approach work both inside and outside the domestic sphere is critical to the maintenance of society. This integration of women into the global economic system existed to sustain global inequalities, marginalization, and oppression. WAD argued that WID’s emphasis on the integration of women into the development is incorrect.

* WAD focuses on interaction between women and the development process rather than integration with the development. It saw that both women and men do not benefit from the global economic structures because of unequal distribution of resources. WAD argues that integration made inequality worse as the global inequalities are the main problem faced. The social feminists advanced notion that through patriarchy the reproduction and production roles women play must be acknowledged for meaningful development.

* WAD was criticized for assuming that the position of women will improve when the international structures are more equitable. It did not take into consideration the various patriarchies and how they determine women in development. It did not address the question of social relations between men and women in development and generalized women’s experience and grouped them as sharing similar experiences without considering issues such as their class division, race, ethnicity, and context.