Despite challenges including resource scarcity, gender-based violence and discrimination, women’s empowerment is still a vital tactic in the fight against poverty. Rural women worldwide often face limited personal and economic empowerment, which constrains their capacity to influence economic development within their families and communities. The objectives of this study were to examine how Tangaza University students and employees perceive the influence of women’s empowerment on economic development in rural Kenyan families, to determine the practices of students and employees at Tangaza University to promote women’s empowerment within their families and entire Kenyan families, and to identify the perceived challenges women in rural areas encounter in pursuit of economic development. The study involved a sample comprising 50 students and 30 staff members drawn from Tangaza University using stratified random sampling. Data was collected utilizing structured questionnaires and information was gathered about participants’ perceptions and actions regarding women’s empowerment and how it influences rural Kenyan families’ economic development. A qualitative section of the instrument comprised open-ended questions whose verbatim responses were thoroughly examined using content analysis while descriptive measures were used to analyse the quantitative data. The findings reaffirmed that economic development in Kenya’s rural households is positively influenced by women’s empowerment. Furthermore, women’s empowerment in Kenya was supported locally and nationally by Tangaza University staff and students who encouraged women in their families to pursue education and skill development and fought for equal opportunities for women in the community and workplace. The recommendations included that the National and County Governments should work closely with Universities to come up with projects and programs that promote women’s empowerment including education to all, business empowerment, and leadership empowerment to enhance sustainable economic development among women in rural areas.
Keywords: Development, Economic Empowerment, Women, perceptions and practices, rural families
