From Heritage Skills to Livelihoods: Evaluating Skill Development, Digital Literacy and Women’s Economic Empowerment

Abstract

Skill development policy often treats digital upskilling and traditional craft revival as separate agendas, aimed at different groups of women and justified by distinct arguments. This study investigates the outcomes when both pathways are delivered to the same cohort through a single community institution, asking which skills convert into income and under what conditions. A convergent mixed methods evaluation was conducted on a short cycle programme offering seven training streams: Aari embroidery, Nauvaree saree stitching, tailoring, fabric painting, bag stitching, file folder making, and the state certified MS CIT computer course. Programme monitoring records were analysed descriptively, self reported post training monthly earnings were compared across streams, and semi structured interviews were coded thematically. Returns were stratified rather than uniform: Aari embroidery attracted the largest enrolment and produced the highest reported earnings, followed by tailoring. Utility goods streams such as bag stitching and file folder making generated modest supplementary income. The MS CIT stream yielded mid range earnings but functioned primarily as an enabling capability, improving access to government portals, digital payments, and online selling rather than substituting for craft. Qualitative accounts highlighted gains in confidence, shifts toward joint household financial decisions, and enhanced social standing, alongside persistent constraints around market linkage, working capital, and mobility. The findings provide rare within cohort evidence that heritage craft skills constitute genuine economic assets rather than residual welfare activities, while digital literacy complements craft by raising the ceiling on earnings. The study contributes to an empirically grounded argument for integrating cultural and digital competencies within a single training pathway, with direct relevance to SDG 4, SDG 5, SDG 8, and SDG 12.