MSU Baroda bags research project worth 16 lacs from NCW

Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Faculty of Family and Community Sciences and Department of Journalism and Communication, Faculty of Journalism and Communication have jointly bagged a research grant from the National Commission for Women (NCW), Government of India. The project grant worth INR16 lacs has been given for research work during the year 2021-22.

The research project will examine the portrayal of women on OTT platforms. The research will focus on carrying out a case study of the recently launched Gujarati OTT platform- Oho Gujarati. A multi-fold research approach with audience opinion, expert insights, and analysis of web series on Oho Gujarati has been chosen for the study. The proposal to NCW was sent collaboratively under the theme - Gender Inequality in Media and Entertainment Industry.

This was one among the four themes relating to gender issues on which NCW had invited proposals earlier this year. "We are excited to commence this study which will most definitely contribute to knowledge in the domain of gender and media, especially streaming platforms, which are becoming popular by the day", said Prof. Shagufa Kapadia, Department of Human Development & Family Studies (HDFS), Principal Investigator for the project.

"This collaborative association at MSUB will also help strengthen multi-disciplinary research, as envisioned by NEP 2020", added Prof. Niti Chopra, Dean, Faculty of Journalism and Communication and Co-investigator for the project.

The research team members from MSUB are Dr. Subair Kalathil, Programme Officer in Women's Studies Research Centre, Dr. Nidhi Shendurnikar, Assistant Professor (CES) in Faculty of Journalism and Communication, and Dr. Gitanjali Roy, Assistant Professor (CES) from Department of Psychology, Faculty of Education and Psychology.