Following the theoretical work by Agarwal (2001) six categories
of variables are hypothesized to affect women’s participation in
forest institutions: 1-rules that exclude entry of women into the
participatory process; 2-social norms such as segregation, division
of labor or gendered biases; 3-social preferences that give more
weight to men’s participation than women’s; 4-entrenched claims
by men who are hesitant to give power to women; 5-few personal
endowments of property or social networks that would allow effective participation from women, and; 6-household endowments
or attributes that prevent effective participation (such as
caste position or social status). Agarwal argues that these factors
explain the degree, and type, of women’s participation in forest
management.
Taking this theoretical background, Agarwal (2010) used a
subset of these factors to explain variation in women’s participation
for a group of forests in India and Nepal. She found that the
gender composition of the forestry councils, as well as the age of
the women on those councils, significantly affects the likelihood
both of participation and the likelihood that women not only show
up to meetings but that they speak up on certain types of issues.
Agrawal and Chhatre (2006) found that even after controlling for a
number of confounding variables women’s participation significantly
correlates with positive forest user rankings of forest
conditions.