ABSTRACTThe present paper investigates the socio-economic scenario and challenges of working womenin Kanpur district, a prominent industrial and educational hub of Uttar Pradesh. Based onprimary and secondary data, it critically discusses their struggles with wage inequality,restricted career progression, and societal expectations. This research is conducted in a mixedmethod approach, where 300 women were surveyed across different sectors of healthcare,education, manufacturing, retail, and other industries, while qualitative interviews were alsocarried out for enhanced depth. Results show that 75 % of women face wage disparities, 62 %find problems in safe mobility, and 58 % face socio-familial pressure that is forcing many tochoose family responsibilities over professional ambitions. These implications represent aresult of the interplay of socio-economic and cultural roles in shaping the women's world ofwork.