Beyond Institutional Collaboration: Collaborative Governance and it's Limits in Socio-economic Empowerment Programs for Vulnerable Woman

The Women’s socioeconomic vulnerability remains a persistent policy challenge in decentralized governance contexts, requiring governance approaches that extend beyond sectoral and institutional boundaries. This study examines how collaborative governance is structured and enacted in the empowerment of Perempuan Rawan Sosial Ekonomi (PRSE) in Kabupaten Jember, Indonesia, and assesses its implications for women’s socioeconomic empowerment outcomes. Employing a qualitative phenomenological design, data were collected through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, non-participant observation, and document analysis involving key institutional actors and PRSE beneficiaries. Data were analyzed using an interactive model of qualitative analysis. The findings reveal that collaborative governance in PRSE empowerment has been formally established through multi-actor involvement but remains substantively limited. Collaboration is predominantly government-led, with asymmetric power relations and procedural participation by beneficiaries. While empowerment initiatives improve access to skills training, financial literacy, and short-term economic resilience, these outcomes are weakly institutionalized and lack sustainability due to fragmented coordination and limited beneficiary involvement in decision-making processes. This study contributes to collaborative governance and gender empowerment literature by demonstrating that institutional collaboration alone is insufficient to produce transformative empowerment outcomes. Meaningful empowerment requires inclusive governance mechanisms, substantive power-sharing, and integrated policy coordination. Practically, the findings highlight the need for participatory governance reforms and sustainability-oriented empowerment strategies to enhance the long-term socioeconomic autonomy of vulnerable women. The study offers empirical insights for policymakers and scholars concerned with gender-responsive governance and social policy implementation in developing-country contexts