The community forestry programme of Nepal aims to strengthen the participation of disadvantaged communities, such as women, in the management of natural resources. However, even after three decades, women's active participation remains a challenge. Empirical studies point to various discriminating social structures and mechanisms as factors limiting women's participation. The current trend towards men’s outmigration, as observed in the Mid-hills of Nepal, is changing these social structures and might offer new opportunities for women’s engagement in community forestry. This research investigates how the dynamic social context brought about by men’s outmigration affects women’s participation in community forest management. Employing a case study approach, data were collected from four community forest user groups in the Mid-hills of Nepal, using key informant interviews, a survey, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Theoretical concepts such as feminism, gender, and the agency-structure debate were used to guide data analysis. The case study shows that men’s outmigration can increase women’s participation in community forest management. However, different structural factors, especially family composition, mediate this influence. In the social context, that is understood as dynamic, women use various microsocial processes to influence forest management decisions as well as shape their roles and rights. Moreover, the findings indicate the need of understanding women’s participation as a transformative process that is adaptive and responsive to the changing social context. This process is not well captured by quantitative surveys or statistical data. To adequately assess the progress in women’s participation in the management of community forests, complementary qualitative methods need to be used. These findings allow deriving theoretical, methodological and policy recommendations to support women’s empowerment and their effective participation in the management of community forests. At the theoretical level, the study indicates that a mix of theories can provide complementary perspectives allowing for a nuanced analysis of women’s participation in community forest management. At the methodological level, it shows the need to employ a carefully designed mix of quantitative and qualitative methods to capture the various dimensions of women’s participation and thus enrich our understanding of empowerment processes. At the policy and management level, these findings advocate the need to understand society as a mutable context and analyze the impact of policy measures within a reflexive and adaptive framework. Thus, a nuanced look at social processes is essential to ensure that increasing women’s active participation in programmes like community forestry is achieved through a socially just change process that is both adaptive to the changing social context and transformative against discriminating power relations