Education and Women: Non-Formal Education Among Lower Socioeconomic Status Women in ...

253 Pages·2013·1.22 MB·English

EDUCATION AND WOMEN:
NON-FORMAL EDUCATION AMONG LOWER SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS
WOMEN IN PAKISTAN IN THEIR VOICE

A dissertation submitted to the
Kent State University College
of Education, Health and Human Services
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

By
Asima Khan
May 2013
© Copyright, 2013 by Asima Khan
All Rights Reserved

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Dissertation written by

Asima Khan
B.A., Punjab University, 1984

M.A., Kent State University, 2004

Ph.D., Kent State University, 2013

Approved by

_________________________, Director, Doctoral Dissertation Committee
Vilma Seeberg

_________________________, Member, Doctoral Dissertation Committee
Averil E. McClelland

_________________________, Member, Doctoral Dissertation Committee
Hedi Nasheri

Accepted by

_________________________, Director, School of Foundations, Leadership
Shawn Fitzgerald and Administration

_________________________, Dean, College of Education, Health and Human Services
Daniel F. Mahoney
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SEEBERG, VILMA, Ph.D., May 2013 Foundations, Leadership
and Administration

EDUCATION AND WOMEN: NON-FORMAL EDUCATION AMONG LOWER
SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS WOMEN IN PAKISTAN IN THEIR VOICE (242 pp.)

The goal of the study was to examine the facilitative and obstructive factors in
accessibility of education, for lower socioeconomic status women and the educational
needs of these women. This study followed the qualitative interpretive approach, using
semi-structured interviews and field notes. To analyze the coded data Seeberg’s (2011)
empowerment capabilities approach was used.
The participants were women, fifteen years of age and above, attending literacy
training in a rural community in Punjab, Pakistan. The study was helpful in discovering
some of the factors that can support women to complete their basic education. However,
little evidence was found that showed that some of the socio-cultural obstructions to
women’s enrollment were affected or ameliorated. The facilitators that were deduced
were: the importance of a ‘mobilizer’ person, a sense of well-being while in an
educational setting, flexibility in class timing, proximity to the literacy center, need for
helping children with school work, acquiring confidence and socializing. The obstructive
factors were: women’s traditional roles, as wives and mothers, son-preference, higher
opportunity cost of girls’ education, women’s internalization of lesser status, segregation,
‘purity’ before marriage and poverty. What women wanted was education with the
potential of leading to a job.
Literacy classes had given the women enough confidence to leave chores
unfinished and face criticism from families and community to come to the literacy center.
From this it was deduced that continuation of education accompanied by social action can
make an impact on women’s empowerment.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I want to thank Foundations, Leadership and Administration for providing me
with the opportunity to carry out this study. I am extremely grateful to my adviser Dr.
Vilma Seeberg for her guidance, every step of the way. I want to thank my committee
members Dr. Averil E. McClelland and Dr. Hedi Nasheri for taking out time from their
busy schedules to be on my committee, and Dr. Martha Merrill for agreeing to be the
graduate faculty member. Finally, I want to thank my sons Omar and Zakriya and my
husband Kazim Khan for their encouragement and support, and for rescuing me from my
technological fiascoes; as well as my family in Pakistan for their continuous support and
prayers.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter Page

I. INTRODUCTION TO THE PROBLEM ................................................................1
Problem Statement ...................................................................................................2
Supports and Constraints for Women’s Education ...............................................11
Poverty .............................................................................................................13
Labor Force Participation of Women in Pakistan ............................................14
Non-Formal Education.....................................................................................15
Need for and Purpose of the Study ........................................................................17
Research Questions ...............................................................................................18
Definition of Terms ...............................................................................................19
Social Class .....................................................................................................19
Feminism..........................................................................................................20
Researcher Role ....................................................................................................20
Personal Interest .....................................................................................................21
Analytical Framework ...........................................................................................23
Implications ...........................................................................................................23

II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ................................................................................24
Background: On the Sociocultural Influences on Pakistani Women’s
Current Educational and Emancipation Status ....................................................24
Patriarchy .........................................................................................................25
Feudalism ........................................................................................................28
Colonialism and Muslim Women ...................................................................31
Non-formal Education and Lower Socioeconomic Status Women .................34
Empowerment as Process ................................................................................36
Current Educational and Emancipation Status of Women: Facilitative
and Obstructive Factors ......................................................................................39
Male Dominance ..............................................................................................48
Violence ...........................................................................................................50
Female Sexuality and Segregation ..................................................................52
Women’s Lack of Physical Mobility ...............................................................59
Patriarchal Bargaining ....................................................................................60
Purdah ..............................................................................................................63
Market: Impact on Women’s Literacy and Emancipation ..............................67
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Women’s Access to Land and Other Resources ..............................................69
Women and Urban Migration ..........................................................................71
State Intervention: Impact on Women’s Literacy and Emancipation .............72
Religion ............................................................................................................80
Non-Formal Education and NGOs: Possibilities for Lower SES
Women in Developing Countries.........................................................................83
NGO Project Design: Supports and Constraints .............................................85
Participatory Techniques .................................................................................86
Vertical Alliances ............................................................................................88
NGO Project Sustainability: The Role of Participants ...................................90
Women’s Strategic versus Practical Needs......................................................91
The Process of Empowerment .........................................................................94
NGOs and Islamist Resistance .......................................................................106
Successful NFE Programs by NGOs .............................................................108
Summary ..............................................................................................................112

III DESIGN, METHODOLOGY AND ANALYSIS ...............................................121
Design ............................................................................................................121
Setting ...........................................................................................................125
Participants .....................................................................................................128
Data Collection Methods and Procedures ......................................................129
Focus Groups ...........................................................................................131
Interviews .................................................................................................133
Memos......................................................................................................143
Categorizing Strategies/Substantive Categories: Open Coding ...............143
Connecting strategies: axial coding ...................................................144
Data Analysis .................................................................................................144
Summary ........................................................................................................146

IV FINDINGS ...........................................................................................................148
Wellbeing .............................................................................................................149
Enjoyment ......................................................................................................149
Confidence .....................................................................................................150
Cognition: Reason Things Out .....................................................................152
Curious about the Larger World ...................................................................154
Capacity to Aspire .........................................................................................155
Choose Learning/Something Specific ............................................................156
Summary ........................................................................................................157
Agency Freedom ..................................................................................................158
Choose Learning/Speak Up on Own Behalf/Make Strategic Life Choices ...158
Religion ....................................................................................................159
Marriage ...................................................................................................160
Divorce .....................................................................................................162
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Spinsterhood ............................................................................................163
Summary ........................................................................................................169
Achievement of Capabilities ................................................................................170
Political State or Condition ............................................................................170
Subjective Positionality or Orientation .........................................................171
Achievement as an Objective State or Condition .........................................179
Summary ........................................................................................................180
Individual Stories .................................................................................................180
Conclusion ...........................................................................................................184

V WOMEN’S EDUCATION AND EMPOWERMENT ........................................187
Discussion of Findings: In Relation to Literature Review ...................................189
R.Q.1. Factors which Facilitate Women’s Education ..........................................189
R.Q.2. Factors which Obstruct Women’s Education ..........................................193
R.Q.3. What do Women Want from Education ..................................................199
Poverty, Gender and Education, Equality and Patriarchy ....................................200
Conclusion ...........................................................................................................206
Implications of Research for Public Policy .........................................................207
Implications for Future Research .........................................................................208

APPENDICES .................................................................................................................209
APPENDIX A LETTER OF CONSENT ........................................................................210
APPENDIX B SAMPLE OF AN INTERVIEW WITH PARTICIPANTS.....................213
APPENDIX C SAMPLE OF FIELD NOTES .................................................................225

REFERENCES ................................................................................................................231

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

1. Map of Pakistan ...................................................................................................126

2. Schematic Map of Naseerabad .............................................................................127

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