They Are My Degree: Young Pakistani Women and Their Parents Reflect on the Role of Education in Their/Their Children’s Lives

• In Event: Roundtable Session 96
  In Roundtable Session: Research on the Education of Asian and Pacific Americans: Roundtable Session on Gender Differences

Abstract

The dominant framework for understanding the educational experiences of young Pakistani Muslim women focuses on cultural differences and largely ignores the variability within their ethnic/religious communities. This project engages the limitations of this field of research, one that suggests young Pakistani women are discouraged from education by family, ethnic communities, and religion. A qualitative approach to research was employed to determine the messages they receive from family, religious/ethnic communities about the role of education in their lives. Findings show that young Pakistani women not only felt supported and encouraged but were expected to pursue higher education by their families. Parents had high expectations of academic achievement for their daughters regardless of their socioeconomic backgrounds or reasons for migration.

Author

• Sara Mehdi Zaidi, CUNY