The Explorer Islamabad: Journal of Social Sciences ISSN: 2411-0132(E), 2411-5487(P) Vol-2, Issue (2): 52-57 www.theexplorerpak.org
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT: ENDORSEMENT OF RIGHT TO CAREER DEVELOPMENT AMONG MASID TRIBAL WOMEN Nayab Gul Lecturer: Department of Psychology, Islamia College (Chartered University), Peshawar Corresponding Author: Ms Nayab Gul Islamia College (Chartered University), Peshawar nayab2hon@gmail.com Abstract: The present study focuses on the perceptions of Masid tribal women regarding endorsement of women’s right to career development in their culture. Furthermore it describes the aspects of women’s control over her professional life and the barriers hindering her progress. Standardized self constructed questionnaire was used and sample consisted of women from Masid tribe belonging to FATA. Convenient sampling techniques were employed for data collection and 50 women, with age range from 19 to 34 were being interviewed. The overall analysis of the result shows that tribal women has access to career development opportunities and the overall culture supports the earning role of women. As a result the tribal women comply with cultural norms and opt for traditional career choices. Women enjoyed financial individualism but can’t independently progress in career. Mobility and gender discrimination were considered to be the barriers in the career development among women.
Key Words: Career development, Women Empowerment, Masid, South Waziristan (FATA), Endorsement, Patriarchal Society INTRODUCTION A career is broadly defined as a lifelong process of work-related activities that include both objective and subjective aspects (Hall 2002). Career development is defined as an on-going series of stages characterized by unique concerns, themes and tasks. The career model so far has focused on the studies conducted on the men work force (Osipow and Fitzgerald 1996) so it fails to define and construct the role women in professional life. Bearing in mind women’s increasing economic participation and their contribution to national economies worldwide (Omair 2010), it seems necessary to incorporate women’s values, attitudes, contexts and life experiences into our understanding of careers (Lamsa and Hiillos 2008). Since women generally continue to perform primary sphere responsibilities while simultaneously juggling the demands of their workforce participation, their career development issues, concerns, tasks, and responsibilities, molded by the work-family pressures they experience, may be distinctly different from those of men (O'Neil and Bilimoria 2005). A large proportion of the contemporary literature on women’s careers also suggests that women encounter conflict between their work and family roles (Mainiero and Sullivan 2005;
White 1995), and that they are often forced to choose between upward career mobility or family stability, or even having a family at all particularly in patriarchal society (Mavin 2001). More specifically, it suggests that certain contexts can implicitly or explicitly restrict women’s efforts to seek out career alternatives that are less traditional (Stead 2004) thus limiting their rights to career development. Noor (2004) observes that state of Pakistan, due to many socio-cultural and economic reasons, couldn’t successfully protect women rights in general and career rights in particular. The endorsement of women’s right to career development has been considered as contrary to the cultural norms and general Islamic teachings in Pakistani society (Weiss 2004). More specifically some of the cultural norms in Pakistani society are considered to be impediment in the way of women empowerment. In one of the study showed how socio-cultural aspects of Pakhtoon culture are hindering the way of women empowerment (Naz and Chaudhry 2011). It is a common conception that women belonging to South Waziristan (FATA), particularly from Masid tribe are marginalized and deprived of their basic human rights. The patriarchal system, special status of FATA and customary practices
52
are considered to be the potential impendent of the crisis. Among these, patriarchal system and customary practices are thought to be the cardinal forces hindering the process of women empowerment (Khan 2008). It is generally believed that patriarchal system and customary practices takes its fuel from Pakhtoon-Wali. Pakhtoon-wali is the code of honor that is strictly adhered to by the tribal community. Its patriarchal nature gives dominance of men over women folks, thus limiting the choices for women particularly those concerned with career development(Richard 2010). But the growing number of tribal women work force presents a different outlook, inciting the need for observing the true status of endorsement of the right to career development among tribal society. According to UDHR “Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment”. Similar clause enforcing the right to career development has also been part of Constitution of Pakistan. As Pakistan became state party to number of gender-focused UN human right instruments, it started efforts in extending the provisions of these rights to women (Weiss 2004). Since then, local efforts has been made to articulate frame work of the right to career development among women. Some of its elements are bowered from UN documents on women empowerment including right to determine choices, having access to opportunities and gaining control over one’s life. In the present study these elements are considered as to provide a general frame work for the endorsement of right to career development among women. Furthermore it focuses on the perceptions of these tribal women regarding endorsement of women’s right to career development in their culture. It is assumed that tribal women have access to career opportunities and culture plays important role in the endorsement of these rights. A tribal woman tends to comply with the cultural norms and, is given acceptance support and recognition in the return. Furthermore it describes the aspects of women’s control over her professional life and the barriers hindering her progress. METHODOLOGY The research was exploratory in nature and quantitative research approach was used for both collection, and analysis of the data. Standardized self constructed questionnaire was used as a
research tool to tap the perceptions about Endorsement of Right to Career Development among Tribal Masid Women. The calculated reliability coefficient level of the tool was 0.7, which indicated satisfactory level of reliability. The data was collected from district Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan of Khyber Pakhtoon Khwa. Sample consisted of women from Masid tribe belonging to FATA. Convenient sampling techniques were employed for data collection and 50 women, with age range from 19 to 34 were being interviewed. The study doesn’t provide the overall perceptions of entire Masid tribal women as only educated available women were being interviewed. One of the reasons of limitation is the ongoing war in the area and spread of Masid families all over Pakistan as a result of displacement which made it difficult to access desired population. Results and Discussion Graph.1: Head of Family
Bar chart shows that in majority of the Masid tribal families’ head of the household in mainly male. Chart. 1: Pie chart depicting level of education
The pie chart shows almost equal distribution of different levels of education among Masid tribal women
53
Table. 1: Percentages of endorsement of right to career development among Masid women
Rights Access Choices
Percentage 85% 51% Compliance with 57% culture Role of Acceptance of 87% Culture earning role Support 87% Recognition 55% Financial 75% Control individualism Further 68% education Access to 10% opportunities The above table shows perceptions about the endorsement of right to career development among women in percentages. Right to have access to education is 85 %, whereas right to make choices about employment is 51%. Culture also plays significant role as shown 57% of the respondents’ shows compliance to cultural norms regarding career choices. 87% reported that their family shows acceptance of their earning role, and enjoy family support. In comparison to males 55% respondents believed that they enjoyed equal recognition as a bread earner. While comparing the right to have control over career development 75% showed financial individualism, 68% enjoyed the opportunity of getting further education and only 10% had access to career development opportunities. Table. 2: Barriers in the endorsement of right to career development among Masid women
Barriers Mobility Stereotypes
Percentages 51%
Executive role bias Gender bias Housewife is unprofessional
66% 63% 80%
Discrimination 80% The above table shows the barriers hindering the endorsement of right to career development among masid women. 51% respondents believed that mobility is a barrier in grasping job related opportunities in tribal community. Stereotypes were also identified, which were generally considered as barriers in the way of women’s right to career development. Among these 66%
refuted the stereotype that women can’t perform executive roles, 63% believed that their gender was a barrier; whereas 80% refuted the belief that housewife is unprofessional. Gender based discrimination, which was 80%, was also perceived as an impediment in women’s professional progress. Table.3: Correlation between Role of culture and choice of career
1 2 Role of culture -0.24 Choice of career -.024 **P<0.01 Table shows an inter relationship b/w two variables i.e. role of culture and choice of career. The results indicate that variable role of culture is negatively correlated with choice of career. Table no 4: Correlation between Role of culture and manual/domestic support 1 2 Acceptance of earning role 1 0.236 Manual/ domestic support 0.236 1 **P<0.01 Table shows an inter relationship b/w two variables i.e. role of culture and manual/domestic support. The results indicate that the variables are moderately correlated. DISCUSSION The present study analyzed the perceptions of women regarding endorsement of her right to career development in Masid tribal culture. The overall results shows a clear status of tribal women access to career opportunities, career choices she makes, role of culture in making choices, her control over professional life and finally the barriers she faces in availing these rights Graph no 1 depict the patriarchal nature of the tribal community as majority of the respondents reported that their head of the family is male. Patriarchal nature of the tribal society is considered to be the major impediment in the women’s professional progress by prevailing literature. analysis showed that patriarchal nature of the Pakhtoon-wali is depriving women of their basic human rights (Khan 2008), But the results show a different picture. The pie chart shows that Masid women are availing opportunities of education from primary to higher education level. Equal distribution of Masid women across different levels of education shows that women folk is encouraged to get education and develop career.
54
Table no 1 show percentages of endorsement of right to career development among Masid women. It shows that 85% of the women can avail the right to develop career and finds there family supportive of their decision to opt for career. Right to education and assess to career opportunity brings in the cultural acceptance and compliance among tribal women. The findings further indicated the only 51% of the respondents believe that they can independently choose their career, probably because the women in Masid tribal culture are more culture driven and can’t make career choices independently. To add further they are passive and dependent in making career choices thus reflecting external locus of career contro (O'Neil and Bilimoria 2005). The table also reflects the role of culture in the endorsement of right to career development among women. In the present study 57% woman believed that they should opt for culturally acceptable career which shows that cultural context can limit women to opt for traditional career choices (Stead 2001). Table 3 also endorses the same fact that culture and choices of career are inversely correlated i.e, culture doesn’t give room for independent career choices. Family support is crucial for career oriented women (Al-Lamki 1999) and the result shows that 87% of the women enjoy family support in career development, in moral, domestic and motivational domains. Family support is presumably the reason why tribal women don’t object to the cultural restriction on career choices. It further shows that 87% of the women can independently contribute to house hold indicating overall acceptance of women’s earning role in typical tribal family. Table no 4 indicate positive correlation between variables acceptance of earning role and manual/ domestic support indicating that a typical tribal family unit of is receptive to the women’s right to work. Furthermore In comparison to males 55% respondents believed that they enjoyed equal recognition as a bread earner. This finding is also enforced by the traditional career theories that man is the bread earner whereas women’s primary function is to take care of house and family members (Neal, et al. 2005; Mostafa 2005). While assessing the extent of women’s control over career development it was deduced that 75% of the respondents enjoyed financial individualism. As opposed to the other cultures
across the country a tribal women can independently plan, spend and save here earning. 68% of the respondents endorsed that they can independently polish there professional skills by getting further education and training. Whereas only 10% could avail the chances of progress mainly because of strict adherence to tribal culture which doesn’t encourage the women to prioritize her career over family (Helen and Lin 2004). Attitudinal and cultural barriers are the basic impediments in women career development (Omair 2010). Table no 2 indicate the barriers in the endorsement of right to career development among Masid women. Mobility was considered to be hurdle in the career advancement and at times in availing career related opportunities. 51% respondents affirmed that mobility was restricting the opportunities of job for tribal women. Among other factors was the gender bias and discrimination. 80% of women felt discriminated against men and believed that their gender is hindering their progress in general professional setups. One such study conducted on Arab women manager showed that men were preferred in appointment and promotion process as compared to females (Omair 2010). Traditional theories holds the conviction that Women face great deal of conflict while choosing between career and family (Mavin 2001) whereas our findings shows that tribal women can be a good housewife as well as working women. Her overall satisfaction with the family support and cultural rootedness enables her to balance the two. Which is aptly reflected in our findings as 80% of the respondents denied the notion that a housewife could be unprofessional. Patriarchal norms stops women from reaching to the executive positions, the findings does not correspond with the perceptions of tribal women. As 66% of the responded believed that a women has potential to become a very good executive officer (Omair 2010). CONCLUSION It was assumed that tribal women have access to career opportunities and culture paves way for the endorsement of these rights. In return tribal woman tends to comply with the cultural norms and, is given acceptance support and recognition. The overall analysis of the result confirms the assumptions. Tribal women had access to career development opportunities and the overall culture supports the earning role of women. As a
55
result the tribal women comply with cultural norms and opt for traditional career choices. Women enjoyed financial individualism but can’t independently progress in career. Mobility and gender discrimination were considered to be the barriers in the career development among women. REFERENCES Al-Lamki, Salma 1999 Paradigm shift: A Perspective on Omani Woman in Management in the Sultanate of Oman. Advancing Women in Leadership 5(1): 1-18. Hall, Douglas T. 2002 Careers in and out of Organizations. Sage Publications Thousand Oaks, CA. Helen, Lingard, and Jasmine Lin 2004 Career, Family and Work Environment Determinants of Organizational Commitment among Women in the Australian Construction Industry. Construction Management and Economics 22(4): 409-420. Khan, Sarfraz 2008 Special Status of FATA: Illegal Becoming Licit. Central Asia 63: 8-9. Lamsa, Anna-Maija, and Minna Hiillos 2008 Career Counseling for Women Managers At Mid-Career: Developing An Autobiographical Approach, Gender in Management: An International Journal 23(6):395-408.
Differences. Journal of Psychology 20 (6): 540-552.
Managerial
Naz, Arab, and Hafeez-ur-Rehman Chaudhry 2011 Gender and Development: SocioCultural, Economic, Religious and Political Impediments in Women’s Empowerment and Gender Development: A Case Study of Malakand Division KPK Pakistan. Bioinfo Sociology 1(1): 15-24. Neal, Mark, Jim Finlay, and Richard Tansey 2005 My Father Knows the Minister: A Comparative Study of Arab Women’s Attitudes Towards Leadership Authority. Women in Management Review 20(7): 478-497. Noor, Muhammad Jehanzeb 2004 Daughter of Eve: Violence against Women. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Osipow, Samuel H., and Louise F. Fitzgerald 1996 Theories of Career Development. Allyn and Bacon, Needham Heights, MA. Omair, Katlin 2010 Typology of Career Development for Arab Women Managers in the United Arab Emirates, Career Development International 15 (2): 121-143. O'Neil, Deborah A., and Diana Bilimoria 2005 Women's Career Development Phases: Idealism, Endurance, and Reinvention. Career Development International 10(3): 168-189.
Mainiero, Lisa A., and Sherry E. Sullivan 2005 Kaleidoscope Careers: An Alternate Explanation for the ‘Opt-Out’ Revolution, Academy of Management Executive 19 (1): 106-123.
Richard, Jocelyn 2010 Women in Northern PakistanProtected by Tribe, Territory or Taliban. UCL Institute of Human Rights 3:236.
Mavin, Sharon 2001 Women’s Careers in Theory and Practice: Time for Change?. Women in Management Review 16(4): 183-192.
Stead, Graham B. 2001 Culture and Career Psychology: A Social Constructionist Perspective. Journal of Vocational Behavior 64 (3):389-406.
Mostafa, Mohamed M. 2005 Attitudes towards Women Managers in the United Arab Emirates: The Effects of Patriarchy, Age, and Sex
White, Barbara 1995 The Career Development Successful Women. Women Management Review10 (3):4-15.
of in
56
Weiss, Anita M. 2004 Islamic Influences on Sociological Conditions of Pakistani Women. Oriente moderno 23(1):307-328. Publication Date: Feb-29 -2016 © 2016 “The Explorer Islamabad” Journal of Social Sciences-Pakistan
57