EXPLORING THE PERCEPTIONS ABOUT MARRIAGE AND HIGHER EDUCATION AMONG TEENAGE GIRLS IN DISTRICT HYDERABAD, SINDH

Abstract

This research study is concerned with particular topic of exploring the perceptions about marriage and higher education among teenage girls in District Hyderabad, Sindh. The researcher explored the reasons that played their role in shaping the perceptions of the respondents for preference of marriage over higher education for girls. The one of most factor was socio-economic stability of parents or families in Latifabad, because in Asian region families use to consider female child as a dowry burden, costly child and economic burden regarding their education, marriage and other expenditures. In Pakistani families people are not focused for female higher academics rather than boys because people think that to provide higher education to girls is only relates to economic investment not to cost benefit analysis later, because women are marked as home maker, subordinate and depended but boys can easily attain their career in our socity after getting higher education because sons are considered as bread winner, superordinate, generation runner and care taker of parents in their old age. The researcher chose quantitative research methodology for data collection. In theories of gender and women studies, Theory of Matrix of Domination by Patricia Hill was applied. A sample size of 250 female respondents was chosen who were teenage girls. A survey was conducted with the help of close ended questionnaire. Data was analyzed by SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science). Descriptive and influential statistical procedures were used to explore the data. The results revealed that most of the family female heads are supportive to patriarchal structure of family and society and prefer marriage of their younger girls over higher education in the families of District Hyderabad, Sindh. The questionnaire was signified with the help of frequency and percentages Keywords: Gender, Women, Patriarchy, Education, Higher education, Marriage, Religion, Culture