Perspective from Pakistan on Women in Science
Women of Pakistan are really struggling for their rights in every field of life. If we look at the sciences, mostly women are interested in Health Science and becoming doctors. Others are interested in Agriculture Science. There are less opportunities and interest in the field of physics and mathematics.
Remember that these are the women who don't get enough opportunities for education in general. Lots of women have no opportunities even for basic education in Pakistan. There are also lot of hardships in the way for women like financial, tribal, religious traditions, social and political hardships. Gender difference is a great problem. In spite of all these problems Pakistani women have a superb will to fight back and still they are fighting.
Here is a quotation that means a lot to me, from a Pakistani physicist and astronomer Dr. Prof. Farzana Aslam. She is a professor of undergraduate studies in mathematics.
"Pakistani women have great intellect and potential to participate in every profession.
They can contribute positively towards the development of society and can play a vital role
to build it on healthier and stronger foundations. They should realize their full potential
in all spheres of life, especially personal, social, economic and political."
Thank you very much Melissa to identify my gender. I dont know why Laura Hoops think that I am a women? Anyhow she made a correction. I could not attend the forum as I was bussy. There are some Organizations that support women interested in education but as I know there is no specific organization that support women in science. Anyhow I am searching for this.
Afshin Khan point out a problem that is under age merriage.
But I think if somebody want to educate the girls he can also do after merriage. Although this issue create problems in women,s education but not at the top of list.Remember I am not advocate of early age merriage. Its a crime.
Sorry I could not indicate that computer science is another interesting department for young girls and most women are doing jobs in computer sciences.
What worries me is that even though Naveen is supportive, there are many men from Pakistan and other countries who come here to do CS and engineering and who really do not respect or support women in those fields. I wish there were many more people like this, it would make it easier to recruit women to these fields. FBP
Afshin's comments are very interesting and important. It's not that girls cannot do the school work, it's that the expectations of them are not for academic success. Early marriage to a man who is not in favor of educating women is a terrible end to a promising academic career.
Hi Laura,
I am not quite sure, but from the picture of Naveed Shaheen, I think he's a man rather than a woman. To me, that makes his concern and his words even more valuable. I'm sure in Pakistan, as here, women in science need all the allies they can get.
MKS
There is tremendous potential in Pakistani women. Having grown up among them, I always found it fascinating that girls would almost always outdo the boys. They were more serious about education than boys were but it was sad to see them drop out of school for a variety of reasons (early marriage was on the top of the list). While education is one way to fix the problem, I also believe that a lot needs to be done when it comes to providing opportunities for these women once they are done with the schools. We need to make people realize that women can handle both married life and work life..that they are not always conflicting...a common misconception among many Pakistanis.
I read about the Grameen Bank and microfinance, and I'm wondering if there is some way that movement could help women in science? All the examples I've read about include empowering women in the goals, but it seems the projects people ask to do are usually more like crafts than like science.
Dear Naveen,
Do companies outsource to Pakistan the way they do to India? Might we put pressure on such companies to do something to help women in computer sci/info tech in Pakistan?
It's heartbreaking to think of girls and women with so little resources and almost no encouragement. Naveen, I love the quote and I also really appreciate hearing from you and from this woman astronomer.
It's been a long time since people assumed girls would drop out of school after four to six years, or never go at all. We all need reminders that's the norm in a lot of places around the world. Naveen, do you know of organizations in Pakistan that support women interested in science, or just trying to get an education?
MKS
