Are Pakistan’s female medical students to be doctors or wives?
This article describes a trending cultural practice in Pakistan where educated women are considered the ideal match in arranged marriages and a status symbol for elite families of the groom. In particular the article focuses on the status symbol of females with a medical education background. The Pakistani government is concerned about the ratio of female to male students accepted into medical schools (BBC News 2015). “The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), says more than 70% of medical students are women.” (BCC News 2015). These statistics contrast sharply with the number of female medical students who ultimately engage in medical careers (BBC News 2105).
While “female students outshine and outnumber their male counterparts…many do not end up as practicing doctors” (BBC News 2105). The underlying assumption is that female students who seek education in the medical field are more interested in obtaining an optimal marriage match rather than practicing medicine (BBC News 2105). Their pursuit of education is considered a means to obtaining this goal rather than a path to a career in the medical field. In response to this trend and the increase in demand for practicing doctors (Pakistan is currently facing a shortage of doctors) the government is seeking to limit the number of females admitted to medical programs (BBC News 2105). The article also entertains the suggestion that female academic achievement is an effect of the social structure, which limits female social interaction in venues such as clubs, rather than an outcome of the academic and intellectual merits of the female student.
Critics of the government’s attempt to limit female students from being admitted to medical programs contend that females are often required to make a choice between pursuing a career and family, which is not a choice their male counterparts are required to entertain (BBC News 2105). Shahzad Akbar, a human rights lawyer, believes the fundamental issue is that the medical profession does not provide women with an environment that allows them to practice medicine and contemplate starting a family (BBC News 2105). He calls for reform within the medical profession to provide a more female friendly working environment (BBC News 2105).
While there are many aspects to this article that can be analyzed for discourse, one ideology that seems embedded in the article, but was never openly discussed, is the subconscious dogma that a woman who chooses family life as her primary life focus, as opposed to a career or a lifestyle that includes both a family and career, does not have the right or need to continue her higher education. The argument can be made that this unconscious ideology is not just unique to Eastern countries such as Pakistan, but is also ingrained in Western cultures as well. Yet such an ideology seems counter to theories of andragogy, the theory and practice of adult education, which often center around the notion of life-long learning which, much like socialization, is characterized as the process of learning from birth till death. Many educators contend that the “development of the skills of inquiry… is the cornerstone” of life-long learning, which is at the heart of adult education (Holton, Knowles, and Swanson 2015:41). Stifling access to education based on cultural perceptions of gender roles then becomes a barrier to life-long learning, which is a foundational tenet of andragogy and scholarly education in general.
References
BBC News 2015 “Are Pakistani’s female medical students to be doctors or wives?”Retrieved August 30, 2015 (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34042751)
Holton, Elwood F., Knowles, Malcolm S., and Swanson, Richard. 2015. The Adult Learner:The Definitive Classic in Adult Education and Human Resource Development. New York: Routledge.