Cultural Constraints To Female Higher Education In Malakand Division, Pakistan
The current study was aimed to analyze the Pakhtun cultural constraints in the way of female higher education. For this purpose, the data was collected through a survey instrument by snowball sampling and selected 384 respondents from Malakand division, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The collected data were analyzed through SPSS. A Chi-Square test was applied in order to find out the association between independent (Pakhtun culture) and a dependent variable (low female higher education). The results show that there is a high and significant relationship between the low ratio of female higher education and sub-dimensions of Pakhtun culture i.e. early puberty, conservatism, Pardah, home related factors, Son preference, male dominancy, lack of freedom of expression for female, early/child marriage, noninvolvement of female in decision making, spending money of parents but benefits goes to husband family, non-acceptance of co-education, living in hostel of female and cultural interpretation of religion are various risk factors for low female higher education in Pakhtun society. The study recommends that the government should focus on women education, create awareness regarding female education and provide better educational facilities and incentives for women. Besides, more employment opportunities should be created to enhance female higher education.