assessing the determinants of women...

ASSESSING THE DETERMINANTS OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN PAKISTAN:*A Case of Two Colleges of Lahore

Aliya BUSHRA**and Nasra WAJIHA***

Women empowerment is one of the most important factor which is now being discussed innearly all developing countries. In this paper, an attempt is made to explore the determinantswhich have an influence on women empowerment in Pakistan. The sample of the studycovers 200 female respondents of the two renowned colleges of Lahore. The empirical re-sults of this study show that contents of education, economic participation of women,poverty and economic opportunity available to women increase their empowerment. In thisstudy, apart from the conventional variables, a variable, ‘women’ maintaining a bank ac-count was also tested, which showed an extreme significant and positive impact on womenempowerment. This supports the economic opportunity available for females to increasetheir weightage in the society. Finally, it is concluded that these significant factors influenceempowerment of women, and therefore, one can focus on these determinants to increaseand enhance women role in the culture of Pakistan.

I. Introduction

In the recent years women empowerment has become a very important issueof the contemporary world. One of the most important factor for women empow-erment is the women education which is vital for the growth of human mind; inorder to attain equal opportunities and equal status to achieve the desired goals andobjectives. Empowering women has been neglected since long and was only appliedin the seventies. The scope of this study is to see the present situation of womenand to distinguish the important determinants and barriers which restrict womenempowerment, in Pakistan.

Pakistan Journal of Applied Economics, Vol. 23 No. 2, (115-139), Winter 2013 115

* In the paper, the term “Women Empowerment in Pakistan” is used in general term with caution; whereas,the sample criterion, the data and the results are based on the study of two colleges of Lahore, Pakistan.

** Assistant Professor, Department of Business Administration, Lahore School of Economics, and *** Professor,Head of the Department of Psychology, Government College for Women, Lahore, Pakistan.

Lack of awareness for women empowerment has deprived women to gainknowledge and education. This has affected her skills to avail equal job opportuni-ties, control, power, status, decision-making abilities, and know herself to be a pro-ductive participant for child growth, household caretaker etc., etc. The cultural andsocial values, traditions, poverty, religious ground reality, illiteracy, public unaware-ness, and high fertility rate; all contribute to the powerlessness of women in Pakistanand in most of the under-developed economies. This shatters her confidence andself-reliance. In rural areas of Pakistan females are mostly isolated, fragmented anddiscouraged to discuss and share their thoughts, experience and even problems re-lating to their gender. Different factors contribute negatively at both the micro andmacro levels and discourage women to receive education. The government playsan important role in making supportive policies and programs for promoting womeneducation. In 1994 the Cairo campaign stated that education is necessary, as it is aforce for socio-economic development and that due to it the gender gap is de-creased. The literacy rate of women in Pakistan is 26 per cent; the lowest in NWFPand Balochistan (3 to 8 per cent). This was due to religious pressure and variousother restrictions for not upgrading women status in the country.

Recently, the government of Pakistan, non-government organizations (NGO's)and the political circle have taken steps for women empowerment by opening achain of formal schools for girls. Various educational plans were made and imple-mented for compulsory education of girls but still women empowerment in Pakistanis difficult and its potential still remain unfruitful. This restricts females to live ahealthy and happy life of dignified standards.

Access to basic opportunities leads to improvement in women empowermentand their relevant activities ultimately raise their status in the society. This con-tributes effectively to the economic growth as a productive asset. Therefore, thisresearch aims to study all barriers and constraints against women empowermentwhich discourage them to gain information, knowledge and know-how of technol-ogy, essential for their growth at an individual and at the society levels. It aims toview all conditions due to which females are forced and compelled to live in anisolated atmosphere without reach to the basic legal rights.

In our culture women empowerment is being neglected since the creation ofPakistan. She is deprived of her basic legal right of equal status and opportunitiesto live a respectable human life. Women have been kept away from the social de-velopment process, including health, basic needs, education, information, accessto power and authority, and even the decision-making within her family. The prob-lem has not been solved since 1947. Many plans and policies were made in the pastbut they have not been enforced practically. The culture and the male supremacy,especially in the rural areas have particularly kept women away from receiving ed-ucation. Lack of resources, poverty, low and/or unpaid labor in agriculture sectorare also the main problems for under development of women in rural areas.

PAKISTAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECONOMICS116

The National Policy made in 2002, for development and empowerment ofwomen, aimed to involve females in development activities, their active partici-pation in economic growth and decision-making. A bill ‘Criminal Law Act 2004’was also passed by the Parliament of Pakistan, against the honour killing1 of fe-males. Various other laws and plans were made by the government of Pakistanbut the problem did not resolve and still women empowerment needs to be ad-dressed; so that woman is considered to be an essential part of the society and isgiven proper status in the family/society. Empowerment of women allows her toimprove her skills and show her ability to contribute and take decision in thegrowth of economy of the country. Acquiring education helps women to play apositive role as a family member and as a responsible citizen of the country.Therefore, women empowerment helps her to gain confidence, knowledge andexperience. It will also create awareness and exposure, and allow educated fe-males to avail equal opportunities to work at administrative/managerial positionsand contribute to the organization and economy of the country, wherever theyprovide their service.

The main objectives of this research is to:

1. Study the impact of woman education, poverty, their economic participation inthe household income, any given economic opportunity and cultural or socialissues on women empowerment in the society.

2. Know whether the factors mentioned above, play an important role in enhanc-ing women empowerment?

The paper is divided into five Sections. After the Introduction in Section I, Sec-tion II gives a brief description of the Literature. Section III describes the Method-ology Developed in the study; while Section IV explains the Data Analysis. SectionV Concludes the study, giving Future Implication.

II. Review of Literature

Desai (2010) states that there was a gender disparity at primary and secondarylevels and that primary education should be made compulsory for girls till theyreach the age of 16. The paper discusses the need for government policies relatingto this issue; to upgrade the level of basic education from primary to secondary,compulsory for both male and female genders. However, problems including lackof funds, cultural barriers, negativity of parents to spend on girls education, distance

BUSHRA AND WAJIHA, WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN PAKISTAN 117

t 1 It is an illegal act of male members of a family in which a female and/or her husband/lover is killed; in caseshe marries or intends to marry someone against the decision of her male family members.

of school from girls’ home, health of girls and other issues do restrict females toplay an important and active role in the economy. Also, other factors like early mar-riages, negative attitude of preference of boys over girls, all needs to be changed toimprove the status of women and recognize her potentials as an individual and asa member of the society. Adolescent fertility rate also ̀ has a negative impact on thechild and mother and awareness to modern contraception needs to be given attentionto reduce the fertility rate.

Malhotra et al. (2005), states that there was a large gender gap in the youth lit-eracy and the adult literacy rate. This paper clearly indicated that in Pakistan fe-males lack in education due to unfavouorable women's conditions of genderinequality, health, education and unequal rights. Most women do not have accessto education due to unequal opportunities and violation of women's rights in thecountry. This paper focus on how gender disparity needs to be looked at, as an im-portant factor affecting women's status; on the other hand the culture, norms andvalues need to be re-defined [kabeer (2005)]. This would help to create awarenessof women's equal rights and opportunities with relevance to the religious groundrealities.

In his article, Jehan (2000) discussed the role of women in the economicgrowth of Pakistan. The article aims to answer the basic questions in relation tothe current status of women, the role of education, the level and extent of women'sparticipation and the benefits of economic development. It points out that in ruraland urban areas females provide services in all sectors including agriculture, man-ufacturing and social services but inspite of their active participation in theseareas it is considered that their role is minor as compared to males. The articlestated that to avail opportunities the informal sector of women needs improve-ments in resources, information, exposure, knowledge of the trend of market, lowincome and poverty rate.

Chaudhry and Nosheen (2009) distinguished indicators of women empower-ment of which the six main areas were: economic, political, socio-cultural, legal,interpersonal and the psychological factors. The authors focused on the SouthernPunjab which included both the rural and urban areas. The sample size of 200 fe-males between the age of 14-65 years were taken. The results showed that the ed-ucation index of household, work, and Islam had a significant positive impact onwomen empowerment, whereas, a need to improve and bring changes in the culturaland socio-economic aspects of the society was felt.

Chaudhry and Rahman (2009) studied the impact of gender inequality in edu-cation in Pakistan by referring various studies and aimed to investigate its impactby regression analysis, using primary data by female enrolment rate, female-maleratio, and the female years of schooling. The results indicated that literacy rate forfemales age 10, is 14 per cent and that poverty rate is higher in households wherepercentage of literate females is low.


Zahidi (2005) discussed the five main indicators of gender disparity and womenempowerment with reference to the economic participation, economic opportunity,political empowerment, educational attainment and the health and well-being. Theeconomic participation was measured in units of workforce to increase women in-come and promote her status in the society. Khalid and Mukhtar (2002) discussedthe profile of female status in Pakistan and gave reasons for school drop-out girls,which was due to poverty in the family, parents’ unwillingness to send girls toschool and the household work undertaken by girls. In the past, many governmentpolicies for women empowerment were made and introduced. The National Edu-cation Policy (1998-2010) planned the ‘universal primary education’ and made itcompulsory to reduce gender gap and provided favorable environment for womenempowerment. The report recommended means and methods to improve socialwell-being of women to upraise their status in the society.

Sathar and Kazi (2000) stated that, in Pakistan, there is a gender disparity andinequality in autonomy of male and female which is highly influenced by the socialand demographic conditions. The demographic conditions were measured bywomen's status with units of their education, age difference of spouse, employmentand fertility rate, where household and employment were strongly influenced bysocial and economic condition of women. The sample was taken (in 1993-1994)from 10 different societies of Punjab, and one from the urban sector, for comparingthe both. Findings of the study showed that women in rural Pakistan are not allowedto leave their home without permission of their husbands, mother/father in laws;whereas, her decision making for family and child-care was higher within thehousehold. In comparison, communication with their spouse and mobility in urbanareas of Pakistan was also higher but yet the trend in rural areas remains unchanged.The economic mobility of women is low in the north but it is high in the southernPunjab.

Noureen and Khalid (2012) discussed the importance of education as an im-portant factor and determinant for women empowerment. The research was carriedout by semi-structured interviews using the case study method. The results statedthat early-age-marriages and poverty were the main indicators for lack of education.Parents decision also played an important role in the mobility of women and thatany asset or property in females name showed a positive impact on their purchasingpower and their decision-making.

Ali et al. (2010) discussed the cultural barriers to women empowerment in Pakistan.The cultural factors restrained women empowerment and were due to male dominatedfamily systems where females are not allowed to receive education or take part in familyrelated matters. The study was carried out in Multan, the urban side of Pakistan. Thesample consisted of married women; the results of which indicated that cultural barriersexist because of unawareness of basic information, awareness, and resources due towhich women lacked even from acquiring the basic necessities of life.


III. Methodology

In this study the variables taken into consideration are poverty, education, cul-tural and social issues and the economic participation and economic opportunity.Education is essential for human development as it plays a very important role inwomen empowerment in developing countries. Women lack basic and primary ed-ucation, both at primary and secondary levels. Poverty is another important variable,as poor families cannot afford and nor have preference to spend on females educa-tion. Cultural and social issues in the society also restrict females’ autonomy andfreedom and discourage them to obtain education.2 Economic participation and eco-nomic opportunity are important variables to measure women opportunity at themanagerial level. It identify women education level and their contribution to theeconomic growth which ultimately empowers women in the society.

1. Theoretical Framework

The graphical illustration (Figure 1) of the theoretical framework identifies fivemain indicators of women empowerment in Pakistan. All constitutive and operationaldefinitions are given in Table 1 (Appendix).3 Kishor (1997) studied multiple variableswhich affects women empowerment. Some of these variables are considered in thisstudy; thereby, we can have a clear view about the situation of women in Pakistani.Empowerment of women can be enhanced through development of educational in-stitutions all over the country, including suburbs and the backward areas. Educationcan help to uplift the status of women and to lead an independent and better life inPakistan. The education level of women can be measured by the number of girls en-rolled at primary and secondary levels in comparison to the number of dropouts fromschool, each year. Receiving education by women is influenced by many factorswhich restrict poor families to send their children (specially girls) to school.

Poverty is the most important factor which influence women empowermentand constitute to the major burden of the developing countries; restricting childrenspecially girls to receive formal education. Poor families in rural areas have fewearning members due to which they are always in financial constraints which doesnot allow them to empower their children by spending on their education. Therefore,introducing free compulsory education by the government can help these familiesto educate their children at least till secondary level. Also, in rural areas of Pakistan,male domination plays an important role in the autonomy of women. Different be-lieves and attitudes in the country dose not allow women to live a free life and ba-sically restrict them to fulfill their household responsibilities.


2 A study by Batliwala, (1994) and Kishor, (1997) contributed in development of theoretical model for thispaper.

3 These variables are taken from the study conducted by Batliwala, (1994).


FIGURE 1

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Cultural and social values strongly influence women empowerment negatively,in Pakistan. Also, the strict pro-religious and eastern cultured believers restrictwomen from moving out of the house without permission of the head of their fam-ily. Women responsibility is restricted to household work and child-care; girls haveto assist their mothers and take-care of their small brothers/sisters, which leaveslittle or no time for them to receive education.

Economic Opportunity and Economic Participation is important factor influenc-ing women empowerment in Pakistan. Acquiring education can help women to gainequal opportunities at home and at their work-place; thereby, women can be pro-moted to higher administrative, managerial and dignified positions. Education canhelp women to gain confidence, motivation and strive hard to become a better citizenand uplift their status contributing to the growth in the economy of Pakistan.

2. Sample Criterion

The data was collected through survey method and sampling procedure based onconvenience was adopted. The sample consisted of females, mainly the students ofLahore School of Economics and the Government College for Women, Lahore. Thesample size consisted of 200 students, 100 from each college. The respondents in-cluded the married and unmarried students between the age group of 17-27 years;mainly from the Bachelor degree programs (BBA/BSc/BA). The basic purpose of se-lecting these two colleges was to identify intensity of women empowerment of groupswhich belonged to the two different - social status and the income levels. Anotherreason for selecting only the students was to obtain assessable data on women em-powerment and know the effect of this age group because in our society, mostly fe-males of this age group are significantly affected by the social and family pressure.Thus, a clear picture of factors which affect such a situation was obtained.

3. Instrument

The data was collected through structured questionnaire4 in which some mod-ification was made. It included 16 questions and measured four main variables forwomen empowerment in Pakistan.5 All these questions were closed ended. Thequestionnaire was based on the Likert Five Point Scale which measured the highand low dimensions of all independent and dependent variables (1=strongly dis-agree and 5=strongly agree). The questionnaire consisted of two sections: (a) De-pendent Variables: employee’s empowerment, [Table 1 (Appendix)], and (b)


4 based on Chaudry and Nosheen (2009), this questionnaire has been used by researchers such as; Chaudhryand Rehman (2009) and Faridi et al. (2009).

5 In the paper, the term “Women Empowerment in Pakistan” is used in general term with caution; whereas,the sample criterion, the data and the results are based on the study of two colleges of Lahore, Pakistan.

Independent Variables: education, poverty, social and cultural issues and the eco-nomic conditions [Table 2 (Appendix)]. The instruments was developed to test theimpact of women empowerment.

4. Research Hypothesis

H1 : β1 ≠ 0 education has a significant impact on women empowerment.H1a : β1 ≠ 0 content of education has a significant impact on women empowerment.H1b : β1 ≠ 0 mother’s education has a significant impact on women empowerment.H2 : β2 ≠ 0 economic participation has a significant impact on women empowerment.H2a : β2 ≠ 0 women having an asset has a significant impact on women empowerment.H3 : β3 ≠ 0 cultural/social issues have a significant impact on women empowerment. H4 : β4 ≠ 0 poverty has a significant impact on women empowerment.H4a : β4 ≠ 0 unpaid work has a significant impact on women empowerment.H5 : β5 ≠ 0 economic opportunity has a significant impact on women empowerment.H5a : β5≠ 0 women having a bank account has a significant impact on women empowerment.

IV. Data Analysis

All computations were made by utilizing the SPSS Software. To test the hypoth-esis, alpha () was used at 0.01 (extremely significant) and 0.05 (highly significant)levels of significance. The multiple linear regressions were computed to test thesignificance of all factors affecting women empowerment. The most significant in-dependent variables can be easily identified. Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regressionwas used to analyze the significant variables on women empowerment.

Two Regression Models: including all variable (Model 1), and Removing in-significant independent variable (Model 2) are discussed as under:

Model 1

The ordinary least square regression technique has been employed in the em-pirical analysis. The multiple regressions Econometric Model6 is considered as:

WEit = β0 + β1t Eduit + β2t Ecoppit + β3t Ecpartit + β4t Povit+ β5t cultit + ei (1)

where, WE represents women empowerment at the time period t, Edu represents ed-ucation, Ecopp represents economic opportunity, Ecpart represents economic par-


6 For details, see Table 3 (Appendix).

ticipation at time t, Pov represents poverty and cult represents cultural/social issuesat the specific time period t. ßₒ is the intercept of regression equation and e representsthe error term which was random in nature and is expected due to uncertain event.

Model 2

Removing insignificant independent variables (education, education of moth-ers, assets and skills training), the model7 is explained, as:

WEit = β0 + β1t Ecoppit + β2t Ecpartit + β3t Povit+ β4t cultit + ei (2)

where, WE represents women empowerment at the time period t, Ecopp representseconomic opportunity, Ecpart represents economic participation at time t, Pov rep-resents poverty and cult represents cultural/social issues at the specific time periodt. ßₒ is the intercept of regression equation and e represents the error term whichwas the random in nature and is expected due to uncertain event.

V. Results and Discussion

In Table 3 (Appendix), results of regression analysis for all independent vari-ables reveal that some of them are extremely significant with women empower-ment. In Model 1 [Table 3c (Appendix)], unpaid work for females, economicparticipation, economic opportunity available to them, and a bank account are sig-nificant for empowerment of women. R-square of the model is 39 per cent whichshows variation in women empowerment (dependent variable) as explained by theseindependent variables. This model is significant [see Table 3b (Appendix)].

In Table 3c (Appendix) economic participation for women empowerment isimportant. It means that if women are given some financial benefits or they are al-lowed to contribute financially, they feel less barriers on their empowerment. Thisrelationship has an inverse effect because of more pressure on financial participationof women; eventually this decreases the authority of women in the society. The in-dependent variable is highly significant, whereas, if a female possess a bank accountand also have sufficient money in it, she will be financially strong – she will feelstrong and become more empowered. A woman who aims to save more but dosenot participate in financial matters has an extreme significance and she will feel se-cured and empowered. This relationship has a positive impact on women empow-erment. Unpaid work or job has an inverse relationship to women empowerment,yet this variable extremely contribute towards the authority of women. Opportunityavailable for women to participate financially has a negative effect. If there is an


7 For details, see Table 4 (Appendix).

economic opportunity for women, she will feel less empowered; yet this economicopportunity plays an important role in determining empowerment for females. Thisvariable is extremely significant at 0.01 level.

The next regression analysis was done after removing insignificant variablesfrom Model 1 [see Table 4c (Appendix)]. These insignificant independent variableswere possession of assets, formal education, mothers’ education and training givento females to enhance their skills. R-square of Model 2 was approximately the sameas of Model 1; variation of 39 per cent was present in the dependent variables, i.e.,women empowerment was explained by independent variables, such as poverty,social/cultural issues, contents of education, increase in household income, unpaidwork, economic opportunity, economic participation, and women having a bankaccount [Table 4a (Appendix)].

The contents of education had significant impact on the authority of females[Table 4c (Appendix)]. The type of respondents of this research were only femalesstudents; therefore, according to the results it was found that contents of educationtaught in these universities helped them to feel and become empowered. The edu-cation has a positive significant impact on women empowerment and the syllabustaught to them contributed positively towards their thinking ability to be empow-ered. Education is necessary and important for development but its relevance ishighly important for females to understand their position in the society.

In Table 4c (Appendix) unpaid work, economic participation, economic oppor-tunity available to women and having a bank account is significant in Model 2 aswell. The contents of education and poverty were additional explanatory variablesshowing high significant impact on women’s authority but poverty was high sig-nificant variable with women empowerment. Culture and social pressure was in-significant in this research, whereas, in many studies this variable plays animportant role in determining empowerment of females. The results states that fe-males who possessed a bank account and received relevant education had a positiveimpact on their authority, whereas, women who supported their family financially,or were not paid for their work had an inverse relationship with empowerment.

Table 5 (Appendix) shows the correlation between all variables. Women em-powerment has strong correlation with education, contents of the education, unpaidwork, having a bank account, possessing assets, increase in household income andmothers education. Cultural issues were highly correlated with education. The re-sults concluded that if education is provided to females, culture or social pressurewould not affect their empowerment. Skills utilization and training can help womento increase their economic opportunity so that they can increase their authority indecision making at their home and in the society. Education of mothers plays animportant role in empowering their daughters. The results revealed that if mothersare educated, their daughters feel more empowered in their parents or the in-lawsfamilies. Similar is the case of having a bank account which gives financial security


to women as they feel more authoritative and can participate economically in theirfamilies. There was an extreme correlation between the raise in their household in-come, skills and training. If women were trained according to their skill they wouldincrease income level of their households and would feel more empowered to takedecisions or to participate in their family matters.

VI. Conclusion and Future Implications

1. Conclusion

This research paper highlights various important and significant factors whichhelp to identify barriers to Women Empowerment in Pakistan and how strongly theyinfluence this issue. The contents of education shows a positive relationship withdeterminants of women empowerment. This was also tested by the earlier researchstudies: like, ‘the impact of gender equality in education on rural poverty’ [Chaudryand Nosheen (2009)] which also show ed a positive relationship to women empow-erment in Pakistan. This result was consistent with the study of Noureen and Khalid(2012).8 Poverty showed a positive relationship; but in previous studies it showed anegative relationship. As stated by Jehan (2000), poverty is higher in householdswith less literate family members; but as per females feeling, if poverty increases,there will be an increase in the barrier to women empowerment.

Economic participation and economic opportunity available to females alsoshow a negative relationship with determinants of women empowerment in Pak-istan. As the culture of our society is male dominated, therefore, barriers in womenempowerment restrict them to take independent decisions and they have to obeytheir fathers, brothers or husbands, even to adopt their career. Due to unbalancedgender society and the traditional norms in Pakistan; females in urban areas haveaccess to receive education and job opportunities as compared to rural areas wherethe case is negative. Selection of career helps women empowerment and has posi-tive relationship in the society; yet unpaid work has a negative effect on their em-powerment. Having a bank account also indicates a positive impact on femaleempowerment.

Various steps have been taken on part of the Government and NGO's to upliftthe status of women in Pakistan. Yet, further campaigns and programs are neededto be introduced to encourage females to be educated. There is also a need to edu-cate families and motivate them to increase participation of females in decisionmaking of their households. In the past, goals were set to eliminate gender inequal-ity and improve the state of women in Pakistan,9 but in spite of all efforts no


8 Also shown by Zahidi and Claros (2005).9 Millennium Development Report 2010.

progress has taken place and the problem has not yet been solved. Education showsa positive relationship with determinants of women empowerment, and thus, newlaws for upbringing women status and encouraging parents to educate female gen-der needs to be emphasized by enforcing government laws and making basic edu-cation compulsory. The relevance of this education is important. The contents ofeducation should be relevant so that it could contribute towards women empower-ment in Pakistan.

2. Future Implications

In the past, some initiatives were taken by the government to remove barriersto Women Empowerment in Pakistan. Different laws and education schemes wereintroduced to encourage women education. Madrasas10 were established in orderto allow women to acquire formal and religious education but yet there is a need toimprove the system and make new rules and regulations. The implementation ofequal rights for women should be promoted by the government in order to eliminategender inequality. There is a need to open new basic education institutions and pri-mary education should be free. Economic opportunities should be given to femalesto encourage them to participate in local and national activities so that they maycontribute to the growth of the economy; thus, finally empowering the female gen-der in Pakistan.

Lahore School of Economics, andGovernment College for Women,Lahore, Pakistan


10 Religious institutions for formal and religious education with religious beliefs.

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APPENDIX

TABLE 1

Varia

bles

Incl

uded

in e

ach

Cat

egor

y

Dep

ende

nt V

aria

bles

Con

stitu

tive

Def

initi

ons

Ope

ratio

nal D

efin

ition

s

Women Empowerment

Empo

wer

to m

ake

deci

sion

…..

Free

dom

to m

ake

deci

sion

Mea

sure

d by

Lik

ert f

ive

poin

t sca

le:

rega

rdin

g fa

mily

issu

es.

rega

rdin

g th

eir f

amily

issu

es.

1=str

ongl

y di

sagr

ee an

d 5=

stron

gly

agre

e.

Empo

wer

to m

ake

self

…..

Free

dom

to m

ake

deci

sion

Mea

sure

d by

Lik

ert f

ive

poin

t sca

le:

deci

sion

s.re

gard

ing

thei

r ow

n is

sues

.1=

stron

gly

disa

gree

and

5=str

ongl

y ag

ree.

Dec

isio

n re

gard

ing

mar

riage

.…

..Fr

eedo

m to

mak

e de

cisi

onM

easu

red

by L

iker

t fiv

e po

int s

cale

:re

gard

ing

thei

r mar

riage

.1=

stron

gly

disa

gree

and

5=str

ongl

y ag

ree.

Education

Con

tent

s of

…..

Rel

evan

ce a

nd im

porta

nce

Mea

sure

d by

Lik

ert f

ive

poin

t sca

le:

educ

atio

n cu

rric

ulum

.of

cur

ricul

um ta

ught

in u

ni-

1=str

ongl

y di

sagr

ee an

d 5=

stron

gly

agre

e.

vers

ities

on

empo

wer

men

t.

Mot

hers

’ edu

catio

n.…

..R

ole

of m

othe

r’s e

duca

tion

Mea

sure

d by

Lik

ert f

ive

poin

t sca

le:

on e

mpo

wer

men

t.1=

stron

gly

disa

gree

and

5=str

ongl

y ag

ree.

Fem

ale

enro

lmen

t rat

e.…

..N

umbe

r of f

emal

e en

rolm

ent

Mea

sure

d by

Lik

ert f

ive

poin

t sca

le:

in th

e un

iver

sity

.1=

stron

gly

disa

gree

and

5=str

ongl

y ag

ree.

(Con

tinue

d)


TABLE 1

(con

tinue

d)

Dep

ende

nt V

aria

bles

Con

stitu

tive

Def

initi

ons

Ope

ratio

nal D

efin

ition

s


Hav

ing

asse

ts.

…..

Impa

ct o

f wom

an h

avin

g as

sets

Mea

sure

d by

Lik

ert f

ive

poin

t sca

le:

(in h

er n

ame)

on

empo

wer

men

t.1=

stron

gly

disa

gree

and

5=str

ongl

y ag

ree.

Trai

ning

and

skill

s dev

elop

men

t.…

..Im

pact

of T

rain

ing

Mea

sure

d by

Lik

ert f

ive

poin

t sca

le:

and

skill

s util

izat

ion.

1=str

ongl

y di

sagr

ee an

d 5=

stron

gly

agre

e.

Rai

sing

hou

seho

ld.

…..

Fina

ncia

l sup

port.

Mea

sure

d by

Lik

ert f

ive

poin

t sca

le:

1=str

ongl

y di

sagr

ee an

d 5=

stron

gly

agre

e.


Hav

ing

a ba

nk a

ccou

nt.

…..

Wom

an h

avin

g ba

nk a

ccou

ntM

easu

red

by L

iker

t fiv

e po

int s

cale

:co

ntrib

ute

in e

mpo

wer

men

t.1=

stron

gly

disa

gree

and

5=str

ongl

y ag

ree.

Equa

l opp

ortu

nity

and

stat

us.

…..

Num

ber o

fM

easu

red

by L

iker

t fiv

e po

int s

cale

:op

portu

nitie

s ava

ilabl

e.1=

stron

gly

disa

gree

and

5=str

ongl

y ag

ree.

Cre

dit o

ppor

tuni

ties.

…..

Cre

dit o

ppor

tuni

ties p

rovi

ded.

Mea

sure

d by

Lik

ert f

ive

poin

t sca

le:

1=str

ongl

y di

sagr

ee an

d 5=

stron

gly

agre

e.

Cho

ice

betw

een

…..

Free

dom

of c

hoic

eM

easu

red

by L

iker

t fiv

e po

int s

cale

:ca

reer

and

fam

ily.

in fa

mily

or c

aree

r.1=

stron

gly

disa

gree

and

5=str

ongl

y ag

ree.

(Con

tinue

d)


TABLE 1

(con

tinue

d)

Dep

ende

nt V

aria

bles

Con

stitu

tive

Def

initi

ons

Ope

ratio

nal D

efin

ition

s

Poverty

Unp

aid

wor

k.…

..Pa

ymen

t is n

ot m

ade

Mea

sure

d by

Lik

ert f

ive

poin

t sca

le:

for t

he w

ork.

1=str

ongl

y di

sagr

ee an

d 5=

stron

gly

agre

e.

Fem

ale

slav

ery.

…..

Fem

ale

treat

ed a

s sal

ves.

Mea

sure

d by

Lik

ert f

ive

poin

t sca

le:

1=str

ongl

y di

sagr

ee an

d 5=

stron

gly

agre

e.

Lack

of f

inan

ce a

nd c

apita

l.…

..La

ck o

f fin

anci

al re

sour

ces.

Mea

sure

d by

Lik

ert f

ive

poin

t sca

le:

1=str

ongl

y di

sagr

ee an

d 5=

stron

gly

agre

e.Culture/Social issues

Soci

al a

nd C

ultu

ral

…..

Nor

ms a

nd v

alue

s rel

ated

Mea

sure

d by

Lik

ert f

ive

poin

t sca

le:

Nor

ms a

nd O

bsta

cles

.to

cul

ture

and

soci

ety.

1=str

ongl

y di

sagr

ee an

d 5=

stron

gly

agre

e.

Soci

aliz

atio

n of

Wom

en.

…..

Rol

e of

soci

aliz

atio

nM

easu

red

by L

iker

t fiv

e po

int s

cale

:of

wom

en.

1=str

ongl

y di

sagr

ee an

d 5=

stron

gly

agre

e.

Mal

e D

omin

atio

n.…

..M

ale

dom

inat

ing

soci

ety.

Mea

sure

d by

Lik

ert f

ive

poin

t sca

le:

1=str

ongl

y di

sagr

ee an

d 5=

stron

gly

agre

e.

Dom

estic

Vio

lenc

e.…

..Im

pact

of d

omes

tic v

iole

nce.

Mea

sure

d by

Lik

ert f

ive

poin

t sca

le:

1=str

ongl

y di

sagr

ee an

d 5=

stron

gly

agre

e.

Har

assm

ent.

…..

Soci

al h

aras

smen

t effe

ctM

easu

red

by L

iker

t fiv

e po

int s

cale

: on

em

pow

erm

ent

1=str

ongl

y di

sagr

ee an

d 5=

stron

gly

agre

e.



TABLE 2

Instrument used in the Study

Questions Scale (5 item scale)

Employment

I feel I’m empowered to Measured by Likert five point scale:make decision about myself. 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree.

To take decisions in Measured by Likert five point scale:my family members. 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree.

To take decisions in marriage. Measured by Likert five point scale:1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree.

I have decision making Measured by Likert five point scale:in purchasing goods. 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree.


I have access to resources Measured by Likert five point scale:in household expenses. 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree.

I have access to resources to Measured by Likert five point scale:spend on household items. 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree.

I have access to resources Measured by Likert five point scale:to buy clothes. 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree.

Poverty

I face domestic violence. Measured by Likert five point scale:1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree.

I have experienced male Measured by Likert five point scale:domination at college. 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree.

I have experienced male Measured by Likert five point scale:domination at home. 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree.

I don’t plan to remain in this 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agreeorganization, any longer. 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree.

(Continued)


TABLE 2(continued)

Questions Scale (5 item scale)

Education

I feel barriers in education. Measured by Likert five point scale:1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree.

Content of education in- Measured by Likert five point scale:fluence empowerment. 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree.

My mother education cont- Measured by Likert five point scale:ributes in my empowerment. 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree.

Cultural and social issues

I have been treated Measured by Likert five point scale:injustice. 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree.

I am being treated Measured by Likert five point scale:negatively in the society. 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree.

In terms of harassment, I Measured by Likert five point scale:am mistreated in the society. 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree.

I have social pressure to decre- Measured by Likert five point scale:ase my decision making power. 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree

My parents restrict me Measured by Likert five point scale:from getting education. 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agre


I make my own decisions Measured by Likert five point scale:regarding jobs. 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree

Having an asset increases Measured by Likert five point scale:empowerment. 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree

Having a bank account Measured by Likert five point scale:increases empowerment. 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree


TABLE 3

Regression Analysis: Model 1

The ordinary least square regression technique has been employed in the em-pirical analysis. The multiple regressions Econometric Model is considered as:

WEit = β0 + β1t Eduit + β2t Ecoppit + β3t Ecpartit + β4t Povit+ β5t cultit + ei

where, WE represents women empowerment at the time period t, Edu representseducation, Ecopp represents economic opportunity, Ecpart represents economicparticipation at time t, Pov represents poverty and cult represents cultural/social is-sues at the specific time period t. ßₒ is the intercept of regression equation and erepresents the error term which was random in nature and is expected due to un-certain event.

TABLE 3(a)

Model Summary

Std. ErrorAdjusted of the

Model R R Square R-Square Estimates

1 624 390 351 6347

TABLE 3(b)

ANOVA

Sum of MeanModel 1 Squares Df Square F Sig.

Regression 48.158 12 4.013 9.961 0.000

Residual 75.342 187 0.403 - -

Total 123.500 199 - - -


TABLE 3(c)

Regression Analysis of Model 1

Coefficients

Unstandardized StandardizedModel 1 Coefficients Coefficients T Sig.

B Std. Error Beta

(Constant) 3.398 5.380 0.000 6.312 0.000

Education 0.042 0.061 0.047 0.682 0.496

Mothers’ education -0.006 0.045 -0.008 -0.126 0.900

Content of education 0.065 0.035 0.113 1.873 0.063

Poverty 0.075 0.040 0.115 1.854 0.065

Unpaid work -0.163 0.047 -0.222 -3.451 0.001**

Household income -0.056 0.043 -0.081 -1.295 0.197

Economic participation -0.086 0.041 -0.124 -2.075 0.039*

Assets 0.020 0.091 0.016 0.223 0.824

Skills training -0.013 0.037 -0.023 -0.353 0.725

Economic opportunity -0.106 0.039 -0.166 -2.727 0.007**

Bank account 0.305 0.055 0.435 5.544 0.000**

Cultural/social issues 0.014 0.041 0.020 0.346 0.730

*Significant at the 0.05 level. **Significant at the 0.01 level.


TABLE 4

Regression Analysis: Model 2

Removing insignificant independent variables (education, education of moth-ers, assets and skills training), the model is explained, as:

WEit = β0 + β1t Ecoppit + β2t Ecpartit + β3t Povit+ β4t cultit + ei

where, WE represents women empowerment at the time period t, Ecopp representseconomic opportunity, Ecpart represents economic participation at time t, Pov rep-resents poverty and cult represents cultural/social issues at the specific time periodt. ßₒ is the intercept of regression equation and e represents the error term whichwas the random in nature and is expected due to uncertain event.

TABLE 4(a)

Model Summary

Std. ErrorAdjusted of the

Model R R Square R-Square Estimates

2 623 388 362 6293

TABLE 4(b)

ANOVA

Sum of MeanModel 2 Squares Df Square F Sig.

Regression 47.869 8 5.984 15.111 0.000

Residual 75.631 191 0.396 - -

Total 123.500 199 - - -


TABLE 4(c)

Regression Analysis of Model 2

Coefficients

Unstandardized StandardizedModel 2 Coefficients Coefficients T Sig.

B Std. Error Beta

(Constant) 3.488 0.364 0.000 9.591 0.000

Content of education 0.066 0.034 0.116 1.957 0.052*

Poverty 0.082 0.038 0.126 2.167 0.031*

Unpaid work -0.167 0.046 -0.227 -3.651 0.000**

Household income -0.064 0.040 -0.092 -1.598 112.000

Economic participation -0.080 0.040 -0.116 -1.992 0.048*

Economic opportunity -0.106 0.037 -0.166 -2.850 0.005**

Bank account 0.320 0.043 0.456 7.387 0.000**

Cultural/social issues 0.021 0.040 0.030 0.527 0.599

*Significant at the 0.05 level. **Significant at the 0.01 level.

BUSHRA AND WAJIHA, WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN PAKISTAN 139TABLE 5

Cor

rela

tion

betw

een

wom

en e

mpo

wer

men

t and

all

inde

pend

ent v

aria

bles

Cor

rela

tions

WE

Educ

aM

othe

rs’C

onte

nts

Pove

rtyU

npai

dH

ouse

-Ec

o-A

sset

sSk

ills

Eco.

Ban

kC

ultu

ral/

tion

Educ

at-

of E

duc-

Wor

kho

ldno

mic

Trai

n-O

ppor

-A

cc-

Soci

alio

nat

ion

Inco

me

Part

ing

tuni

tyou

ntW

E1

0.29

7**

0.15

4*0.

171*

0.08

2-0

.368

**-0

.169

*-0

.043

0.34

1**

-0.0

15-0

.078

0.52

8**

-0.0

170.

000

0.02

90.

016

0.25

10.

000

0.01

70.

541

0.00

00.

835

0.27

50.

000

0.81

4Ed

ucat

ion

0.29

7**

10.

309*

*0.

120

0.04

7-0

.245

**-0

.082

0.21

1**

0.22

6**

-0.0

57-0

.068

0.41

2**

0.15

1*0.

000

0.00

00.

092

0.50

40.

000

0.24

80.

003

0.00

10.

421

0.34

00.

000

0.03

3M

othe

r Edu

catio

n0.

154*

0.30

9**

10.

134

-0.2

02**

-0.2

46**

0.06

50.

014

0.02

30.

222*

*-0

.080

0.23

1**

-0.0

510.

029

0.00

00.

059

0.00

40.

000

0.36

00.

843

0.74

70.

002

0.26

20.

001

0.47

2

Conte

nts of

Edu

catio

n0.

171*

0.12

00.

134

1-0

.174

*-0

.094

-0.0

500.

112

0.13

00.

048

0.06

60.

171*

-0.1

090.

016

0.09

20.

059

0.01

40.

188

0.48

50.

115

0.06

60.

503

0.35

50.

015

0.12

5Po

verty

0.08

20.

047

-0.2

02**

-0.1

74*

10.

089

-0.0

10-0

.085

0.17

9*-0

.164

*0.

077

-0.0

080.

045

0.25

10.

504

0.00

40.

014

0.20

80.

885

0.23

00.

011

0.02

00.

277

0.90

70.

526

Unp

aid

Wor

k-0

.368

**-0

.245

**-0

.246

**-0

.094

0.08

91

0.14

9-0

.006

-0.1

89**

0.02

5-0

.171

*-0

.346

**0.

045

0.00

00.

000

0.00

00.

188

0.20

80.

035

0.93

60.

007

0.72

30.

015

0.00

00.

527

Hous

ehold

Inco

me

-0.1

69*

-0.0

820.

065

-0.0

50-0

.010

0.14

9*1

0.07

7-0

.076

0.30

5**

0.04

5-0

.047

0.07

20.

017

0.24

80.

360

0.48

50.

885

0.03

50.

277

0.28

70.

000

0.53

10.

509

0.31

3Ec

onom

ic P

art

-0.0

430.

211*

*0.

014

0.11

2-0

.085

-0.0

060.

077

10.

040

-0.0

11-0

.043

0.14

6*0.

094

0.54

10.

003

0.84

30.

115

0.23

00.

936

0.27

70.

576

0.87

50.

543

0.04

00.

187

Ass

et0.

341*

*0.

226*

*0.

023

0.13

00.

179*

-0.1

89**

-0.0

760.

040

1-0

.085

0.05

60.

560*

*-0

.014

0.00

00.

001

0.74

70.

066

0.01

10.

007

0.28

70.

576

0.22

90.

435

0.00

00.

842

Skill

s Tra

inin

g-0

.015

-0.0

570.

222*

*0.

048

-0.1

64*

0.02

50.

305*

*-0

.011

-0.0

851

-0.1

94**

0.05

8-0

.071

0.83

50.

421

0.00

20.

503

0.02

00.

723

0.00

00.

875

0.22

90.

006

0.41

50.

319

Econ

omic

Oppo

rtunit

y-0.

078

-0.0

68-0

.080

0.06

60.

077

-0.1

71*

0.04

5-0

.043

0.05

6-0

.194

**1

0.06

9-0

.026

0.27

50.

340

0.26

20.

355

0.27

70.

015

0.53

10.

543

0.43

50.

006

0.32

90.

710

Ban

k A

ccou

nt0.

528*

*0.

412*

*0.

231*

*0.

171*

-0.0

08-0

.346

**-0

.047

0.14

6*0.

560*

*0.

058

0.06

91

-0.0

370.

000

0.00

00.

001

0.01

50.

907

0.00

00.

509

0.04

00.

000

0.41

50.

329

0.60

5C

ultu

re/S

ocia

l-0

.017

0.15

1*-0

.051

-0.1

090.

045

0.04

50.

072

0.09

4-0

.014

-0.0

71-0

.026

-0.0

371

0.81

40.

033

0.47

20.

125

0.52

60.

527

0.31

30.

187

0.84

20.

319

0.71

00.

605

*Cor

rela

tion

is si

gnifi

cant

at t

he 0

.05

leve

l (2-

taile

d).

** C

orre

latio

n is

sign

ifica

nt a

t the

0.0

1 le

vel (

2-ta

iled)

.

assessing the determinants of women...

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