Colleen McDermott and Dr. Charles Nuckolls, Department of Anthropology

In recent years, there have been countless studies on the benefits of educating women. Though there is a general consensus on the positive results of women’s education, their access to education is still rather limited in many areas of the world. One such area is India, where traditional views of gender are still very widespread and female education levels are extremely low. Despites these rates, a minority of women in India are pursuing higher education. I interviewed female students living at a hostel (college dormitory) and attending the post-graduate institution Andhra University inquiring about their motivations for continuing school, their aspirations, and their parents’ impact on their education.

Throughout the course of this study I found that the motivations for girls continuing their education beyond basic degrees varied. The most common motivations were to gain employment, financially assisting parents and current family, to be independent, to earn respect, to increase knowledge, to aid society, had excellent marks/ability to gain a seat, and preparing a better life for future children. The most common motivation was to secure a good job and the second most common was to be independent. The strong desire for independence was one of the most interesting results because of India’s strongly patriarchal history. The informants’ thirst for independence appeared to influence many of their plans to get married later in life, find a solid career, and to educate their children.

Parental involvement was very high for the girls and nearly all of their parents were supportive. Fathers appeared to have a larger impact on their daughters than mothers’. A study conducted in the United States by Sewell and Shah produced comparable results for in their study the father’s educational background had a greater impact on the daughter’s educational aspirations than the mother’s.¹ In relation to Cohen’s study on educational aspirations, my result suggest that parents act more as definers rather than modelers in Indian women pursuing post-graduate education because few of the girls’ parents had achieved a post graduate level of education.²

The parents’ impact came in the form of guidance on subject, moral support, or discouragement from continuing studies. The influence provided by all of the parents, to some degree, was financial support. This financial support may have increased the control parents had over their daughters’ education and life choices, including marriage. This dependence of young women on their parents in turn appeared to have increased their desire for independence, thus magnifying their determination to receive a high level of education.

In my research, I found the most significant commonality between both the parents and the daughters was an apparent and widespread belief in the importance of education. There also appeared to be a general desire for the next generation to become more educated and have a brighter future than the last. Though currently, the number of Indian women in post-graduate studies is very small, the independence and understanding of the vitality of education possessed by the women I interviewed is very promising for the future of Indian women, and India as a whole.

The observations I made are of particular significance because of the still prevalent disparity in educational gender equality in India. Understanding the motivations and circumstances of a minority, Indian women that are receiving Masters Degrees, may enable the government of India and other organizations to facilitate more women’s college attendance. This is crucial, for expanding opportunities for education to more women is an important aspect of holistic national and international development efforts. However, there is still a great need for further research.

I would highly recommend a similar study for men in post-graduate studies in order to understand the motivations and amount of parental influence in both genders, to compare and contrast. A study where contact with the parents was possible would make results more definitive. In addition conducting a study at multiple different universities, potentially on campus rather than in the hostels, would help to create a more diverse sample. Lastly, I would recommend interviewing younger girls, either in secondary school or receiving their bachelors’ degrees, and their parents’ impact on educational ideas. This would most likely provide a more diverse sample and results that could be more easily applied to the great population seeing as girls in post-graduate education are a minority.

References

1. Sewell, William H, and Vimal P Shah. “Social Class, Parental Encouragement, and Educational Aspirations.” American Journal of Sociology, 1968: 559-572.
2. Cohen, Jere. “Parents as Educational Models and Definers.” Journal of Marriage and Family, 1987: 339-351.