Role of Religion in Mate Selection Among Educated Working Women in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

The present study was conducted to probe the role of religion in mate selection among educated females of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Data for the study was collected through a pre-tested questionnaire from 278 working women from three public sector universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa i.e. The University of Agriculture, University of Peshawar and Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University Peshawar. Simple random method was applied to pick the samples from the study area whereas chi-square statistics was applied to get the major findings. Results reveal a contradictory type of situation as on the one hand, religion particularly the rituals were strictly followed during marriage but on the other hand, the mate selection rights of women were ignored mainly. This is practiced despite of the fact that Islam has given right/liberty in mate selection to both men and women.  Female respondents attributed it to lack of Islamic knowledge on part of family members or they do it to get more say and power through following common values and culture. Religious leaders do not lay much stress on the rights given by Islam to females in mate selection in their religious sermons. The issue according to respondents was not discussed either. Females on their part, though found interested in mates from their own sect or religious groups preferred liberal males over conservative ones because believing them to be stern and inflexible. The study recommends that an awareness campaign through mass media which may include religious leaders, civil society and political parties needs to be launched in order to raise awareness among both the educated and uneducated females along with their parents regarding mate selection, the nature and impact of religious misinterpretations, and current wave of western values, materialistic outlook and idealism that affects the selected females perception about mate selection.

Developmental Assets and its Implications on Youth Development Among Public Sector Colleges in Lahore

The primary objective of the study was to measure the association between developmental assets and youth development along with assessing the role of family, peer, neighborhood, community and schooling. Developmental assets signify personal, interpersonal and environmental strengths that enhance the health and educational outcomes of the youth. Similarly, youth development refers to the tendency of the young people to achieve higher in education and to actively participate in the community. Theoretical framework of the study is based on Ecological Model of Bronfenbrenner (1994) for understanding the role of family, peer, neighborhood, community and schooling in youth development. The researcher applied exploratory sequential design of mix method for the current study to explore the past familiarities and current trend of the youth development. In the first phase qualitative study was conducted with the aim to contextualize and explore the concepts of developmental assets and youth development in Pakistani context. Focus Group Discussions with the students, teachers and parents of students were conducted for the qualitative study. The qualitative findings of the study informed and established the development of the cross-sectional survey tool that was used on a large-scale population of the college students. In the second phase the quantitative study was conducted to see how the developmental assets are associated with youth development by using a cross sectional survey. The qualitative codes and themes were gathered from qualitative data and domain analysis technique was used for qualitative data analysis. The qualitative study concluded that both developmental assets and youth development has some cultural meanings. In the first instance the study found that role of siblings, positive health attributes and awareness about Information Communication Technologies are additional and substantive developmental assets in Pakistani society. Similarly, possession of leadership qualities and employability are important indicators of youth development in Pakistan. A cross sectional survey tool that was formed after the qualitative phase was used for the collection of quantitative data from college students. Ethical considerations were ensured before conducting the field work for the quantitative study. The objective of the quantitative phase was to see the relationship between developmental assets and youth development. The Quantitative data analysis was conducted by GGM model (Generalized Method of Moments). The quantitative study concluded that developmental assets are significantly associated with youth development. Overall, internal developmental assets are more valuable than the external developmental assets. The study concludes that the role of the schooling is at the highest level in defining the youth development. In addition to that the family, community and neighborhood also have substantive role to play in VI the development of the youth. Career selection, moral and financial help are found to be important aspects of family involvement and contribution towards youth development. The study argues that efforts can be made to promote healthy youth development by engaging them in community activities, healthy family relationship and supportive school environment.