DOCTOR BRIDES OF PAKISTAN
DOCTOR BRIDES OF PAKISTAN
Doctor Brides of Pakistan
Female literacy rate in Pakistan remains low, and women are consistently underrepresented across all STEMM fields in the country. However, interestingly, the field of medical education is an exception. According to the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&DC), the number of women in medicine has been rising consistently in the past decades, and in many medical institutions, more than 80% of the students are now women. However, paradoxically, only 45% of registered medical practitioners and a mere 27% of medical specialists are women. One of the reasons suggested by the Pakistani media for this gap is the desirability of women doctors as brides. A majority of these medical graduates do not practice medicine after graduation, resulting in a predominantly masculine physician workforce and an acute shortage of physicians in the country.
In her recent paper, ‘Influence of Marriage on Women’s Participation in Medicine: The Case of Doctor Brides in Pakistan,’ Ayesha Masood focuses on the paradoxical representation of women in medical colleges in Pakistan and its relationship to marriage norms. Based on an ethnographic study of Pakistani women doctors, Masood examines why women doctors are considered desirable as spouses and how this influences their access to medical education. “I found that women doctors are valued as marital partners because of the status granted to them by their academic credentials, chaste educational experience, and potential to contribute to the family income. Because of the value of medical education in marriage, parents are more willing to invest in their daughters’ education, facilitating women’s access to medical education,” writes Masood.
The female medical graduates, on the other hand, accept the social norms of an arranged marriage because it allows them access to professional education, economic opportunities, and a better bargaining position in the marriage market. Interviews with women doctors suggest two important (and seemingly contradictory) points. On the one hand, women doctors know that they can make their own choice when it comes to marriage. But, on the other hand, despite knowing the possibility of individual choice, and having the means to do so, none of them directly challenge the prevalent narrative of matchmaking and arranged marriages. There is no straightforward link between education and empowerment in this situation. Instead, unless steps are taken to address the underlying values and norms in society, gender disparities in women’s participation in STEMM are likely to persist. “The results I reported,” says the author, “indicate that within the Pakistani system of arranged marriages — where marriage is seen as a transaction to maximise the social capital of a family — women doctors become desired brides because of their cache of social, cultural, and economic capital.”
Masood’s work has important practical implications. It is obvious that just an increase in the number of educated women in the country is not going to lead to any enduring change unless there is a change in the patriarchal social structure of society. Unless women challenge the marriage system that continues to treat them as a medium of exchange rather than individuals with unique desires and aspirations, their education will remain an alternative form of dowry rather than an avenue of empowerment. Secondly, family-friendly policies should be put in place by employers so that women doctors continue to work. Since society gives less importance to women’s work outside their homes, they often do not get support from their families. Acknowledging the value of women’s work by providing them with resources like generous maternity leave, childcare and flexible work hours at the workplace can help in ensuring that female doctors continue to work. Finally and most importantly, there is a dearth of career guidance and counselling facilities in Pakistani schools and medical institutions. As a result, students continue to rely on their families and peers for educational advice, thereby, allowing the gendered narratives to perpetuate. Similarly, career counselling for women medical students during and after graduation can help women physicians manage their careers, balance their jobs with their domestic responsibilities, and improve their retention and progress in medical careers.
Masood, A. (2018). Influence of Marriage on Women’s Participation in Medicine: The Case of Doctor Brides of Pakistan. Sex Roles. 1-18.
doi: 10.1007/s11199-018-0909-5
About the Author
Ayesha Masood is assistant professor at the SDSB, LUMS. Her research, broadly situated in feminist and critical methodologies, focuses on issues related to gender in organisations, evidence-based health policy, and managing human resources in health and policy implementation. Her research has been published in Gender Work & Organization, Organization, Sex Roles and Gender, Place and Culture. Dr Masood is currently working on developing a book on the work of women health providers in Pakistan. Her current research interests include cultural influences on network formation, front-line bureaucracy, and evidence-based health policy formulation.