SOCIOCULTURAL BARRIERS AND PROFESSIONAL GROWTH: ANALYSIS OF THE STATUS OF WOMEN IN RURAL AREAS OF PUNJAB, PAKISTAN

Abstract

Social cultural barriers create hurdles for females of rural areas in Punjab, Pakistan. Due to implementation of strong hold of elder male in home, they cannot nourish their abilities and professional growth. There is an inequality in gender equality between women and men in the different fields of life. They cannot enjoy their lives as compared to urban females. The aim of this study is to highlight the role of primary school teachers of public and private sectors and also available facilities in their schools and its effects on professional and mental growth. This is a quantitative study a revalidated questionnaire was used to collect data which covers 13 questions. Data was collected from female school teachers in different rural areas of Punjab, Pakistan from January 2020 to March 2020 and the sample size was of 60 respondents. The collected data was analyzed by descriptive statistics and from descriptive statistics, reliability test, and Independent sample T-Test using SPSS version 25.0. The study results show that different socio-culture factors affect the professional growth of the rural area female teachers. They seldom get chances for higher education, own business, participation in political activities and Co-curricular activities. Moreover, there is no rural community support, lack of facilities in school infrastructure, involvement of house hold activities, agricultural involvement, unawareness about their rights, unawareness of social networking, and transportation problems etc. All these factors create stress in the routine activities of females. Besides, appropriate rules and public awareness programs for females, awareness at rural areas should be encouraged for the professional growth of the rural area females.