From school to work : Muslim youths' education and employment strategies in a community in Uttar Pradesh, India

India's Muslim community, which accounts for 14.4 percent of India’s vast population and is thus the largest of all religious minorities, has been the subject of considerable development discourse as Muslims have the lowest level of educational attainment and standard of living among socio-religious groups in the country. This study addresses the meaning of education and career opportunities for Muslim youths in relation to their educational credentials and social position in the hierarchy of Muslim class and caste groups, with particular reference to a community in Uttar Pradesh. The author contends that the career opportunities, possibilities, and strategies of Muslim youths in Indian society depend on multiple factors: social hierarchy, opportunities to utilize economic resources, social networks, cultural capital, and the wider structural disparities within which the Muslims are situated and wherein they question the value of higher education in gaining them admission to socially recognized and established employment sectors.

Relationship between young women and parents in rural Ethiopia

In rural Ethiopia, parents play an important role in the major life events of their daughters such as education and marriage. However, parents’ roles have been evolving, likely due to the rapid expansion of educational opportunities for girls and the growing need of cash income among rural households. Currently, encouraging their daughters to take up further education and jobs in the formal sector contrasts with rural Ethiopian women’s conventional life course events in the past, which are characterized by early marriage and low educational profiles. An interview analysis with parents of young women indicated that under the continuing de-agrarianization among rural households, women are expected to have their own cash income generating activities to qualify as marriage partners.