Routes Into Education and Employment for Young Pakistani and Bangladeshi Women in the UK. Working Paper.

Routes into education and employment for young Pakistani and Bangladeshi women in Oldham, England, were examined. The data sources were as follows: group discussions with Pakistani and Bangladeshi young people at different stages in the educational system and at an early stage of labor market participation; interviews with public and voluntary sector practitioners in employment-related support services; interviews with women from the young women's parental generation; and national and local statistics on application and entry to higher education. The young women demonstrated high aspirations--particularly in relation to their parents' educational and occupational levels--and their rates of participation in post-16 education were considerably higher than for white young people. The young women's parents were strongly supportive of their children's continued education. Although the Pakistani and Bangladeshi girls were still restricted in their access to higher education, their numbers in full-time undergraduate courses had increased markedly. Even those young women who had higher qualifications wanted to make their young children their priority. For some women, this meant changing from full-time to part-time work. Given their employment ambitions, however, it seemed likely that the young women would eventually follow employment patterns very different from those of their mothers. (The bibliography lists 20 references. Five tables/figures are appended.) (MN)