Daughters of Traditions?  Education of South Asian Girls in the West

            My own adolescent years were different form those of English people by the  mere fact that I am Indian, and as the years progressed, due to this only, my   freedom was completely restricted  by parents… My English friends were all             going out with boys and I had not been able to meet the opposite sex because   my parents forbade it. By this time I was getting restless and rebellious but my          parents’ religious faith was too strong for me to combat.

                                                (An Indian-origin Muslim girl growing up in England)

The above case study provides an example of one of the dilemmas which many South Asian girls face during their adolescence. However, the vast majority of them resolve their problems through compromise, tact and an understanding of their parents’ religious beliefs and traditions. An example illustrates:

            I follow other religion. I try to go to Church. I try to fit in. I do my best. I still      believe in my religion, but I can fit in both religions…You have to. I was       raised in Canada so I am also Canadian but my parents tried to make me a             Hindi (sic). I mix with East Indians and white people and others…My    parents have now accepted my biculturalism. They give me freedom to choose – to be             me - and I respect them very much for that.

                                    (A Hindu girl in Vancouver)

It has been widely reported that South Asian adolescent girls tend to encounter many special difficulties at school mainly due to the differing values of home and school. These lie in three major areas. In the West societies encourage individualism, a secular outlook and gender equality, whereas the South Asians favour collectivism, religious commitment and gender role differentiation. In addition, South Asian girls have to face and learn to cope (like South Asian boys) with the racial prejudice of Western Societies. However, it is well to remind the reader that South Asian girls are not a homogenous category and that there are religious, regional, and social class/caste differences between them –   that of religion affiliation being the most significant. This article explores a few areas of concern for South Asian girls and makes suggestions to improve their education. The discussion and analysis is based mainly on the British literature but it is equally applicable to girls in North America, Australia and Western Europe.

Bhopal, a researcher of Indian descent describes the predicament of first-generation Asian women:

Traditional women had an arranged marriage and were given a dowry, they performed the majority of domestic labour tasks and had little or no control over domestic finance. They had low levels of education (those who had ‘O’ levels or no qualifications), and were in low positions in the labour market.                                                                    

Bhopal summarises the findings of her ethnographic research with a bold but, in my view, a valid conclusion: ‘The dominant norms and values of Asian culture disadvantage Asian women’ 

In the UK and elsewhere in the western countries, however, there have been drastic changes in gender role taking since the mid-70s. The British education system has responded positively to these changes and has made strenuous efforts to provide equality of opportunity for girls in the choice of school subjects and career aspirations. The opportunities offered to girls in schools are now almost on a par with those available to boys, although some areas still need further examination. Women teachers are increasingly to be found in senior positions and are providing role models for girls, who are out-performing boys in scholastic attainment at most levels. Thus increasingly, most South Asian girls are placed in a situation where they have to respond to the conflicting demands (and irreconcilable differences in many areas) between the home and school.  Such conflict can sometimes lead to psychosomatic illnesses such as eating disorders and severe anxiety and depression.

A literature survey revealed some studies on the subject. It is suggested by some researchers that ‘cultural identity confusion’ is a contributing etiological factor, but this cannot be disentangled from the wider encounter of two ‘cultures’: that of the patients, on the one hand, and that of the health professionals, on the other.

Another group of researchers have summarised their findings: ‘Although Asians were not found in the high suicidal intent group, the rates of depressive disorder, hopelessness, long premeditation time were all higher in Asian adolescents...The social and parental relationships showed a picture of isolation in Asian adolescents’.  South Asian young people (mostly girls) were more likely to say ‘no’ to such questions as: ‘Do you meet with friends after school?’; ‘Do you visit other friends houses?’ They confided less in their parents and experienced more control by parents than did their white counterparts. Culture conflict has been thought to be one of the factors in explaining excessive anxiety and other depressive disorders along with the racial discrimination of the wider society.  It must be stressed that there have been no large-scale studies which demonstrate conclusively that South Asian young girls are more prone to suffer from psychological ailments than either their white counterparts or South Asian boys.  However we should take note of the trends. In many cases South Asian girls from very traditional homes need counselling and other forms of support to help them cope with their anxieties and personal worries.

Girls employ a variety of psychological mechanisms to maintain their self-esteem and their personal identity. Compartmentalisation is an example of such a mechanism. On the one hand, Asian girls learn to think and behave as obedient and respectful daughters wearing Shalwar Kameez and speaking in Panjabi/Hindi/Urdu at home. On the other hand, they wear European-style uniform and speak English at school and are engaging and assertive like their English peers. Some girls have been known to cope even with dating, which is anathema to most Asian parents. An example of this coping strategy is described by an Indian-origin teacher:

I say look I have grown up in this environment, I had to fight battles...Although I am very forthright, but I am very traditionalist at heart. I can fit into both cultures. In Indian society, I behave like an Indian, here in school I behave like English. I am bicultural.

Another psychological mechanism which may be used in a situation of conflict is that of ‘compromise change’. This strategy has also been adopted by South Asian girls and the writer has come across many examples of this.        

  A third psychological mechanism, namely, ‘fundamental change’, may be used by individuals to re-appraise their identity structure when other measures fail to reduce anxiety and conflict. Some South Asian girls in Britain and elsewhere, for instance, have to give up any hope of a career and are obliged to accept arranged marriages because of parental pressure. They re-appraise their ‘identity’ and seek self-esteem and distinctiveness in being a good wife and a mother. 

To conclude, some researchers have argued that the Asian family’s notion of izzat (honour), and the assumption that their daughters intend to enter arranged marriages, place constraints on South Asian women’s choice of career and of financial independence. Some teachers have cynically exploited the vulnerability of South Asian girls to their own advantage. An Afro-Caribbean headmistress of a ‘majority’ South Asian girls’ school commented:

When I took over the headship, I was appalled by the attitudes of senior white (mostly men) teachers. They had given up on Asian girls’ education - A typical comment was: ‘They are going to me married off as soon as they leave school, so what is the point of raising their expectations’. And they were getting fat salaries.

 Despite the above mentioned difficulties girls perform better than boys in school examination - a very positive picture indeed. Indian-origin girls outperform their Pakistani and Bangladeshi counterparts. Overall, girls’ rate of staying on for further and higher education is higher than that of their white counterparts. A number of surveys has clearly demonstrated this trend. However, South Asian girls are sometimes restricted in their choice of subjects and broader vocational and professional aspirations. Furthermore, some of them may be frustrated because of the restrictions placed by parents on their progress to further and higher education. Some teachers hold negative stereotypes of South Asian girls, which can lead to lower expectations. It is suggested that all trainee teachers (and social and health workers) need to be aware of, and understand, the salient issues in the teaching of ethnic minority children and young people. Some eighteen years ago the Swann Report and more recently the Parekh Report have made sound recommendations in this area both for the training of teachers (and  indeed others working in the caring professions) and for the provision of in-service courses for experienced teachers.

Paul A. Singh Ghuman is a Professor of Education at the University of Wales Aberystwyth, Wales. His book on South Asian adolescents (Double Loyalties) was recently published by the University of Wales Press. He has researched on this topic for many years in Australia, Britain, Canada, and the USA and is the author of several publications in this area.

Anwar, M. (1998). Between Cultures: Continuity and Change in the Lives of Young Asians. London: Routledge.

Bhatti, G. (1999). Asian Children at home and School. London: Routledge.

Ghuman, P. A. S. ( 1999). Asian Adolescents in the West. Leicester: The British Psychological Society.

Ghuman, P. A. S. (2003). Double Loyalties: South Asian Adolescents in the West. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.

Suarez-Orozco, C. and Suarez-Orozco, M. M. (2001). Children of Immigrants. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University press.