Feminization of dentistry" in Pakistan is clearly visible in the gender distribution of an average dental class that boasts of 70% -80% female students. Yet after graduation, many of these women choose not to pursue their careers, resulting in a void of practicing dentists in the country, despite an exponential increase in private sector dental colleges. This phenomenological designed qualitative study aimed to investigate the reasons behind this dynamic. Fourteen in-depth interviews' and two focus groups' discussion from a rich and diverse sample of 20 purposively selected working and non-working, younger and older women dentists from the cities of Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Peshawar and Abbottabad obtained data to achieve saturation. All interviews were audio recorded with consent, transcribed verbatim, transcripts analyzed and coded into themes and sub-themes. Respondent validation and investigator triangulation ensured validity and credibility of findings. The core finding is that a support system is an essential pre-requisite facilitating a woman dentist to pursue her career; the primary driver for this support is "economic need". This core factor circuitously interlinks three peripheral themes, which are 1) traditional gender roles dominate, restricting women dentists from pursuance of career, especially if they have a strong economic base; 2) becoming a dentist enhances social capital and lucrative marriage prospects, lending to the concept of "doctor brides" which becomes a prime reason for choosing this education. Practicing the profession becomes secondary, especially when the marital union is with a well-to-do family; 3) life stage priorities with respect to motherhood is a barrier to full time career pursuance and if economic needs are met, most prioritize motherhood over profession. In conclusion, the average graduating dentist is female, from an expensive private sector dental college, affordable by the socio-economically privileged class; she often marries into an equivalent or higher SES class based on her "doctor" title. Since "economic need" is a dominant determinant of pursuance of career, a majority of women dentists opt for the luxury of choosing not to work.Recommendations include revision of policies for admission into dental colleges and retentive protocols on renewal of license to practice.
Abstract-English language as Medium of Instruction (MOI) plays the central role in the students' learning at university level. Therefore, how well students would fare in academic achievement depends largely on their English language abilities. This study explores how much students are comfortable about learning in English language, and the relevant associated problems and constraints faced by them. For this retrospective study, a self made questionnaire was used to collect the data from 300 university students by using the stratified random sampling with proportional allocation. To confirm the chosen variables Confirmatory factor analysis is used and the Discriminant analysis is used to determine the most discriminating variable among the selected variables. The characteristics of different groups of students based on their Agreement, Disagreement and Neutral Opinion regarding MOI are explored by using Cluster analysis. It is argued that productive learning process utilizing English language does not only rely on the English language knowledge, but also on other factors such as students' ability and talent, communication skills, supportive teachers and supportive home environment, motivation and the right attitude toward language, just to name a few. The findings revealed that the majority of the students had a positive attitude and were highly motivated towards the use of English as a MOI. The conclusion also indicated that, English medium background, supportive home environment, right learning strategies and English communication skills played an important role in enhancing the positive attitude and motivation to improve their academic performance and achievements.Index Terms-medium of instruction (MOI), English language, discriminant analysis, cluster analysis
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