Returning home: Gendered readjustments for foreign educated Pakistani women

• Published in: Asian journal of women's studies pp. 1 - 34
• Main Author: Khaliq, Shanel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 아시아여성학센터 01.09.2025
• Subjects: 여성학
• ISSN: 1225-9276; 2377-004X
• DOI: 10.1080/12259276.2025.2529044

Increased access to higher education and rapid urbanization in South Asian cities is creating new intersections of class and gender. This study draws on the experiences of privileged, urban Pakistani women, who acquired higher education abroad, to understand their readjustment process after moving back to Pakistan. It uses semi-structured interviews and focus-group discussions to reveal how living abroad helped these women develop a new sense of self, and how they are exerting this new sense of self via the freedom to move around in the city and dress as they please. Upon their return, they exhibit “relational agency” as they continue to push boundaries with regards to mobility and dressing. Meanwhile, through these choices, they also continue to reproduce gendered, upper middle-class respectability. The findings expand upon literature on gender and agency, with respect to mobility and body politics in the context of a Muslim majority country. KCI Citation Count: 0