Merit and Needs Based Scholarship Program (MNBSP) Study

The issue of gender equity in U.S. Government-funded education programs in Pakistan gained prominence in 2012 when Malala Yousafzai, an activist for girls’ education, was attacked and critically wounded by the Taliban in her Swat Valley village. In response, U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer and Mary Landrieu introduced the Malala Yousafzai Scholarship Act to promote girls’ and women’s education in Pakistan. With the Merit and Needs Based Scholarship Program (MNBSP) already in place in Pakistan since 2004, it was identified as the channel through which to meet this new objective. Under MNBSP Phase I, a target of 25 percent female participation was set. Project performance fell just short of this goal, with 23 percent of scholarships awarded to female students. Starting in 2014, in line with the Malala Yousafzai Scholarship Act, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) must ensure that 50 percent of all merit- and needs based scholarships are awarded to disadvantaged women in Pakistan.

To inform USAID efforts to meet this goal of 50 percent female scholarship recipients, this MNBSP Female Workforce Study (FWS) was designed to assess the perceptions, beliefs, constraints, and opportunities faced by women in their decisions to enter academic and professional life. The findings will also provide recommendations for Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission (HEC) in terms of future programs and policies related to women’s participation in higher education. USAID/Pakistan identified the following four key questions for this study:

1. What are the aspirations and life goals of academically high-performing, but economically disadvantaged young women, and to what extent and in what ways would a higher education enable them to achieve these goals?
2. What are the most and least promising fields of study and career options for these young women, and why? 
3. What social, economic, or other constraints are female MNBSP participants most likely to face in their university education and career, and how do these women accommodate or mitigate these constraints? 
4. What changes to the university climate, job market, and workplace might best allow female MNBSP alumni to achieve their full potential, and what existing conditions or factors have supported their success?