Enhanced young women's reproductive agency could contribute to much-needed improvements in reproductive and child health in Pakistan. The RECOUP programme of research was designed to unpack the channels through which schooling might contribute to such an enhancement for young mothers in the two provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Key decisions concerning marriage and motherhood involve not only the woman's own cultural and social capital but also societal, cultural, religious and familial contexts, which together limit a woman's agency. Although data from the quantitative surveys suggest very strong positive influences of schooling of young women on increasing their say in key decisions, these data must be interpreted cautiously. Irrespective of their schooling levels, women exercise varying degrees of agency within an allowed set of options defined by their parents, husband and in-laws. Supportive social networks and changes in attitudes of her own family, her in-laws and her husband are necessary in order to expand the boundaries of this set and thus for schooling to make a major impact on these aspects of young women's lives in Pakistan.

Performance of employees has been a vital matter for all organizations regardless of their sector. As organizations become more diverse, maintaining high performance becomes a challenge. This study examines the relationship between workforce diversity and organizational performance in educational sector of Cyprus through moderating effect of diversity fatigue. Mixed Method is used for the purposes of this study to analyze data from university academic staff, through survey and senior-level interviews (semi-structured). Qualitative measures were used to develop dimensions for diversity fatigue, which further were tested through quantitative approach. Results imply that extent of diversity fatigue can suppress the relationship between overall performance and workforce diversity, which is positive and significant prior to interaction of fatigue. Furthermore, our study expands the literature regarding the topic within educational sector. Managers can have an enhanced decision-making process regarding diverse workforce and degree of fatigue, which yields in a higher performance level for the firm.

Purpose. To understand the lives of young people with disabilities in Pakistan using a household survey. Method. Data were collected by administering the survey to 1094 urban and rural households randomly selected from nine districts in two provinces. The survey had a roster, which captured basic demographic, anthropometric, education and labour market status information on all resident household members in the sampled households (around 9000 individuals). In addition, detailed individual-level questionnaires were administered only to those aged between 15 and 60 years. While the survey did not have an exclusive focus on issues of disability, the questions used were informative and innovative. Results. The findings of this survey emphasise the continued marginalisation of young people with disabilities in the areas of education, employment and marriage prospects. Additionally, reflections on the research process highlight the many challenges entailed in undertaking research on disability issues. Conclusions. Considering the high numbers of people reporting difficulties, many of them mild but which have a considerable impact on their functioning, there is a need for better health care planning and outreach. Given the lack of knowledge about people with disabilities – their incidence and status – there is a need for more rigorous research to help develop effective interventions.

There are more male nurses than ever before in India. While there is a large number of studies that focus on the differences in working conditions between male and female nurses and perceptions towards male nurses in western contexts, these studies are almost non-existent in highly patriarchal contexts like India. Utilising twenty semi-structured interviews with male nurses in three cities of Kerala, geospatially located in South India, this research aims at exploring the reasons why male nurses select the profession and their gendered experiences during their career paths. The research argues that male nurses select the profession for increasing their chances to migrate to industrialised countries like Australia and the United Kingdom. However, they face various social and work-related impediments in their career, which include negative perceptions of families and others towards the profession, the discrimination faced in terms of occupational segregation at the workplace, negative perceptions towards their manhood and the difficulties in finding a bride. Male nurses, if unsuccessful in migrating abroad, are not committed to remaining in the profession, particularly after their “shelf-lives” are over. In this case, they are highly likely to move to other professions or migrate to second-option countries in the Middle East. This emerges as a concern for India which is in dire need of nurses and highlights that Indian and State governments need to take prompt actions that would eliminate the stereotypes concerning male nurses, improve the working conditions and reduce discrimination towards male nurses, and in general to include more men in mainstream nursing.

Open access peer-reviewed chapter