1.Statement of Purpose

Co-education is an important area of social research. Many researches are being conducted to understand the impact of co-education on the learning and achievements of boys and girls. Boys and girls are differently affected by the co-education. Boys achieve more and girls are less affected by the co-education. Co-education has many merits and de-merits. The education of girls and boys together is seen as the most healthy, natural and normal setting for learning (Alonso, 2005). Before coming to the school and colleges girls perception about co-education is very important to understand and comprehend.

Co-educational System

Co-educational system is defined as educational institutions such as schools, colleges, universities where both boys and girls attend together. The positive aspects of co-education appear to be the opportunity for students to have an educational foundation where they are in classrooms that are more representative of the communities that they need to interact effectively in society (Arum, 2000, p.112). Educational institutions with a focus on life skills that teach students how to interact effectively with each other, as well as teachers whose main goal is to ensure that he/she is having a positive impact on all of the students learning could have a positive educational effect on students.

Co-education in Pakistan

Co-education has always remained a moot point for Pakistani parents. Pakistan has primarily two schools of thoughts, which sharpen the views about the co-education; one is the group that favors co-education and the other, that opposes. The group that is found in favor of co-education includes those have no issues with western traditions and culture. They believe that people and students should start to live with co-education in colleges, schools and universities because we, being the under-developed country do not have sufficient resources to build up different branches one for girls and the other for boy ( Ghuman & Llyod, 2010). Moreover the proponents of co-education believe that it would also be wastage of resources and infrastructure to have separate institutes for boys and girls when the purpose is same i.e. imparting education. In Pakistan there is a lack of physical infrastructure i.e. buildings for schools, colleges and universities and other facilities as well as lack of human resources i.e. qualified and talented teachers. In addition, ever since Pakistan's inception in 1947, very little emphasis has been laid on education and a very meager amount of budgetary allocations are made for education. Therefore in such an instance, the scarce resources which are available for education should be utilized to their optimal level and in a very efficient manner and should not be wasted. Thus the proponents of co -education believe, it is the need of the hour. Owed to the resource constraints, in the category of technical and vocational institutions in most cases co-education prevails (Khan, 1997).

On the other hand the opponents of co-education negate all the merits of co-education on religious and cultural grounds. It is because the main religion followed here is Islam which does not allow male and female students to study together (Hassan, 2006). The opponents forward the argument that not only religion but our cultural values and traditions also do not permit such scheme of study. They believe co-education leads to immorality and moral degeneration of the youth and also increases the occurrences of incidents of rape and sexual harassment. They disregard the benefits that can be reaped from co-education and such parents still dont want to send their children in co-educational institutions (Memon, 2007). According to a survey conducted on April 2010, 79% of the parents do not want their children to be sent to the co-educational institutions. Whereas 16% say that if the standard of education and cost were the same they would prefer to send their girls to co-educational institutions.

2. Initial Questions/Objectives of the study

The study is conducted to achieve the following objectives:

To see the impact of co-education on the self-esteem of girls and their academic achievements that in turn shapes their perceptions of co -education

To see the impact of co-education on the perception of parents of the girls studying in university and analyze changes in their attitude towards co-education

To see the change of behavior of girls after having studied in coeducation

Rationale of the study

This study tries to examine the perception of the girls regarding co-education coming from rural areas. The reason why girls coming from rural areas have been focused in this study is that the empirical evidence shows that in rural areas the parents are more reluctant to send their daughters to co -educational institutions and for the girls from rural areas co -education comes as a very big challenge.(The findings of the Gallup survey conducted in 2010 reveal that preference for co-education is higher amongst urbanites (24%) as compared to their rural counterparts (12%)). In addition, when we take the case of Pakistan it comprises most of the rural population i.e. 70%. So this study intends to find out the perception of girls regarding co-education coming from 'rural' areas.

It is generally presumed that the girls coming from rural background are likely to have conservative, narrow minded and biased approaches towards co-education, hence this study aims at finding out the extent to which this general presumption is correct.

This study not only intends to find out the perception of the girls about co-education coming from rural areas, but it also seeks to examine and analyze the perception and understanding of the parents of the female students. Incorporating the parents' perspective is essential in the context of Pakistani society where children specially girls usually do not take important decisions of their lives independently and parents are the influencers by and large.

It is commonly observed that the girls and their families have a negative attitude and perception about the co-education. Thus the current study also extends its scope and intends to find out whether there is any change in the attitude and behavior about the co-education of the girls and their parents after coming to the university. This study will also answer how and why the perceptions of the girls and their parents have changed and evolved over the period of time while studying in co-education.

3. Problem Statement

It is commonly observed that in the rural areas girls and their families have a negative attitude and perception about the co-education. Girls and their parents have many reservations while sending their daughters to the universities or co-educational institutes. The girls and their parents have negative feelings and attitudes towards the co-education. The current study intends to find out the answer of this question that whether there is any change in the attitude and behavior about the co-education of the girls and their parents after coming to the university. This study further explores different problems and hindrance that the parents of girls faced while sending their daughters to the university. Hence the problem statement is:

Higher the level of academic achievements and self-esteem of girls in the co-education more positive the perception would be of girls about co-education

4. Sampling

The aim of the study was to find out the perception of the girls about co-education; qualitative data was gathered for this study. A total of 50 respondents including students and parents of Economics Department of Formanite Christian College were interviewed for this study.

5. Literature Review

This chapter deals with the already existing literature relating to the co-education and perception of the girls about co-education. This topic of co-education and is a multidimensional topic especially when we are focusing on measuring the perception of the girls about co-education. Keeping in view the multidimensionality of the topic the literature review covers the related issues like the same sex schooling, merits and de-merits of co-education and its relation with the study outcomes. The primary objective of the literature review was to finally bring up progressive and distinctive topic, which would add to the existing knowledge. To have a comprehensive understanding of the topic this chapter is divided into the various sections. Each section presents the literature review particular to the topic.

The literature review is divided into following three sections

Single sex Education and academic performance

Co-education and academic performance

Parents involvement and academic performance

Single Gender Education and Academic Performance

Riordan, (1990) Lee and Bryk (1986) also in favour of single sex schools. They concluded from their study that single gender school provide more opportunity to the girls and boys than in co-education. By studying in single gender education students can relax and perform in a free manner.

Oreinstein (2000) described that girls feel more confident and participate actively in single sex environment as compared to Co-education class room. The feeling of embarrassment and inferiority complex is high in co-ed class room that causes them to remain unable to express themselves to the best of their ability.

Riordan (1990) suggests that when single-gender schools are rare, the pro-academic choice made by parents and students that will result in a more excellent student body, which will bring with it heightened academic demands.

In comparison, Herr and Arms (2004) conducted a study in California public middle school. By using ethnographic qualitative approach, they examined the teachers and students reaction toward same gender classes. The school consist of 1100 boys and girls, 95 percent belong to minorities and 80 percent student belongs to low socio economic status household. They collected data by classroom observations and interviews separately from teachers and students. Teachers are asked question about their professional experiences and staff development and students are asked questions about the experiences of same gener classes compared to their previous co-educational classes.

Co-Education and Academic Performance

(Tsinidus, Gerogiannis et al, 2010), conducted a study to find out the impact of educational services. The researcher concluded from their study that Educational services are mostly non tangible and it is difficult to measure it because it is only transformation of knowledge, skill and behaviour modification among learners. Similarly it is very difficult to measure how the co-education is shaping or benefitting the society.

Sax (2005) conducted a study to examine the physical characteristics of both the girls and boys and its impact on their learning. The author examined and concluded that some biological differences between boys and girls such as anatomical differences in brain, ear and eye structure. So they response differently according to their biological structure. While teaching or during the academic process this matter should be taken into consideration and biological difference should be considered.

Eamon (2005) says that besides these social factors parents involvement increases the rate of academic performance of their child. This study does not neglect the influence of society and social factors on the academic performance of the individuals but this study emphasizes that the care, intentions and involvement of the parents increase the performance of the students.

Parents and Academic Performance

Several researchers have demonstrated that parental involvement may also impact children educational achievement. Barnard (2004), for example, found that the children who lived with natural parents reported higher levels of achievement goals relatively to those children who lived with their grandparents or close relatives. Similarly, Herz &Sperling (2004) reported that parental involvement was positively related to mastery goal orientation. That is when parents got involved in their childrens education, children were more likely to handle challenging tasks, persist through academic challenges, and experience satisfaction in their school work. On the other hand impact of parents involvement on childrens academic achievement might have indirect effects. Parent involvement might have some other factors (Keith et al., 1986).

6. Method:

For the qualitative data, in-depth interviews were conducted with students and parents of the girls of Economics Department of Formanite Christian College who are studying in co-education to get a more in-depth understanding of the topic. 12 in-depth interviews were conducted for this purpose. The qualitative data was analyzed by using the domain analysis technique i.e. by using themes that appeared in the study.

7.Tools for Data Collection

The tools for data collection of this study were in-depth interviews and questionnaire/ interview schedule. The researcher adopted both the tools keeping in view the sensitivity and complexity of the topic. This was done to attain first-hand knowledge and more in-depth understanding of the topic So it is obvious that if you are interested in understanding the thoughts and reactions of someone about a topic the researchers have to conduct the in depth interviews. Because it provides the complete understanding of that group or that individual. As in present case the researchers wants to measure the impact of co-education on girls self-esteem and academic achievements in present era

8.Data Collection and Data Analysis

The researchers conducted twelve interviews in about one week. One interview mostly took round 75 to 90 minutes. The data was collected in March 2015.

Pretesting

To check whether the interview schedule was appropriate to the research objectives and the research question the researcher had a pilot study done. The researcher interviewed 5 girls and found some flaws and missing elements in the interview schedule. So it was modified and made appropriate. The researchers found some irrelevant questions, which were not fulfilling the purpose of the research so those questions were eliminated. To be more specific researcher also added a few questions. The final interview schedule was approved by the supervisor.

Data Analysis

The qualitative data was analyzed by using Domain analysis. The research area in this research is perception of girls and their parents about co-education. The researchers first acknowledged the broader themes in the data and then they compared diverse themes with one another and reached at the broader explanation of the cultural setting. The qualitative data for the current study was analyzed on the basis of themes and impressions that appeared frequently in the study. The researcher tried to be focused in identifying the themes for the current study.

Qualitative Study

Co-education and its implications for the girls is a multifaceted and complex issue to be comprehended. It involves the decision making of other family members as well. Thus, the phenomenon is not only related to the girls but also involves parents of the girls studying in co-education system. Keeping in view the above mentioned fact it was decided to adopt qualitative method for this study along with the quantitative and to include other family members in this study to get a deeper insight into the phenomena being investigated.

To get a more in depth and validated information and data about the topic being investigated both qualitative and quantitative method were used for this study. Hence, triangulation of methods increases the reliability and validity of the data. Qualitative method gives us a more clear and in-depth picture of the phenomenon being studied. To serve this purpose, it was decided to conduct the in-depth interviews of the parents of the girls studying in co-education system

Questions for in-depth interview

In-depth interviews are very important component of qualitative data in this particular study. Parents of the girls studying in co-education system were interviewed to understand their perception about co-education and how this concept has changed over the period of time. It will also help understanding the hurdles and prospects faced by the parents while taking decision about sending their daughter to study in co-education. Following is a list of questions that were asked to the parents.

Did you initially feel any hesitation in giving permission to your daughter to study in co-education system? If Yes? Why?

Have your concerns and opinion related to this issue changed, over the past two years?If changes in concerns and opinion have occurred, why?

Do you feel any change in your daughter's behavior now? If yes, describe that change or changes?

Do you consider this change a positive change or a negative one?

Did anyone counter your decision of allowing your daughter to study in co-education?

How had you tried to handle that confrontation?

Do you think that your decision or experience of allowing your daughter to study in co-education system would have a positive impact on other members of your family or area?

Did you have any specific aim for sending your daughter in co-education system?

If you have another daughter would you prefer co-education system for her too? If no? why

Would you like to mention anything special on this particular issue?

9. Findings /Analysis of Qualitative data

12 in depth interviews were conducted for the collection of qualitative data in a span of one week with 50 respondents. 2 interviews were conducted per day on average and the duration of each interview was 75-90 minutes. On the basis of the questions used to gauge the perception of parents of rural areas about coeducation, responses were thematically studied. The Domain analysis was used for the analysis of qualitative data. The themes which appeared frequently are presented and the findings of the research are in accordance with those main themes. The verbatim are also used in this section to explain the feelings and perceptions of the parents about coeducation.

Personal Perceptions

Since parents personal perceptions, values and opinions influence their decisions regarding their childrens personal and practical lives, therefore one of the main themes of the in depth interviews was to gain deep insight into the parents personal perceptions about co- education system. There were numerous questions that were asked to probe and gauge the various dimensions of personal perceptions about co- education.

One of those questions was regarding the initial inhibitions and reservations while giving permissions to their daughters to study in co -education system. Five out of twelve parents said they had serious reservations against co- education initially and they were reluctant to allow their daughters to study in that system. The tone and body language of the respondents was a clear manifestation of the extent and intensity of their initial hesitation and opposition. The researcher nevertheless tried to delve deeper and asked for the reasons of their stance against co -education.

One of the main reasons identified by the researchers was religious values and injunctions. According to two respondents, our religion Islam disallows the interaction of males and females on a social level.

Another reason that was identified was moral values, the respondents said that co- educational institutions serve as breeding ground for immoralities and the fear of moral and ethical degeneration prevented them from allowing their daughters to study in co -education.

Fear of Psychological and Behavioral depravation was another reason identified by a respondent. According to that respondent, she feared that her daughter would become head strong and develop superiority complex. She further elaborated her stance by saying that her daughter might get involved with a guy at the university and might obstinately insist on marrying by her choice which would have led to a family feud since her daughter was already engaged within the family or else she would become independent and over confident and might not be able to adjust in the family after that. Another concern she expressed was that she was afraid her daughter might start thinking herself superior than her husband who is less educated and this would have led to disputes and problems in her married life.

Two out of the parents said they were not opposed to the idea of allowing their daughters to study in co-education. While five respondents said they had mild inhibitions and reservations and the reasons they came up with more or less the same as stated above.

The second question that was asked to gain insight into the personal perceptions of the parents was whether or not their perceptions about co-education have changed over the two years and what are the factors which prompted that change in perceptions were. The responses were more or less similar, however, an interesting fact that the researcher discovered was that even those respondents who had initially expressed hostility towards co-education admitted that their perceptions had taken a 360 degree turn and they practically exuded positivity while accounting for the factors that lead to these changes.

Some respondents in an interview said their perceptions have become positive over the past two years and two respondents asserted that their perceptions were already positive.

The factors identified by the researcher include the following; some respondents expressed somewhat similar views by saying that since they have been living in a rural set up ever since their birth, they had had very little exposure of the urban life and lifestyle, their perceptions about co-education were based on whatever stories they had been listening to since their childhoods, wherein urban lifestyle is projected as sinuous and full of morally depraved people. Moreover, their perceptions were shaped by the errant preaching of religious fanatics and extremists who oppose the freedom of women in all walks of life and who believe women should be confined within the thresholds of their houses from their cradles to their graves. These views clearly reveal the reasons behind their earlier perceptions.

Nevertheless, the respondents said that once they had taken the bold decision to send their daughters to study in co- education against all odds, they realized that there was no harm in it. They did not see any deterioration in any aspect of their daughters personalities, nor did they see any worsening of their moral or social or ethical values. After two years, they can vouch that their daughters have become much better and enlightened persons than they were before that. They said that they had taken a very big risk by sending their daughters to study in co- education but at the end of the day, the risk proved to be worthwhile.

The researcher probed further by asking about the positive changes the respondents have observed in their daughters after having studied in co -education. The responses were diverse but yet again all responses were tinted with positivity.

All respondents unanimously said that their daughters confidence level has improved remarkably over the past two years. Their daughters personalities have evolved in that respect and without developing any kind of superiority complex they have become enlightened human beings who are capable of confronting all obstacles in their lives with poise, confidence and self- assurance.

Perceptions formed as a result of Social pressure

Sometimes even if one does not agree or like a certain rule/norm but the fear of being stigmatized and shunned from the society compels one to behave in a certain way. Thus a person jumps on the bandwagon blindly in an attempt to conform.

In a rural set up particularly, relatively enlightened people are forced to consider coeducation as a social taboo whereas they know it is not. In response to the question to gauge such perceptions formed as result of family or social pressure, three out of twelve respondents said they faced severe pressure from their family who threatened to break all ties if they would allow their daughters to study in co-education. They even went on to say that if her daughter would study in co -education she will not be accepted as a daughter in law by any wing of the family nor would it be easy to find an eligible boy for her once she would get so unashamedly bold as to have studied with boys,

Social Impact of the decision to send daughters in coeducation system

The researcher tried to gauge whether or not the parents whose daughters have now graduated from a coeducational institutions against all odds , think that their bold decision would serve as a guiding star for others to follow and replicate and whether people might follow suit.

The response in all cases was in affirmative and all parents think that having taken this decision they have paved the way for all other parents too and the way their daughters have been positively transformed, they are sure and hopeful that other people would also emulate their example.

10. Discussion:

This section provides the discussion of the findings of this study in connection with the literature review conducted for this study. This section is sub-divided into two major sections. The first section provides the discussion related to the quantitative data while the second section contains discussion related to the qualitative data. As in the previous studies, current study produced the similar findings when it comes to the perception of the girls about co-education.

The qualitative data was collected to find out the perception of the parents about the co-education and the problems they faced while taking decision about sending their daughters to the co-education.

Adunyarittigun (1997) and Gonzalez (2005) conducted their studies to assess the impact of parents involvement on the academic performance of the girls. The current study is also in favor of the same prospect. The parents of the girls are very much concerned about the education of their girls. It improves the academic performance of the girls. The parents of the girls take the decision of the girls studying in co-education or single sex education. Hence the parents involvement is at a higher level.

(Hanes, 2008), conducted a study to find out the impact of parents socio-economic status on the girls academic performance. The qualitative data for the current study concluded that the parents with higher socio-economic can afford good and expensive institute for their girls. While conducting in-depth interview the parents of the girls discussed that they can also afford extra tuition hence increasing the performance for their children. The current study also proposed that the parents higher level of socio-economic status is directly related to the performance of their children.

11. Conclusion

This study sought to ascertain the relationship between the perception about coeducation and self-esteem and academic achievement The multidimensionality of both the variables was analyzed with accuracy and taking into account the different aspects.

The objective of the study was to assess the impact of co-education on the self-esteem of girls (coming from rural areas) and their academic achievements that in turn shapes and influences their perceptions about coeducation. Another objective of the study was to see the impact of co-education on the perception of parents of the girls studying in university i.e. the girls coming from rural areas and change in their attitude about co-education.. Qualitative research conducted by means of in depth interviews sought to probe deeper to ascertain the parents perspective prior to sending their daughter to coeducation as well as their stance after two years. The results revealed that even though some parents were reluctant to send their daughters to study in co-education initially due to social, moral and religious constraints, but after two years all their fears, concerns and reservations were allayed and laid to rest once they witnessed the positive changes in their daughter. It can be inferred from the study that since their premonitions about co-education was negated and their perceptions have become entirely positive.

The third objective of the study was to observe the change of behavior of girls after having studied in co- education. The qualitative analysis gave significant insight into the parents perspective and the changes they had observed in their daughters. The findings clearly revealed that parents believe that by studying with the members of the opposite gender in an ambience where they have to compete on a continual basis to make their voices heard, girls overcome their shyness and they acquire a sense of self assurance, strength and bravado to openly express their opinions and this helps them a lot in their practical lives.

12.Recommendations/ Suggestions

On the basis of the study limitations following recommendation are presented for future research. These suggestions can be very helpful for the future researches in the area of girls perception about co-education.

The future research should involve a larger group of people to measure the relationship between girls self-esteem and perception about co-education. The sample of the respondents should also be increased for future studies Furthermore, the gender balance should be considered while conducting the future research i.e. both boys and girls should be studied at the same time for a more comprehensive understanding of the topic being investigated..

Future researches in this area should utilize different variables affecting the perception of the girls about co-education. Different social and historical background variables should also be studied to assess the perception about co-education.

In addition, interview from more than one person should also be helpful for future research. A wider data circle would provide a greater in-depth insight into the parents perception about co-education and whether the decision to send the girls to the co-education system proved worthwhile.

Students from both public and private sector institutes should be included in the study.

References

Alonso, A. U.S. Department of Education. (2005). Single-Sex Versus Secondary Schooling: A Systematic Review. Washington, D.C. Retrieved from .

Arum, R., & Beattie, I. (2000). The structure of schooling: Readings in the sociology of education. Mountain View: Mayfield Publishing Company

Barnard, W. M. (2004). Parent involvement in elementary school and educational attainment . Children and Youth Services Review, 26, (1),39- 62.

Eamon, M. K. (2005). Social demographic, school, neighborhood and parenting influences on academic achievement of Latino young adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 34(2), 163-175.

Farman H., (2006) Iranian women outnumber men at university" Middle East Online. Retrieved on 20th March 2015.

Ghuman, S. & Lloyd, C. (2010) .Teacher Absence as a factor in gender inequalities in access to primary schooling in rural Pakistan Published by: The University of Chicago Press

Gillani and Gallup Foundation .(2010). Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com.pk/Polls/2-4-10.pdf

Gillani & Gallup Foundation, (2010)

http://www.gilanifoundation.com/homepage/30years/ThirtyYearsOfPollingOnEducationMar10.pdf

Hassan, R. (2006). Islamization: an analysis of religious, political and social change in Pakistan pages. Pubished by: Jehangir Sons.

Herr, K. & Arms, E. 2004. Accountability and single-sex schooling: A collision of reform agendas. American Educational Research Journal. 41(3), 527-555

Herz,B. & Sperling, G.( 2004). What Works in Girls Education: Evidence and Policies from the Developing World. Paper Presented at the Washington, D.C.: Council on Foreign Relations

Keith, T. Z., Reimers, T. M., Fehrmann, P. G., Pottebaum, S. M., and Aubey, L. W. (1986).

Khan,A.(1997). Education in Pakistan : 50 years of neglect Retrieved from http://www.pide.org.pk/pdf/PDR/1997/Volume4/647-667.pdf

Lee, E. & Bryk , A .(1986): Effects of Single-Sex Secondary Schools on Student Achievement and Attitudes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 78(2), 381-395.

Memon, G.R.(2007).Education in Pakistan: The key issues, problems and challenges. Journal of Management and Social Sciences 3(1) 47-55 Retrieved from http://heglobal.international.gbtesting.net/media/5179/education%20in%20pakistan%20-%20the%20key%20issues,%20problems%20and%20the%20new%20challenges.pdf

Orenstein, P. (2000). School Girls: Young Women, Self-Esteem and the Confidence Gap. New York: Random House Inc ,.

Riordan, C. H. (1990). Girls and boys in school:Together or separate? New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Tsinidou, M., Gerogiannis, V., & Fitsilis, P. (2010). Evaluation of the factors that determine quality in higher education: an empirical study. Journal of Quality Assurance in Education, 18(3), 227-244.

Sax, L. (2005). Why gender matters: What parents and teachers need to know about the emerging science of sex differences. New York: Broadway Books.