1

THE EFFECT OF MARRIAGE ON A WOMANS EDUCATION

The Effect of Marriage on a Womens Education

Womens rights are often taken for granted in The United States. When thinking about
the broader idea of womens rights, this issue becomes of global concern. In many places and
populations, women are not given their basic rights or freedoms. And over the past few years,
rights have been extended to many more populations. In my annotated bibliography, I wanted to
look globally into a womans right to an education. More specifically, I wanted to see how
different cultures, whose women marry at a young age, effect their education. Each culture has
different customs and traditions which affect their path of life. Cross culturally, I wanted to
understand the issues and effects a marriage has on a young womens pursuit of an education.
Also, I wanted to compare these different cultures to see this idea from a global perspective.

Archambault, C. (2011). Ethnographic empathy and the social context of rights: "rescuing" Maasai girls
from early marriage. American Anthropologist, 113 (4), 632-643.
Archambault, in her research, addresses the issues that surround the topic of early marriages of
young Maasai women, in Kenya. Archambault takes an ethnographic approach to analyze and
communicate the forces behind arranged marriages and the education system. One side of the argument
stems from Eknops traditional pastoralism, saying this systems viability may not be enough to support a
life due to climactic instability, land and resource fragmentation, and more. This argument suggest that
marrying your child into this tradition will not be rewarding, and offers education as an avenue to surpass
the traditional lifestyle. Archambaults argument suggests due to the flaws of Eknops education system,
marrying your daughter into the pastoralism life is the only way to secure her future. She argues the
attention should be on improving the current education access and quality, therefore improving Maasai
womens future by creating a better option than marriage. This article is helpful to my research because it

2
THE EFFECT OF MARRIAGE ON A WOMANS EDUCATION
shows two sides of the argument in Kenya. It shows the pros of getting an education and resisting
marrying at a young age, but also shows the down falls in the education system which leads to marriage
as the only option.
Blossfeld, H-P., and De Rose, A. (1992). Educational expansion and changes in entry into marriage and
motherhood: The experience of Italian women. Genus, 48(3), 73-91.
Blossfeld and De Roses research focused on the development of families in Italy, with respect to
educational and marital changes. For Italian women, the effect of the level of education impacts the age
of entry into marriage negatively. They found that a higher education level increases the age of entry into
marriage. However, the size of the effect is small and seems limited to the passage from youth to
adulthood, because the longer time the woman spends in the educational system increases the age at
which she feels herself ready to marry. This article is helpful to my research because it is the only article
about the well-developed nation of Italy. This article is in contrast with the others, which makes a better
comparison between them all.
Hegland, M. E. (2009). Educating young women: culture, conflict, and identities in an Iranian village.
Iranian Studies: bulletin of the Society for Iranian Cultural and Social Studies, 42(1), 45-79.
Hegland is a socio-cultural anthropologist whose research is centered on the changing
perspectives of females in Iran, and how these changing perspectives have influenced their education.
Now that women rights are more commonly accepted, females are able and expected to complete a high
school degree. Hegland found that this was on the list of desirable attributes of a bride. In her research,
Hegland found problems in pursuit of higher education for women. She notes that it is expected and
arrange for a woman to get married soon after she completes her high school degree. If a girl has become
engaged, or even if an informal agreement has been made for marriage, the future husband and his family
puts limits on her education. Marriage is still the preeminent goal and required condition for a womans
well-being and identity. This article is helpful because it holds the perspective of a changing society. It

3
THE EFFECT OF MARRIAGE ON A WOMANS EDUCATION
shows how these ideals about education and marriage can change, but also shows there is more growth to
be shown.
Khurshid, A. (2012). A transnational community of Pakistani Muslim women narratives of rights, honor,
and wisdom in a women's education project. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 43 (3), 235252.
Khurshids research centers on the general idea of wisdom that she defines as the ability to make
decisions informed by the knowledge about right and wrong. Khurshid believes that an education is a
cure all and a road to this wisdom. To restructure family, community and the nation, Khurshid suggests
Pakistan needs to contrast womanhood rights and tradition. In her studies, Khurshid found women
embracing their arranged marriages as a strengthening of family rather than a lack of choice. They
understood their marriages not to be a violation of their rights. Khurshid relates the contentment of
marriage to education and the wisdom it provided that enabled them to appreciate this empowerment and
to value their families. This article is helpful to my research because it is the only article that comes from
the position embracing early and arranged marriages. This shows how different cultures can see
situations differently.
Singh, S., and Samara, R. (1996). Early marriage among women in developing countries. International
Family Planning Perspectives, 22(4), 148-157.
In their research, Singh and Samara are looking at the effects of an early marriage among women
in developing countries. In many developing countries they have found the age of first marriage is quite
young. They state that motherhood becomes the sole focus of women who marry at a young age. This
stress on motherhood comes at the expense of a formal education and training for employment. In
developing countries, the access to formal education has increased over the past thirty years, but there is
still a great variation across different countries. Singh and Samara conclude that this variation is
associated with the variation of age at marriage. Because marriage may involve forgoing the opportunity

4
THE EFFECT OF MARRIAGE ON A WOMANS EDUCATION
to obtain a higher education, the education system may not be as far developed in these areas. This article
is aids in my research because it holds information about many developing countries. This information,
when compared to the other sources, allows for a better comparison because it gives a wide variety.

5
THE EFFECT OF MARRIAGE ON A WOMANS EDUCATION
In the conclusion of my research about the relationship between a womans age of marriage and
her right to an education, I have become aware of some slight trends. Because I researched five

different cultures, the seen effects of an early marriage on a womans education revealed itself in
many different forms. Archambaults research on Kenya in 2011 shows the pros and cons of
Kenyas education system, which results in the early marriage of girls to secure their future
(Archambault 2011). Blossfelds 1992 study of Italian women displays how a well-established
education system led to the increase in age of marriage (Blossfeld 1992). In Heglands research
on Iran in 2009, we see how a changing culture opens more educational opportunities, yet
marriage still constrains women to some degree (Hegland 2009). In Khurshids research
conducted in 2012, we see how some Pakistani women embrace their arranged marriages, which
leads to wisdom and education in their culture (Khurshid 2012). Singhs research, from 1996,
shows the direct relationship between countries that do not have a formal education system and
the age in which they marry (Singh 1996). Through further analysis, you can see general trends
in the relationship between the age at which a woman marries, and their education. In
developing countries, such as Kenya, Pakistan, and Iran, we see how the developments in the
current education systems are helping women receive a better education, which can reduce the
number of young marriages. In these countries, marriage is still somewhat seen as the best way
to secure a womans future, rather than an education. But, with further development and social
change, it is likely that improving a countries formal education system can decrease the number
of early marriages (Singh 1996). This is seen in many countries like the United States and Italy;
in their pursuit of a higher education, women postpone getting married until they are finished
with their schooling. Blossfelds data collected during the conduction of his researched showed
the direct correlation between the two variables, marriage and education (Blossfeld 1992). As
the level of education increased the age of marriage generally tended to increase as well.

6
THE EFFECT OF MARRIAGE ON A WOMANS EDUCATION

Applying this data to similarly developed countries, such as the United States, this relationship
seems to hold true. The goal of my research was to better understand the relationship formed
because of the effects a marriage has on a young womans pursuit of an education. Before I
researched, I generally thought the age at which a woman got married in a developing country
would significantly decrease her chance to further her education. Now that I am more informed,
I learned the most problematic issue is not the age of marriage, but rather the education system
itself. Of course these ideals of education will vary between countries because their traditions,
customs, values, and beliefs differ. But, I believe education is the best way to secure ones future
and prosperity, and striving to improve the global education system will extend more rights to
women everywhere.

7
THE EFFECT OF MARRIAGE ON A WOMANS EDUCATION
Sources Cited
Archambault, C. (2011). Ethnographic empathy and the social context of rights: "rescuing" Maasai girls
from early marriage. American Anthropologist, 113 (4), 632-643.
Blossfeld, H-P., and De Rose, A. (1992). Educational expansion and changes in entry into marriage and
motherhood: The experience of Italian women. Genus, 48(3), 73-91.
Hegland, M. E. (2009). Educating young women: culture, conflict, and identities in an Iranian village.
Iranian Studies: bulletin of the Society for Iranian Cultural and Social Studies, 42(1), 45-79.
Khurshid, A. (2012). A transnational community of Pakistani Muslim women narratives of rights, honor,
and wisdom in a women's education project. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 43 (3), 235252.
Singh, S., and Samara, R. (1996). Early marriage among women in developing countries. International
Family Planning Perspectives, 22(4), 148-157.