Abstract

Women’s participation in higher education is quite low in Bangladesh. Their participation in different professions is even lower. Various types of barriers are faced by women in their families, communities and broader society in acquiring higher education and in pursuing different professions. This paper attempts to find the proportion of women who had acquired education up to the S.S.C. level in the study area, discover those who were engaged in some kind of professional activities among them and then reveal the opinions and experiences of those working women in entering and continuing a professional life. 44 out of 54 S.S.C. holder women belonging to 150 households residing within the study locale were respondents of this study. 80% of these respondents held either a bachelor’s or a master’s degree. Only 7 of the respondents were housewives, 28 were engaged in some kind of profession, and most of others were students. The respondents thought that in acquiring higher education and pursuing different professions women faced problems related to family approval, and financial support. Unavailability of day care centres barred mothers from materializing their dreams of doing well in higher education and pursuing challenging professions.