Negotiating Marriage and Schooling

Abstract

This article investigates ways that young Nepalese women combine family and student roles when transitioning to adulthood. Findings show both women’s and their parents’ education is positively associated with the young women’s school enrollment after marriage. Furthermore, the effect of education on postmarriage schooling is dependent on type of marriage: for lower-educated women, those in an arranged marriage are more likely to continue education than those in a love marriage. However, for better-educated women, those in a love marriage are more likely to continue schooling than those in an arranged marriage. The more educated ones who balance personal autonomy and obedience to cultural authorities win parental support in both their marriage formation and personal development. Unlike the increasingly elongated, sequential transition to adulthood in the Western context, young Nepalese women experience an intense transition to adulthood as they take on family and student roles simultaneously with practical familial support.