ATTITUDE OF FEMALE MASS COMMUNICATION STUDENTS PURSUING JOURNALISM AS A CAREER IN PAKISTAN A CASE STUDY OF LAHORE

http://dx.doi.org/10.31703/gdpmr.2018(I-I).01      10.31703/gdpmr.2018(I-I).01      Published : Dec 2018
Authored by : Aiza Raza

01 Pages : 1-14

    Abstract

    The researcher in this article argued about the Attitude of Female Mass Communication Students Towards Journalism as a Career. A case study of Lahore. A large number of female students passed out as a graduate in mass communication degree from different Universities in our country, but some of them go out in the field to practice their Journalism profession.  Survey method was adopted, and to perform the survey 150 sample size of female mass communication students were chosen. The findings of the research article show that female students of mass communication contain a negative attitude towards journalism as a profession due to low salary and they found journalism as a risky profession. One of the reasons for the negative attitude is that females find less career opportunities in media. Also, our society should change their image towards media and teachers plus institutes should make journalism more valuable for the students.

    Key Words

    Journalism, Mass communication, Media, Media Studies, Soft News 

    Introduction

    Change is something that took place in every field from time to time. Journalism also went through ups and down in its last two decades, in terms of technology such as social media, online journals, newspapers, websites etc. The new digital technology has minimized the impact of print media due to online availability of stuff such as mobile phones, e-readers. 

    Journalism is the process of making and sharing out events news reports. Journalists are those who dig out information, make it news for publication and broadcasting. A journalist is said to be a person who reports issues from every corner of a specific city or country or a whole world. The collection and editing of news for presentation through the media, the public press, an academic study concerned with the collection and editing of news or the management of a news medium. (Merriam-Webster).The art of collecting, selecting, writing news articles or stories for both the print media and the digital media is Journalism (Oxford) .

     

    Background of the Study

    Journalism in the 20th was marketed by a new observation in the media industry. In Lahore it has been carried out by different researchers that female mass communication students have a negative attitude towards taking journalism as a career. This attitude brings negative impact on media industry 

    Almost all of the universities in Lahore are offering Journalism as a major at Undergraduate level and some of them are offering at master level too. This has been seen that there are more enrollments of females than males in media studies. 

    The more female students are graduating there is no increase in media houses in terms of joining media in the form of internships or jobs. Every year, hundreds or thousands of female students graduate as mass communications. Closely observing the numbers show that the number of males has been surpassed by the number of females. 

    Today, a great number of those female students have not shown working in the various media houses graduated in the city of Lahore. The research is taken to dig out the reasons behind not choosing journalism as a career even having a degree in it. This research carried out a survey method to find out the career opportunities available for females and their point of views on it. The total population of this study contains female students of Mass communication in Lahore, if these students would consider a career in journalism, the specific career options they would consider.  


    Statement of the Problem 

    This study is carried out because of the less participation of female media students towards pursuing journalism professionally. In 2018, when I graduated in Media Studies there were a total of 100 plus female students in my class and now only 5 to 10 of them are pursuing journalism as a career. The number of female journalists in the field is very low as compared to the students that graduated in mass communication from Lahore universities. 

    In spite of the fact that there is a comparably good number of female journalists containing their degrees in media, very less of them are practicing it in media channels of Lahore. The female tends to avoid practicing journalism. 

     

    Objectives of the Study 

    ? To know the perception of Female Students of Journalism pursuing it as a career 

    ? To highlight why there are fewer women in the field of journalism when there are more female students of Journalism in Lahore than men. 

    ? To understand whether the environment of media houses of Lahore is comfortable to work in. 

    ? To examine specific career options, they would consider in media houses. 

     

    Significance of the study 

    This research is very important to find out the negative attitude of females towards journalism when they had to carry it as a career. To get the answers of all the controversies on this issue because journalism itself is a very controversial field so there is no need of more assumptions and it’s time to find out all the answers with facts and figures. 

    The basic aim of the study is to investigate the reasons behind not pursuing journalism as a career by female students. The positive and negative attitude of them when it comes to practically adopting their media studies degree. 

     

    Women and Journalism 

    In many countries, the majority of high-profile journalists and editors remain male. In the past few decades, it has been seen as quite a change in the perspective for women working in media. Women are still in the minority in the high journalistic roles. Women are seen to be preferred for glamorous roles in journalism.  

    If we look a few decades back to our history it reveals how much it was impossible to be a part of a career dominated by men but then there is always a stereotype breaker who became aspirations for the world. Let’s take a look on few of them who have been kept determined: 


    Razia Bhatti

    at the age of 52 brought about the ‘End of a golden chapter of journalism in Pakistan’ first female to establish news magazine and she established Newsline, and thereby, became the first female founder of a local magazine. 


    Zaib - un – Nisa  Hamidullah

    was the first female to contribute English columns to Pakistani media outlets as well as the first Muslim female columnist to write in an Indian newspaper in English. She was also the first woman journalist to be included in press delegations to visit foreign countries. 

    With a career of 33 years, Zubeida Mustafa (First Female Reporter) joined a leading media outlet in 1975 to become Pakistan’s first woman reporter to pioneer issues relating to women, health, and education, and culture topics. 

    Being the only woman in her organization, she used her unique position to voice concerns about social issues and highlight the suffering of women, children, and the common man. 

     

    Challenges of Female Journalists 

    Reporters across the world are encouraged to share their work on social media and maintain a social media presence. But for women, audience engagement can have very unpleasant consequences. Media may have provided opportunities for women to join them as a journalist on their talent basis but still media is a male dominated profession where they can’t enable a woman to grow (Rehmat, 2017).

    The JUI-F’s Azadi March was an example where very few women journalists were sent to cover an event. City 42 was the only channel to encourage a female reporter to cover the march. We have seen men working in the media industry but in recent years particularly in Pakistan it has been seen that women are joining media houses and are showing up not only in entertainment and sports beat but also covering the challenging beats and are showing up on. 

    Literature Review

    A literature review analyzes the already published information to help in carrying out a new context to the research 

    A literature review is the summary of the old research on the same issue with some different context present in it. It is the recap of the whole research article or thesis, with some re-organization and reshuffling of information. 

    Patricia et al (2015) in his study was trying to dig out from female mass communication students of Nigeria about their point of views on career opportunities for female journalists. The author used a survey method with a population of 163 female students and chose random sampling from four levels of 100 – 400. The sample of the students were chosen from Redeemer's University (RUN). The aim of the researcher was to find out the consideration of these students towards career opportunities and positive or negative factors that affect their decision ( Chioma , Okere , Alao, Atakiti, & egede , 2015).

    According to Ekeli and Enobakhare (2013), there are many various career opportunities in journalism. Journalism serves many important functions such as: informing the public about current issues that are vital, also act as watchdog of the government, inform anticipated public with satisfaction of facts and portray the truth with firm commitment. A good journalist should be a good writer, should be able to handle workload, work for extra hours, brainstorming and should have a good sense of news (Ekeli and Enobakhare 2013).

     Theodore Glasser (2005), in his study on Journalism Studies and the education of journalists, has focused on betterment of journalism and better understanding of journalism can cause a huge difference. He argued for four points that clarify the requirement of journalism education and what purpose it can serve for the students. He focuses on the practice of journalism at graduation level. He discusses in his research that students should provide with the basic skills of writing, editing and facing a camera. A journalism student should have the sense of news ( Glasser, 2006).

    Nalin S. Kohli (2005) in his article named “India Emerging Media Hub for Media Education”, has focused on the question that qualified and trained professionals have enough growth to meet the Indian television industry? This study discusses the image of media education in India. The author explains the history and growing interest of students in journalism but he was not appreciating the institutes available for media education. As the researcher focuses on media education, he also mentions that there are institutes which are providing quality of education and are investing in creating international standards, facilities and going with the trend. The study also mentioned the changes that took place after the satellite boom. Oberiri Destiny Apuke (2016) in this study observed the female students of mass communication of Taraba University regarding their career preferences in journalism. In the theoretical framework researchers find social cognitive theory the best relatable theory for this study. Survey was used as a research method with questionnaires as a survey tool. The results show that female students of journalism would consider news casting and advertisement as a career after graduating.  The results show that one of the factors that stop females from working in media is gender discrimination ( Apuke & Dogari, 2016).

    Coleman et al (2016) in their article Why be a journalist? US students' motivations and role conceptions in the new age of journalism.  Using a random sample, the researchers study the motivation of the students who took journalism as a major and what are their misconceptions about the role of journalists. The recognition of roles of journalists is still the same but their understanding or ranking them in order is different. These future journalists see ‘soft news’ as being on equal footing, if not more important, than traditional ‘hard news’. On one side the author tried to show the difference between journalism students and professionals and on the other hand he also tried to cover the similarities' between today and yesterday students  ( Coleman, Lee, Yaschur, Meader, & McElroy, 2016).

     (Shaw, 2012) article named ‘Perceptions of Male and Female Newspaper Journalists in Thailand highlights the problems faced by female journalists and compares it with the males. These conceptions, in turn, are associated with the beliefs that underpin the field as the image of the media as a male dominated field. In the studies she undertakes, she pins that gender plays a vital role when it comes to assigning stories. Female journalists were much less likely to get a beat like a crime beat (Shaw, 2012).

     Likewise, in ‘The Gender of Journalism’ (Djerf-Pierre, 2007) which was a Scandinavian based study, the author speaks of how Sweden being one of the most gender equal countries of the world still faces gender inequality in its field of journalism. She speaks of ‘Öffentlichkeit’, one of the first publications in Sweden which emerged as a male domain with no access by women. Women did eventually break into the field; the pioneers were widows who inherited printing presses from their husbands. These women have been seen as more developed than younger, been seen as ‘more developed’ than younger counterparts and complimented as ‘almost men’. The early women journalists in Sweden were likely to have some command over other languages and be sent abroad to translate. However, despite this the areas that male journalists reported on and female journalists reported on could be clearly defined (PIERRE, 2007).

    Beam et al (2010) observed in his study the content of ten different daily newspapers at two points one when the man is the editor and one when women is the editor. The findings were then compared with content changes at ten matched papers at which a person was editor for both points in time. The kinds of articles changed for the papers at which women became managing editors were based on feature approaches to the news increase, and standard news is rejected. The study focuses on the kind of girls who win Pulitzer Prizes and their categories as well. He also makes a comparison of male and female editors in terms of education, background, age (Beam & Di Cicco, 2010).

    Mariam (2016) Kuwaiti conducted a survey on students of Kuwait University who are doing their major studies in mass communication. The researcher got positive results out of its findings. The students are positive about the journalism profession and education as well.  The study shows that mass communications is a safe industry for women. The results suggest that the more students actively participate in their field the more they will be good about media education. active the scholars were in selecting a serious, the more positive they felt about mass communications education. Students who have achieved something for instance publish an article or do an internship are satisfied with their degree ( Alkazemi, Nashmi, & Wanta, 2016).

     

    Theoretical Framework 

    Theories are formulated to elucidate, assume, and act according to the phenomena and, in other cases, gives direction to your research and to give specific measurement regarding what facts and figures you are looking for. The theoretical framework supports and describes why a specific problem exists. 

    In this study researchers want to investigate the perception of female students of media studies when it comes to practicing journalism as a career. The study wants to find out the factors that make them stop from carrying out journalism as a career whether positive or negative. The research. The researcher assumes that due to the way women are portrayed in our society that makes them negative towards practicing journalism. 

     


    Cognitive Dissonance Theory  

    Cognitive Dissonance Theory, developed by Leon Festinger (1957). Festinger argues that there are three most used relationships among cognitions are:   

    ? Consonance 

    ? Dissonance  

    ? irrelevance

    According to cognitive dissonance theory, there are a lot of people who are looking to find consistency in their beliefs. The theory works when there is imbalance between the beliefs and the attitude and there is a need of change to eliminate the dissonance. When there is the disagreement between attitude and behavior in that case attitude should adjust and change itself.  

    Cognitive Dissonance Theory is used to get the desired attitude change and it is implemented to create dissonance concerning the person’s you would like to change. Wherever, there are other uses of Cognitive Dissonance are also available.  

    The benefits of Dissonance Theory are that it can prefer at least two or more than two cognitions at a time. Other advantage is that it carries the cognitions that are more valuable than others due to which the power of cognitions influences the total quantity of dissonance. 

     

    Relation with the Theory 

    The Cognitive dissonance theory is relatable with the research because the researcher wants to find out which career opportunities appeal the female Students of Mass Communication. Dissonance theory can take more than one cognition at a time which is quite relatable to the study because the study is about attitudes and it can be positive or negative. The research is going to deal with two cognitions at a time.  

    This theory applied in this way that researchers have seen less participation of female mass communication students in the field and dissonance focused on decision making. One of the concerns of the study is that the students studying media studies are aware of career opportunities they will have when it comes to pursuing it as a career. 

     

    Research Questions 

    1- What is the perspective of female mass communication students in terms of journalism as a career? 

    2- What is the level of consciousness of journalism career opportunities by female Students of Media Studies? 

    3- What career opportunities are in interest to female students of Mass Communication? 

    4- What is the reason behind not pursuing journalism as a profession?  

    5- Do female students shy away from practicing journalism? 

    Research Methodology

    Research methodology is the process by which researchers find out the result of a specific problem by different tools and techniques. Appropriate research method is the key to accuracy of results. Methodology is the process of conducting research and finding how the data could be collected and offers theoretical underpinning for understanding of techniques used in the process of research.  


    Research Design 

    The research design refers to the tactics that you select to assimilate the different angles of a study in a logical way. This research was designed to find out the perception of female mass communication students towards journalism as a profession. 

    In this research the research has chosen the survey method for data collection. The researcher has conducted the research with quantitative approach data collection applied to both primary and secondary data.  

     

    Population 

    Polit and Hungler (1999) refer to population as an aggregate or total of all the objects, subjects or members that confirm a set of specifications (Polit and Hungler, 1999).

    Population of this research includes all the female students of Mass Communication till MPhil Level. The population of this study was selected by keeping the target audience in mind. Total Population of the study comprises girls aged 18-26 are used in findings who are studying in Lahore University. Percentage method will be used by the researcher to find out the results of this research article 

     

    Sampling 

    A sample is a subset of a population selected to participate in the study. It is a friction of the whole, selected to participate in the research project.

    Survey sampling is the process of choosing a sample from the target audience to conduct a survey. It is important to determine the right genre and number of participants in a sample group. It is critical to select the appropriate target population that can be generalized as the opinion of the whole population. 

    A sample of Female Mass Communication students has been selected for the study by using Stratified Sampling technique. This sample has been drawn for the teenage girls aged from 18-24 years are included in the sample from bachelors to MPH or PHD level too. 


    Tool of Data Collection 

    Data Collections are surveys to analyze the attitude of female mass communication students when they have to choose journalism as a career. 

     

    Survey Method  

    Survey is the tool of data collection. It is useful in describing the perception, understanding, awareness and characteristics of a large population. It is one of the most important areas of measurement in applied social research. Survey can be created by an online questionnaire, face-to-face interview, telephone interview and a written questionnaire. Questionnaire has designed to find out the information for this research in which questions related career opportunities for media students, perusing journalism as a career and career expectations of female media students. 


    Variables of the Study 

    Variable is any central idea in research. It is basically a concept that can have more than one value. Some variables can be quite concrete such as gender, date of birth, weight, size of shoe etc. 

    There are two types of variables that are very important in research work 

    ? Dependent Variable 

    ? Independent Variable 

     

    Dependent Variable  

    Dependent variable is the variable that is measured by the researcher. In this research dependent variable are “Journalism as a career” 


    Independent Variable 

    The independent variable is the variable that is controlled by the researcher. In this research independent variables are “Female Students of Mass Communication” 


    Operational Definition 

    Terms used in this research article are operationally defined below: 


    Attitude

    A way of behaving with others or having an opinion about somebody 


    Female

    An act of being a woman or a girl. 


    Mass

    Presence of a large number of people at a single platform at a time. 


    Communication

    Way of sending information e.g., through print media, social media, electronic media to a large number of people. 


    Students

    A population who are studying in school, college and universities. 


    Journalism

    It is an effort of reporting information to a large audience. 


    Career

    Way of making a living through 

    Result Presentation

    Q 1: Do you think female students of mass communication do not prefer journalism as a career?

    Figure1

    As the result shows in the figure that female students don’t prefer journalism as a career 33.3% Yes, 42.6% No and 24.1% Maybe. That shows that the mostly female students don’t prefer journalism as a career..

    Q 2: Do be a student of mass communication, you find journalism interesting as a career?

    Figure 2

    According to the finding, the result shows that students find journalism interesting 76.9% yes, 12% No and 11.1% Maybe. It means that the female students of mass communication are interested in journalism.

    Q 3: What aspect of journalism would you prefer to go into after degree completion?


    Figure 3

    According to the figure students would prefer the aspects of journalism Reporter 7.4%, anchor 38.9%, Columnist 9.3% and Producer 44.4%. That shows that students would prefer Reporting after degree completion.

    Q 4: Are female students well aware of career opportunities in Journalism?

    Figure 4

    As the result shows in the figure that female students are aware of career opportunities 38.9% Yes, 34.3% No and 26.9% Maybe. That means that female students are aware of career opportunities in journalism.

    Q 5: Do female students shy away from practicing journalism?

    Figure 5

    The findings show the researcher that females are shy of practicing journalism 46.7% Yes, 27.1% No and 26.2% Maybe. So, the majority agrees with the fact of females being shy in practicing journalism.

    Q 6: Do you think there are wrong impressions about the media in female students of mass communication?

    Figure 6

    The result in the graph indicated that female's wrong impression about the media 55.6 % Yes, 22.2% No and 22.2 % Maybe. It shows a tie in thoughts of No and Maybe that means some are clear about thoughts and some have confusion in it.

    Q 7: Does Discrimination against females by other employees make them have negative attitude towards journalism?

    Figure 7

    According to the findings it shows discrimination exist against female by other employees in news channels 52.8% think Yes, 17.6% No and 29.6% Maybe. The answer my majority is yes, they feel there is discrimination in media channels by other employees.

    Q 8: Does impression by the society about media women make them stop pursuing journalism?

    Figure 8

    The result in the graph indicates the impression of society about the media makes women stop from pursuing journalism.51.9% % Yes, 21.3% No and 26.9 % Maybe. It shows that most girls don't pursue journalism due to media impressions by society.

    Q 9: Do the media prefer male journalists rather than female journalists?

    Figure 9
    According to results, findings show that media prefer male journalists rather than female Yes 36.1%, No 37% and 26.9% May be. It means the media doesn’t prefer male journalists or female journalists.
    Q 10: Does a female avoid practicing journalism due to image consciousness?
    Figure10
    According to the figure students avoid practicing journalism due to image consciousness 48.1% Yes, 25.9% No and 25.9% May be. It shows a tie in thoughts of No and maybe that means some are clear about thoughts and some have confusion in it.
    Q 11: Are women afraid of career development in the media?
    Figure 11
    The result shows women are afraid of career development 46.3% Yes, 29.6% No and 24.1% May be which means mostly students are agree about women getting afraid about development of career in media.
    Q 12: Does our Media demand beauty with brains?

    Figure 12
    The result shows media demand beauty with brains 78.7% Yes, 13.9% No and 7.4% May be which shows a big yes towards the thought that the media asks beauty with brains.

    Q 13: Does the environment of the media is safe for a female to work in?
    Figure13
    According to the findings it shows a media environment safe for females 17.6% think Yes, 138.9% No and 43.5% Maybe. Majority answer is maybe because of not being sure.
    Q 14: Do you think that most parents don't allow their daughters to work in the field
    Figure 14
    According to the findings the result shows parents don't allow their daughters to work in the field 79.6% Yes,0.8% No and 17.6% Maybe which shows a big yes that parents don’t allow their daughters to practically perform journalism.
    Q 15: Does Female Journalists not have equal career opportunities as men?

    Figure 15
    According to the findings, female Journalists do not have equal career opportunities as men 50% Yes, 31.5% No and 18.5% Maybe. It shows females do not have equal opportunities for career as men..
    Q 16: What factor is responsible for lack of interest in Journalism?
    Figure 16
    As the result shows in the figure factor that is responsible for lack of interest in Journalism 18.7%, risky profession 38.3%, less career opportunities 16.8% and gender discrimination 26.2%. That shows the reason lack of interest in journalism is the factor of risk in profession.
    Q 17: What factors are responsible for positive responses in journalism?
    Figure 17:
    As the result shows in the figure factor that is responsible for positive interest in Journalism 38.1% inspired by journalism, 16.2% parents preferred choice, 21% attracted by lifestyle of journalists and 24.8% to be famous. That shows the reason for positive response in journalism is getting inspired by journalists.

    Q 18: What are the reasons behind not choosing journalism as a career by female mass communication students? Please Suggest.
    This one is an open-ended question in which respondents have different views. Some of the suggestions are:
    ? Due to family restrictions.
    ? Due to environment issues.
    ? Due to less career opportunities and salary issues.
    ? Some of them want to be seen on tv and be famous personalities.

    Results of Research Questions

    1- What is the perspective of female mass communication students towards journalism as a career?

    55.6 % students prefer journalism as a career and have a positive perception, 22.2 % don’t prefer journalism as a career and keep a negative perspective and 22.2% are neutral about it.

    2- What is the level of consciousness of journalism career opportunities by female Students of Media Studies?

    38.9 % respondents say that female students are aware of career opportunities in journalism, 34.3% are not aware of opportunities available in media and 26.9% are not sure.
    3- What career opportunities appeal to female students of Mass Communication?
    Reporting is the career that appeals to 7.4% of the students, 38.9% are attracted towards having a career in anchoring, 9.3% are appealed towards being a columnist and 44.4% get appealed from production.
    4- What is the reason behind not pursuing journalism as a career?
    18.7% students because of poor salaries, 38.3% find it a risky profession, 16.8 due to less career opportunities and 26.2% thinks there is gender discrimination in this career. 
    5- Do female students shy away from practicing journalism?
    Females are shy of practicing journalism 46.7% Yes, they are, 27.1% think that they are not and 26.2% think that Maybe they are shy but not sure about it. 

    Discussion about Results

    The research is taken out to study the attitude of female mass communication students towards journalism on pursuing journalism as a career. To collect the data researcher choose the sample of female students of Lahore and find results on the basis of their responses through questionnaires. In this research we have found the attitude of female students of mass communication negative. In Lahore, female students of mass communication don't prefer journalism as a career 42.6% respondents respond to this question by saying No, 33.3% say Yes that they do prefer journalism as a career and 24.1% respond Maybe because of not having a sure thought. The students of mass communication in Lahore agreed with a fact that they find journalism interesting because 76.9% replied in Yes. 7.4% respondents are interested in Reporting after completion of degree. Female students are aware of career opportunities in Media 38.9% thinks Yes, 34.3% thinks that they are unaware of career opportunities and says No and 26.9% responds with Maybe. 

    46.7% respondents agreed that female students are shy to practice journalism and come on T.V which means almost half of the respondents say yes and other of them lie in the NO and Maybe category. Females who are doing their graduation or any higher education in journalism have wrong impressions about media majority respondents say Yes (55.6%) and there is tie between respondents of No and Maybe (22.2%). 

    52.8% respondents think that the negative attitude of females towards journalism is due to gender discrimination. 51.9% thinks Yes Impressions of society about the media make women stop from pursuing journalism 21.3% Thinks No and 26.9 % thinks Maybe. 37% Respondents don't agree that the media prefer male journalists rather than female journalists. Female students avoid practicing journalism due to image consciousness 48.1% responds Yes and a tie between 25.9% No and 25.9% May be.  46.3% respondents agree that yes women are afraid of career development in the media, 29.6% respondents say No and 24.1% have mixed thoughts.

     78.7% respondents agree that the media demands beauty with brains which is in the majority. Only 17.6% respondents felt that the media environment is not safe for females, the majority of 43.5% respondents believed that the media environment is not safe for females and 43.5 % say maybe. Majority of 79.6% respondents agreed that most parents don't allow their daughters to work in the field. 50% respondents say yes media do not have equal opportunities as men in media.

    38.3% respondents think that risky profession is the factor behind lack of interest in journalism profession by females, 18.7% due to poor salary, 16.8% respondents thinks that because of less career opportunities and 26.2% respondents have chosen the factor of gender discrimination. 38.1% respondents think that females are inspired by journalists and show positive response in journalism profession by, 16.2% responds that due to parents preferred choice, 21% responds that females are attracted towards the journalist's lifestyle and 24.2% respond to be famous. Researcher also asked an open ended question from the respondents in which they have to provide a suggestion about reason behind not choosing journalism as a career and respondents are none other than female students of mass communication studying in Lahore universities have different suggestions like salary issues, no career opportunities, family doesn’t allow and a believe that environment is not good for them.

    The results show that female students choose journalism as they are interested in it but when it comes to pursuing it as a career; they lack it because they find risks of growth in the profession. Attitude of female students find negative when they want to practically perform it due to media environment, they don’t feel safe in the environment and gender discrimination is the factor that also triggers and stop them to work in media industries.

    Conclusion

    The aim of the research article is to find out the attitude of female mass communication students of Lahore towards the journalism profession. Researchers want to know the students' perception towards this matter in detail. That's why he chooses the population of female students of Lahore who are doing their degrees in mass communication to find out their view point about journalism as a profession.

    Research questions are asked covering all the factors like career opportunities, interest of students, and interest in career after degree completion, parents' response, and environment of media, gender discrimination to find out their negative or positive attitude towards journalism as a career. It also focuses on the reasons of lack of interest in this profession and positive responses of students as well to reach towards a final result.

    The researcher comes to a conclusion that females' attitude towards journalism is negative because of less career opportunities. They are aware of career opportunities but find it risky due to poor salaries and some of them who are willing to be a journalist or work in media are not allowed by their parents and families. The most important issue is the environment of media which stops these students from pursuing journalism as a career.

    Recommendations

    ? Above study considers that factors that are lack interest of females in journalism should be tackled.

    ? Already practicing female journalists should inspire these students and make ways for them.

    ? Teachers should make journalism more attractive for students of mass communication.

    ? Institutes should focus on the benefits of taking journalism as a career to female students of journalism.

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    APA : Raza, A. (2018). Attitude of Female Mass Communication Students Pursuing Journalism as a Career in Pakistan: A Case Study of Lahore. Global Digital & Print Media Review, I(I), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.31703/gdpmr.2018(I-I).01
    CHICAGO : Raza, Aiza. 2018. "Attitude of Female Mass Communication Students Pursuing Journalism as a Career in Pakistan: A Case Study of Lahore." Global Digital & Print Media Review, I (I): 1-14 doi: 10.31703/gdpmr.2018(I-I).01
    HARVARD : RAZA, A. 2018. Attitude of Female Mass Communication Students Pursuing Journalism as a Career in Pakistan: A Case Study of Lahore. Global Digital & Print Media Review, I, 1-14.
    MHRA : Raza, Aiza. 2018. "Attitude of Female Mass Communication Students Pursuing Journalism as a Career in Pakistan: A Case Study of Lahore." Global Digital & Print Media Review, I: 1-14
    MLA : Raza, Aiza. "Attitude of Female Mass Communication Students Pursuing Journalism as a Career in Pakistan: A Case Study of Lahore." Global Digital & Print Media Review, I.I (2018): 1-14 Print.
    OXFORD : Raza, Aiza (2018), "Attitude of Female Mass Communication Students Pursuing Journalism as a Career in Pakistan: A Case Study of Lahore", Global Digital & Print Media Review, I (I), 1-14
    TURABIAN : Raza, Aiza. "Attitude of Female Mass Communication Students Pursuing Journalism as a Career in Pakistan: A Case Study of Lahore." Global Digital & Print Media Review I, no. I (2018): 1-14. https://doi.org/10.31703/gdpmr.2018(I-I).01