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Paper short abstract

Education does lead to increase in women's employability however, cultural and social norms may hinder this process. This paper investigates the critical role of technology in overcoming these restrictive norms thus realizing the true potential of women's education on employability.

Paper long abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine the women's education and employability nexus in patriarchal society and further investigating the critical role of Technology. To this extant, we exploit data of 15,068 women from the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) 2017–18. Our empirical results suggest that Women's education do significantly contributes towards their employability however this relationship weakens in the wake of restrictive social and cultural norms. And despite the presence of technological advancement, these cultural beliefs and attitudes continue to inhibit women’s employment. Further, women’s access to financial institutions combined with the use of Technology, makes them more capable of capitalizing on their education and eventually has a positive impact on employability. These findings reflect on the traditional, cultural, and social factors prevalent in Pakistan’s patriarchal society, where women face restricted mobility and limited access to economic resources despite being educated. Nonetheless, access and use of technology have opened innovative opportunities for women, to make the best use of their education in their quest for economic empowerment. Based on the findings, the paper proposes key policy recommendations and future research directions to improve women’s economic empowerment primarily their increased employability and other life choices through education and technology, despite persistent cultural and social barriers.