Employment in Family Planning and Women's Status in Bangladesh

This study investigates how employment in family planning affects the status of community workers. The focus is on three critical variables: prestige, professional status, and social influence. The data are derived from a focus-group study conducted in 1987-88 in the Maternal and Child Health and Family Planning Project in Matlab, Bangladesh. Focus-group sessions were held with community workers, their husbands, community leaders, and community women. Results show that although community workers initially faced intense hostility in the community, they succeeded in maintaining the prestige that is traditionally accorded to women in their conservative, rural society. Moreover, they established themselves as valued health and family planning professionals in a social context where professional roles for women have been extremely circumscribed. Finally,…