Fostering Critical Thinking and Entrepreneurial Skills in Young Women for Gender Inclusive Socioeconomic Development (FCTEW)

Fostering Critical Thinking and Entrepreneurial Skills in Young Women for Gender Inclusive Socioeconomic Development (FCTEW) is a project of Shaoor Foundation for Education & Awareness is being led by academicians (as content developers, consultants and trainers) and subject specialists.

The project’s goal is to establish networks and promote linkages of women faculty, researchers, and students with the private sector and civil society

Our aim is to increase women empowerment by developing critical thinking skills in young female students.

Project Thematic Areas

Critical Thinking

critical thinking

Critical thinking is an umbrella term representing several elements used to assess information comprehensively. It consists of the examination, analysis, questioning, inference, reasoning, synthesis, conceptualization, and definition of the material under scrutiny.

The importance of critical thinking lies in combating ignorance (which, in a country like Pakistan, is the root cause of several social evils), being able to identify misinformation, conspiracy theories, and/or false ideas, refining ideas and opinions by removing extraneous influence and/or undue biases, and encouraging debate on both small and large scales to improve existing conditions, inform public opinion and aid in policymaking. The lack of critical thinking among students in Pakistan is one of the significant reasons Pakistan is left behind in conducting quality research. It is evident from the country’s institutions’ dismal performance at global ranking tables such as THE (The Higher Education) and Q.S. (Quacquarelli Symonds). There are 92 public and 67 private HEC-recognized universities in Pakistan.  Only 3 universities are among the top 1000 of these global tables, none being all women, which raises significant concerns regarding the quality of education at our institutions.

Women Empowerment Through Entrepreneurship

The degree to which a family depends on a women’s wage can impact the force and control that the working women have in her family as it builds her position in the household and enhances her fallback position by diminishing her reliance on male family members. Women’s income means that they are contributors to society and deserve to be respected at all levels. By and large, women’s empowerment can be increased through their financial contributions to family income, as their contributions increase their worth within family decision-making.

women entrepreneur

Gender Equality

Inequality between genders doesn’t only affect individuals – it can change entire economies.

On paper, gender inequality is a long list of statistics showing the power imbalance between men and women. In real terms, gender inequality is a major challenge on local, national, and global levels. 

Not only does it affect the lives of individual men and women, but the inequality between genders also stunts economic growth and hinders development.

Gender equality benefits everyone, which is why it has been nominated as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (UN SDG) 5 – Gender Equality.

Project Need

Though considerable progress has been achieved for women’s and girls’ rights in the last few years, social and gender equality remains a challenge still. In 2012, an estimated 126 million women were starting and/or running new businesses in 67 economies worldwide, besides employing one or more people in their businesses. However, on the other hand, the increased participation of women as entrepreneurs has seen an upward climb lately; but it isn’t reciprocated in Pakistan in the same way. According to the Economic Census of Pakistan, “Women-owned businesses represent about only 2.4 per cent of a total of 3.2 million enterprises in Pakistan”. The census further uncovered that women-owned businesses are tiny, with a turnover of less than PKR 1 million and/or investment of less than PKR 0.5 million.

Meet Our Team

We are a passionate team dedicated to empowering women to reach their full economic potential and develop the skill of critical thinking in them. Together, we inspire women to become advocates, agents of change and leaders in their communities.

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