Despite a plethora of empirical evidence on the work-family interface in 'the West', very little research has been carried out on the experiences of women in the context of Pakistan. Gender inequalities persist in the Pakistani labour market and women's employment is skewed towards agriculture and 'respectable' professions, such as academia and medicine. However, following the privatisation of the banking industry, women have been gaining visibility in this profession despite societal pressures to either conform to the homemaker role or remain in 'women's work'. What makes the Pakistani context unique is the interplay between gender, culture, religion, class and family structure. This affects reconciliation of work and family roles among working women. This thesis contributes to an understanding of the experiences of working women in a gendered, patriarchal, Muslim society. It offers an indigenous conceptualisation of the contours, causes, consequences and coping strategies (Four C's) of work-family conflict (WFC) among women working in Pakistani banks through a multi-layered, feminist, intersectional approach that gives voice to women. The study foregrounds women's experiences at the individual-level; however, it also considers the broader structures such as the extended family system, the male-dominated banking industry and the contradiction of Islamic teachings with the societal norms regarding women's paid employment. Consequently, the conceptual model of Four C's of WFC offers a systematic and coherent categorisation of the causes, consequences and coping strategies of WFC in a context-sensitive, multi-level, intersectional, feminist approach framework. Such indigenous manifestations of WFC in the Pakistani context can inform research in similar contexts. Based on a mixed method approach the fieldwork collected empirical evidence through 280 scoping questionnaires and 47 in-depth, semi-structured, face-to-face interviews in four different banks in Punjab province of Pakistan. The study reveals the most extreme, yet masked, forms of oppression and the subtleties of agency in the context of religious, patriarchal and cultural understandings of 'work' that also impact the salience of other social categories, e.g. class and family structure. In the main, the findings suggest a gendered culture of silence in Pakistan in which women working in Pakistani banks lack opportunities to vocalise their subjugated positions in the work and family spheres. More specifically, the thesis points to the fact that these women are subject to, sometimes conflicting, organisational and societal pressures to conform to the respective images of 'ideal worker' and 'good woman' simultaneously. This, of course, has implications for the intensity. In doing so the study extends the existing WFC theoretical framework to include and consider not just the Four C's of WFC but the intensity, duration and types experienced by women in particular contexts. However, the research also revealed that women in Pakistani banks are not passive victims, but active agents, making context dependent constrained choices to prevent or cope with WFC. For policymakers, the findings suggest the need for the formulation of context-specific initiatives to address work-family issues in patriarchal Muslim societies.

Theory of mind (ToM) refers to a cognitive ability that enables one to attribute mental states (such as desires, emotions, beliefs) to self and others. In recent years researchers have identified cultural variations in the onset of ToM understanding in collectivist and individualist cultures. However, the findings of cross-cultural studies regarding these variations are inconsistent. The major aim of this innovative research was to investigate differences in the acquisition of ToM in children from a collectivist culture (Pakistan) and an individualist culture (UK). The second aim of the study was to assess the specific association between ToM and social competence in a culturally diverse sample. An additional aim of the study was to investigate the universality of various correlates of ToM such as executive functioning (EF), parenting styles, and maternal mental state talk. The findings of the studies demonstrated a significant delay in the acquisition of ToM in Pakistani children, when compared with Western children from individualist societies. These findings were corroborated by the results of novel cross-cultural study that compared the performance of White British, British Pakistani, and Pakistani children on a ToM scale. White British children outperformed both Pakistani and British Pakistani children on measures of ToM, EF, and social competence. The current findings also provide support for the association of mental state understanding with EF, social competence, parenting styles, and maternal mental state talk. These findings have important implications for the role of general (collectivist vs. individualist cultures) as well as specific cultural practices (such as parenting and education) in the acquisition of mental state understanding.

Purpose – The purpose of this research paper is to explore the challenges faced by Pakistani entrepreneurs in different cultural context of Sweden and Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach – In order to collect primary data, authors has conducted six interviews of Pakistani entrepreneurs. Three entrepreneurs were taken from Pakistan and three were taken from Sweden. For this research paper, authors has used Inductive approach as Research approach, Case study as research design, Qualitative data as research strategy, primary and secondary data as data sources and in-depth semi-structured interviews as data collection method, purposive and snowball method were used to select sample size. For the sake of collecting secondary data, two search engines were used; One Search and Google Scholar. Different published articles and journals were utilized in order to critically analyze Literature on similar topic. Conclusion – Challenges faced by Pakistani entrepreneurs in Pakistan are brand registration problem, corruption, Lack of support, Labour problem, Law and order, High taxes, Loan problem, Load shedding problem, high approach and high rental expenses. Explored challenges in Sweden are; Language barrier, Employees problem, Loan problem, High taxes, Saturation, less availability of shops, Racism, requirements for Swedish licences. Research limitations/implications – This research paper is only limited to Pakistani entrepreneurs who have start-ups in Pakistan and in Sweden.

There has been a significant increase in the interest for the task of classifying demographic profiles i.e. race and ethnicity. Ethnicity is a significant human characteristic and applying facial image data for the discrimination of ethnicity is integral to face-related biometric systems. Given the diversity in the application of ethnicity-specific information such as face recognition and iris recognition, and the availability of image datasets for more commonly available human populations, i.e. Caucasian, African-American, Asians, and South-Asian Indians. A gap has been identified for the development of a system which analyses the full-face and its individual feature-components (eyes, nose and mouth), for the Pakistani ethnic group. An efficient system is proposed for the verification of the Pakistani ethnicity, which incorporates a two-tier (computer vs human) approach. Firstly, hand-crafted features were used to ascertain the descriptive nature of a frontal-image and facial profile, for the Pakistani ethnicity. A total of 26 facial landmarks were selected (16 frontal and 10 for the profile) and by incorporating 2 models for redundant information removal, and a linear classifier for the binary task. The experimental results concluded that the facial profile image of a Pakistani face is distinct amongst other ethnicities. However, the methodology consisted of limitations for example, low performance accuracy, the laborious nature of manual data i.e. facial landmark, annotation, and the small facial image dataset. To make the system more accurate and robust, Deep Learning models are employed for ethnicity classification. Various state-of-the-art Deep models are trained on a range of facial image conditions, i.e. full face and partial-face images, plus standalone feature components such as the nose and mouth. Since ethnicity is pertinent to the research, a novel facial image database entitled Pakistani Face Database (PFDB), was created using a criterion-specific selection process, to ensure assurance in each of the assigned class-memberships, i.e. Pakistani and Non-Pakistani. Comparative analysis between 6 Deep Learning models was carried out on augmented image datasets, and the analysis demonstrates that Deep Learning yields better performance accuracy compared to low-level features. The human phase of the ethnicity classification framework tested the discrimination ability of novice Pakistani and Non-Pakistani participants, using a computerised ethnicity task. The results suggest that humans are better at discriminating between Pakistani and Non-Pakistani full face images, relative to individual face-feature components (eyes, nose, mouth), struggling the most with the nose, when making judgements of ethnicity. To understand the effects of display conditions on ethnicity discrimination accuracy, two conditions were tested; (i) Two-Alternative Forced Choice (2-AFC) and (ii) Single image procedure. The results concluded that participants perform significantly better in trials where the target (Pakistani) image is shown alongside a distractor (Non-Pakistani) image. To conclude the proposed framework, directions for future study are suggested to advance the current understanding of image based ethnicity verification. / Acumé Forensic

Infant growth is a key indicator of health and a relevant component of paediatric surveillance. Certain growth characteristics are also associated with greater risk for diseases such as obesity and cardiovascular disease. South Asian populations are known to demonstrate poor infant growth and suffer from a high prevalence of non-communicable disease. Relatively little is known about the growth of Pakistani infants, especially following migration. In the United kingdom (UK), infant growth is routinely monitored to detect poor health, and this process produces a repository of largely unutilised data. In 2009, new growth charts, which include a component of the World Health Organisation (WHO) growth standards, were introduced to routine practice. The adoption of prescriptive standards, which are based on breastfed infants living in an unconstrained environment, will have implications for the assessment of growth. To develop and assess the quality of routine growth monitoring data collected in Bradford, UK, so that it can be used to describe the differences in growth between White British and Pakistani infants in the same city. To investigate the factors that influence this growth. To assess the implications of adopting growth standards for practice. The frequency of routine growth monitoring data that are collected at prescribed age periods was assessed. Test-retest growth data were collected from 192 practitioners, and technical error of measurements were calculated. Data on 2464 (boys 51%, White British 45%) infants were submitted to multilevel modelling analysis to produce sex and ethnic specific weight-for-age, abdominal circumference-for-age, head circumference-for-age, and length-for-age growth curves between birth and nine months. Multivariable linear regression models were used to investigate factors that influence size at birth and at nine months. Growth curves were plotted against the WHO standards and the UK 1990 references, Z-scores were calculated, and the relative risks (RR) of underweight, obesity, and poor infant weight gain using the standards compared to the references were assessed. During each prescribed age period for routine growth monitoring generally only 30% to 35% of measurements were recorded. None of the technical error of measurements were excessively large, and coefficients of reliability ranged from 0.96 to 1.00. Multilevel models explained that Pakistani infants were smaller than White British infants, in the first nine months of life, for weight (-210.3g to -321.7g), abdominal circumference (-1.15cm to -0.39cm), head circumference (-0.59cm), and length (-0.32cm). Compared to the WHO standards, infants demonstrated dissimilar weight growth, but similar head circumference and length growth. The common weight growth pattern was slow growth between birth and two months, followed by rapid growth. Using the standards, infants were significantly less likely to be classified as underweight (RR at birth 0.496; 95% Confidence Interval 0.363 to 0.678) and demonstrating poor weight gain from birth to nine months (0.783; 0.644 to 0.952). Growth monitoring data are not collected at prescribed age periods, but following initial training of practitioners are reliable. Integrating research with practice has developed routine data to research calibre and has established protocols to make data more accessible. Pakistani infants were consistently smaller than White British infants, and, despite efforts, the determinants of this phenomenon have not yet been fully elucidated. Growth in weight of infants in Bradford differs significantly from that represented by the WHO standards, and without adequate training of practitioners infant growth may be incorrectly interpreted.

This written thesis accompanies three television public service announcement spots. Two of the spots are 60 seconds and one of the spots is 45 seconds in length. I produced this public service television advertising campaign to highlight the issue of child illiteracy in Pakistan and to encourage expatriate and resident Pakistani's to donate to educational charities. A Website created by the filmmaker is promoted in the campaign. This Website provides information about various charities that educate children in Pakistan. Detailed accounts of pre-production, production and post-production of the campaign allow the viewer to comprehend the challenges in producing television campaigns for social causes. Theoretical issues are also discussed, including the causes of illiteracy, the importance and role of social campaigns, the history and uses of propaganda as well as the aesthetic concerns of a public service campaign producer. I discuss the importance of creating the culture of public service campaigns in a third world country like Pakistan, and states that the Pakistani community needs to look inwards to overcome the challenge of illiteracy.

Effective teacher development is significant for any educational system to remain competitive in the global arena (Bayar, 2014). However, science teachers’ professional development activities have often been found to be ineffective (Opfer & Pedder, 2011). Science teachers also minimally participate in such activities due to their ineffective experiences (Chval, Abell, Pareja, Musikul & Ritzka, 2007). Understanding how science teachers’ experiences are constructed is also crucial to create programs to meet their needs (Schneider & Plasman, 2011). It is essential in the construction of professional development experiences to recognize who is being served in professional development (Saka, 2013). But rigorous methods are required to understand the outcomes of professional development (Koomen, Blair, Young-Isebrand & Oberhauser, 2014). The purpose of this phenomenological case study was to study how secondary school science teachers describe their lived experiences of professional development in Punjab (Pakistan). How do these teachers understand, make sense, and use of those intended goals of professional development opportunities and change their practices through the implementation of learned knowledge of professional development? This study used purposive sampling to collect the qualitative data from fifteen secondary school science teachers of Punjab (Pakistan). The data collection was done through conducting semi-structured in-depth phenomenological interviews with these science teachers (Seidman, 2013). The data were analyzed using three-stage coding methods, and thematic analysis. Three main themes emerged from the analysis of data. The first theme of sense making is about their understanding and description of intended meaning of professional development activities. The second theme of meaningful experiences captured the participants perceived benefits from the PD activities. The third theme of contextual and cultural factors is focused on the understanding the impact of these factors in imparting of professional development experiences. The findings of the study communicate the significance of science teachers’ role in professional development activities. Science teachers’ voices, needs and active involvement must be taken into consideration in the designing and implementation of such activities.

Background: Substantial variation exists between ethnicities in both birth weight and the prevalence of obesity-related non-communicable diseases (OR-NCDs). South Asians, who display a reduced birth weight and increased risk of developing these OR-NCDS, have been the focus of much of the research into the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) paradigm. However, little research utilising ultrasonically derived estimates of fetal growth has been conducted. The use of more direct measures of fetal growth may also enable the identification of relationships between patterns of fetal growth with patterns of postnatal growth, explicitly, whether periods of restricted or rapid growth lead to postnatal catch-up or down, respectively. The known differences in birth weight existing between South Asians and White British infants may also have implications for the assessment of neonatal health in these sub-groups when using a population derived birth weight chart, such as the UK-World Health Organisation (UK-WHO). Customised charts, which adjust for maternal variables including ethnicity, have been recommended for clinical practice, yet evidence for their efficacy is varied. Objectives: The aims of this thesis were to: 1) investigate whether fetal growth patterns differ between Pakistani and White British foetuses and determine whether maternal size and demographic variables mediate any such differences; 2) produce a birth weight chart adjusting for ethnicity and compare this to the UK-WHO and customised birth weight charts to determine which chart better identifies neonates at risk of the adverse delivery and neonatal outcomes associated with small-for-gestational-age (SGA) and large-for-gestational age (LGA); 3) identify whether there is evidence of weight growth tracking between fetal and infant periods and determine whether patterns of fetal growth predict patterns of postnatal growth. Methods: All data come from the Born in Bradford (BiB) birth cohort. Objective 1: Multilevel models and fractional polynomials were employed for the modelling of fetal weight, head circumference (HC) and abdominal circumference (AC) growth. Potential mediators of the effect of being of Pakistani origin were entered into the model and the effect on the ethnicity variable was assessed. Objective 2: Ethnic specific birth weight charts (BiB) were constructed using the LMS method. SGA and LGA were defined as a birth weight <10th and >90th relative to the BiB, the UK-WHO or the customised charts. Sensitivity, specificity, positive & negative predictive values and area-under-the curve were calculated for each of the three charts SGA and LGA cut-offs, to assess the predictive ability of each chart for a range of delivery and neonatal outcomes. Objective 3: Multilevel models were employed for the modelling of fetal and postnatal growth. Fitted values were produced at 20, 30, 40 prenatal weeks & 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 24 postnatal months in both an internal reference and the sample population. Z scores were calculated and conditional Z scores were generated to account for regression to the mean. Growth tracking was defined as change in Z score ≤ 0.67 & ≥ -0.67. Restricted and rapid fetal growth were defined as a change in Z score in the fetal period of <-0.67 and >0.67, respectively. Catch-down and catch-up growth were defined in the same way, except in the postnatal period. ANOVAs were used to test for differences in size and growth by type of fetal growth. Furthermore, logistic regression and a sensitivity and specificity analysis were employed to examine the predictive ability of the type of fetal growth. Results: Objective 1: Pakistani fetuses were significantly smaller and lighter than White British fetuses, throughout gestation. In terms of weight, Pakistani fetuses were approximately 2.25% lighter at 20 weeks, 4.13% at 30 weeks and 5.94% at 40 weeks. The differences in size for AC and HC between the two groups were not as great, with the AC and HC of Pakistani fetuses being approximately 4.1% and 1.25% smaller, respectively, at 40 weeks. Despite these significant differences in size the pattern of growth for HC and weight was not significantly different between the two groups. There was a trend for Pakistani fetuses to display a greater deceleration of growth in the final trimester (figure 4-12). The biggest mediators of the effect of being of Pakistani origin were maternal height and weight. Objective 2: Classifying infants as SGA or LGA by the BiB, UK-WHO or customised charts had low predictive utility for the outcomes under investigation. Despite the fact that the BiB ethnic specific birth weight reference provided significantly better prediction for more outcomes than both the UK-WHO and customised charts in both White British and Pakistani infants, with the exception of shoulder dystocia, AUROC values for all three charts were all below 0.61. Objective 3: The prevalence of tracking within the same centile band from 20 weeks gestation to 2 years was 10.82%. Infants who experienced restricted fetal growth remained significantly lighter than those who had not, for the duration of infancy. In this group however, there was a pattern of greater growth than expected during infancy. This was opposite to the pattern observed in infants who had experienced rapid fetal growth, who exhibited less growth than expected during infancy. However, the ability of the type of fetal growth to predict the pattern of postnatal growth was minimal, with only rapid fetal growth being significantly associated with increased odds of catch-down growth in infancy. Conclusions: No ethnic difference in the pattern of growth was found in terms of the whole body (weight) or in HC. The trend for reduced growth of the AC in Pakistanis may be a result of a reduced growth of the visceral organs during the third trimester, which may lead to both an altered liver metabolism and impaired renal function in post-natal life. Although being small or large at birth may increase the risk of an adverse neonatal outcome, size alone is not sensitive or specific enough with current detection to be a useful clinical tool. The finding that neither restricted nor rapid fetal growth predicted postnatal catch-up growth may suggest that the timing of canalisation is outside of the fetal period. If infant catch-up and down growth are not associated with periods of restricted or rapid fetal growth, the definitions of these growth patterns may need revising.

Embedded in the socio-political milieu of the country Anglophone Pakistani fiction provides a critical perspective on some of the important contemporary issues facing the country like feminism, class struggle, misuse of religious discourse, sectarianism, terrorism and the fragmentation of the Pakistani society. By contextualizing the works of four Pakistani fiction writers, Sara Suleri, Kamila Shamsie, Mohsin Hamid and Mohammed Hanif, in the theoretical paradigms of modernism, postmodernism and postcolonialism, this research identifies salient facets and characteristics of Pakistani Anglophone fiction produced during the last three decades. This thesis argues that Pakistani Anglophone fiction is Janus-faced in nature. On the one hand it specifically deconstructs various indigenous issues which are destabilizing Pakistani society and politics, while on the other hand it challenges the discursive construction of Pakistan as a terrorist country through international discourse. By doing so, these writers not only adopt the role of political commentators and interveners but also create a counter-narrative to Western hegemonic discourse and represent a case for a liberal and democratic Pakistan. Moreover the textual analysis of this fiction indicates a shift from traditional postcolonial literature. Instead of contextualizing their work in the colonial experience of the British Raj or its aftermath, these writers dissociate themselves from it and use this dissociation as a narrative strategy to hold the political and military leadership accountable for the socio-political chaos in Pakistan. The thesis argues that this characteristic of Anglophone Pakistani fiction indicates the emergence of a new phase, ‘Paracolonialism’ or ‘Paracolonial fiction’ which rejects the influence of colonialism on the socio-economic and political crisis of Third World countries and deconstructs various factors which led to their post-independence unstable economy and social fragmentation.

This research seeks to address the issue of media consumption and the formation of diaspora identity within second and third generation British-born residents of Pakistani origin. In recent years there has been much debate centred on this group within the context of domestic and wider international geopolitics of winning hearts and minds, the ‘war on terror’ and the rise of the internet and social media as unrestricted spaces of self-expression. This has had a profound impact on the sense of belonging that transcends national boundaries and becomes a more transnational experience creating new communities of interest. The role of the media and other forms of communication may be a key or important determinant in how these groups, represented by the Pukhtoon and Punjabi in this study, not only see themselves but view representation of their identify and sense of self to a wider public arena. The perceived relationship between Islam and the ‘war on terror’ as formed by the media has had a profound impact on perceptions and mindsets of many of the diaspora. New technology has created a new smartphone generation able to reassess and reaffirm their emerging hybridity set within a new discourse of equal rights and respect for cultural and religious values within a transnational context.