Being an extremely lazy person, I try to conserve as much of my kinetic energy as I possibly can. Thus instead of changing into normal clothes, I spent half of my life in my school uniform. Similarly I once visited a hospital in my uniform and, on multiple occasions that day, people referred to me as ‘sister’ or ‘nurse’ and asked me to do things that typically a qualified nurse would be asked to do. Although hospitals aren’t the most comfortable of places, not with a suffering family member by your side, but that day was especially uncomfortable. What made that day worse was the realisation that I would’ve been happy, ecstatic even, if the people had mistaken me for the doctor. Why, then, was I offended by being mistaken as the nurse?
Socio-economic Status:
I, who was unemployed and leeching off of my dad’s resources, felt insulted when someone mistook me for an employed individual. How can anyone reduce all of that academic qualification that nurses have to go through to nothing? I now understand how people’s perception of their socio-economic status might contribute to their employment status. Being extremely privileged, and having been a high achiever, I felt degraded when I was affiliated with a career that wasn’t as socially celebrated as others.
The Vocational Hierarchy and Intellect:
Most of the people in Pakistan take your career as a way of measuring your intellect. Thus some people don’t opt for certain employment options because of how they are perceived to be. The nursing jobs don’t rank very high in the vocational hierarchy, thus are subjected to prejudices.
The Psychological Makeup:
I hope this post doesn’t sound too biological but the problem primarily lies in the psychological makeup of us Pakistanis. We just inherently think how some careers are more deserving of respect than others. This is also a result of how hard is it to get into a certain career. The same treatment can be observed between MBBS doctors and BDS doctors, with people not giving as much respect to the latter. The average wages of a certain career and its contribution in reinforcing gender norms can also contribute to how ‘respectable’ it is deemed to be. According to prevailing ideology, the jobs in which one has to take orders from a higher body aren’t deemed as respectable as the ones where one is the decision maker.
Absence of Passion:
One of the major reasons why people shy away from jobs that don’t rank really high in the vocational hierarchy is either the innate lack of passion or the massacre of that which is already present. How many people do you know who are passionate of becoming nurses or teachers? This lack might be due to low wages, the perception associated with these jobs and gender norms. Another might be the extreme lack of career counselors who can steer students into multiple paths, instead of the unidirectional way that is falsely presented.
As most social problems, this is a result of years of mass manipulation and thinking. Thus it requires just as many years of educating people and trying to undo the damage of previous perceptions. Some vocations also deserve a raise, for example: most teachers can barely make ends meet with their present pay. Many employers aren’t getting what they deserve for the big services that they provide to the society. An increase in career counsellors including separate counselling classes for parents should be devised.
I don’t wear my college uniform anymore as I’ve completed my F.Sc. but if someday mistakes me for a nurse then, instead of feeling that pang of insult, I’ll raise my head with pride.
