PERCEPTION OF AGEING AMONG LITERATE URBANITE WOMEN IN ISLAMABAD: HOW EDUCATION, PROFESSIONAL AND DIGITAL EXPOSURE INFLUENCE ON PERCEPTION

Abstract

Our study aimed to explore the perception of urbanite working women aged 35-50 in Islamabad, Pakistan. Our study examined how the intersectionality of education attainment, and professional and digital exposure influence the perception of the target group of women. We adopted the theoretical frameworks of Symbolic Interactionism and Feminist Intersectionality lens for this study.  The qualitative research methodology was applied, with five in-depth interviews and one detailed case study with professional women from the upper middle class. Thematic analysis was used to examine the responses. Respondents mentioned a variation between their chronological and subjective ages, where they believed that their age is not merely a biological phenomenon, but a product integrated by psychological, cultural, societal, and professional factors. Education, profession, and urban environment allow them to adopt healthy lifestyles and self-care against ageing, which brings an evolved notion of ageing perception, at the same time traditional stereotypes, for instance, gender and social class continue to influence their perception. Our study contributes to the sociological literature on ageing offering self-reported subjective perception, addressing some critical gaps in non-Western contexts. Sociologically, our study examines the interplay of individual agency and structural and cultural influence on the building of perception in Pakistani middle-class women.

Keywords: Perception, Ageing, Literate Urbanite Women, Education, Professional, Digital Exposure.