Bangladesh is still classified as a developing country, regardless of the fact that its economic level has been increased and the government has a large and ambitious plan to transform the country into a developed one. This ambition won’t come true unless the potentials of women folk could be fully explored and utilized. However, Bangladeshi society has a strong patriarchal legacy. Males’ attitudes on working women haven’t changed despite the fact that the number of women in education and job has increased. Even educated males do not respect working women and their professions. In such a context, this study aims at exploring male university students’ attitudes and factors that shape their attitudes towards their future spouses’ participation in the work force along with gender discrimination and hindrance to women empowerment. Qualitative approach was adopted and case study method has been applied to investigate these issues. Primary data was collected through In-depth interviews. The study found both positive and negative attitudes and the reasons behind such attitudes on the issue. There are still males in society who do not want to marry working women and men rarely have a positive opinion about their wives’ engagement in the workplace. In contrast, supportive attitudes towards the engagement of the spouse in the work have been found. However, in some cases such support was conditional and in others unconditional.

DOI : #

Authors : Bushra Zaman and Miftahul Bari

Keywords : attitude, spouse’s participation in the work, male domination, gender discrimination, female empowerment.