QUETTA, Nov 13: Parents and teachers should encourage female graduates to join media organisations so that the girls may create awareness about problems faced by women. This will also serve to correct the gender imbalance in the profession of journalism.

These views were expressed by Tasneem Ahmar and Shaista Yasmeen of the Uks Research, Resource and Publication Centre, Islamabad, during a two-day consultative meeting with students of the University of Balochistan that concluded here on Tuesday.

They said the meeting largely dealt with the reasons behind the reluctance on the part of girl graduates to adopt journalism as a profession.

“I will visit Quetta again in April to convince parents of the girl students graduating in mass communication to allow their daughters to join media organisations,” said Ms Ahmar.

The Uks Research, Resource and Publication Centre is running a project funded by Danish International Development Agency (Danida) to encourage women’s participation in media and highlight their rights including gender equality.