---
title: "Most Pakistanis agree with Malala on educating girls"
description: "Most Pakistanis agree with importance of educating girls as advocated by Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai."
date: "2014-10-10"
authors:
  - name: "Richard Wike"
    job_title: "Director, Global Attitudes Research"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/richard-wike/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/10/10/most-pakistanis-agree-with-malala-on-educating-girls/"
categories:
  - "Beliefs & Practices"
  - "Education"
  - "Education & Gender"
  - "K-12"
---

# Most Pakistanis agree with Malala on educating girls

[![Profile of Political Bystanders](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2014/07/FT_14.07.03_Bystanders-2.png?w=138)](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2014/07/FT_14.07.03_Bystanders-2.png)

![](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2014/10/FT_14.10.10_malalaPhoto.jpg)
*Credit: Getty Images*

Malala Yousafzai’s courageous advocacy for girls’ education has inspired people across the globe, and today she [was awarded the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/11/world/europe/kailash-satyarthi-and-malala-yousafzai-are-awarded-nobel-peace-prize.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=LedeSum&module=a-lede-package-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news). As a student at the school her father ran in Pakistan’s Swat Valley, Malala became a well-known champion for educating girls. And ultimately, she also became a target for the Taliban, who violently oppose schooling for girls. A [Taliban gunman shot Malala](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/10/world/asia/teen-school-activist-malala-yousafzai-survives-hit-by-pakistani-taliban.html?pagewanted=all) in October 2012, but today, at age 17, she has recovered from her injuries and now lives in Birmingham, England.

[![Most Pakistanis agree with Malala on educating girls](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2014/10/FT_Pakistan_Update.png)](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2014/10/FT_Pakistan_Update.png)

The vast majority of Pakistanis agree with Malala, not the Taliban, on the issue of girls’ education. In a 2014 [Pew Research Center survey,](https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2014/08/27/a-less-gloomy-mood-in-pakistan/#girls-education) 86% said education is equally important for boys and girls. This included 85% of men and 87% of women.

When we asked specifically about Malala in our 2014 poll, we found more Pakistanis expressing positive views about her (30%) than negative views (20%). However, roughly half did not have an opinion – something that could certainly change now that she’s won what is arguably the world’s most high profile honor.

[![Negative Ratings for the Taliban in Pakistan](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2014/10/FT_Pakistan_Update2.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2014/08/27/a-less-gloomy-mood-in-pakistan/#many-see-threats-from-extremists-groups-and-india)

Overall, the [Taliban has little support](https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2014/08/27/a-less-gloomy-mood-in-pakistan/#many-see-threats-from-extremists-groups-and-india) in Pakistan. Anti-Taliban sentiments rose sharply in 2009, when, for a time, the militant group took control in much of the Swat Valley, which is within 100 miles of the capital Islamabad.

In 2008, Pakistani views about the Taliban were essentially divided: 27% gave the extremist organization a positive rating, 33% gave it a negative one, and 40% offered no opinion. A year later, seven-in-ten Pakistanis expressed an unfavorable view, and ratings for the Taliban have remained decidedly negative ever since.