Intergenerational Knowledge Transfer and its Influence on Gender Norms in Tharu Families of Saptari District: An Ethnographic Study
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Kathmandu University School of Education
Abstract
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This ethnographic study explores how the transmission of knowledge across
generations forms and influences gender roles in the Tharu society in Saptari District.
The Tharu are one of Nepal's indigenous communities with very strong cultural
practices in daily life; information, values, livelihood skills, and social expectations
seem to be transmitted through everyday interactions within families. While previous
studies have largely focused on gender or Indigenous knowledge individually, less
attention has been paid to how intergenerational transmission also shapes, reinforces,
and even changes gender roles within Tharu households.
The study essentially used an ethnographic research approach based on an
interpretivist paradigm and was also informed by gender schema theory, feminist
family theory, and intersectionality. The information was collected through
participant observation, informal conversation, and in-depth interviews, and then
continued through active involvement with multigenerational Tharu families. The
research really looked at how various generations communicate, talk things out, and
pass on everyday practices and information, and how gender expectations are carried
through the everyday routine.
The findings reveal that gender roles are mostly taught through informal
interactions and processes within the family. Elders, especially parents and
grandparents, are important for passing on cultural values, livelihood skills, and
gendered expectations through observation, participation, storytelling, songs, and
shared family routines. The study also observed that social developments such as
schooling, labor migration, mechanization, digitalization, and broader economic
changes are straining traditional gender expectations. In the younger generation,
individuals are starting to question and renegotiate expectations around household
responsibilities, education, occupation, and who gets to decide. Consequently, the
transfer of knowledge across generations serves both as a mechanism for preserving
cultural practices and as a forum for resisting and gradually transforming gender
norms.
The study shows that indigenous knowledge systems and informal family
learning methods need recognition because they help to understand the development
and change of gender norms throughout history. The educational and development
programs need to recognize family knowledge and community learning methods,
according to the study, which aims to achieve gender equality and social inclusion.