A study on Afghan women’s and girls’ efforts and motivation to learn despite the absence of educational pathways has received the Academy of Management’s 2026 Carolyn B. Dexter Award for Best International Paper. The study was co-authored by several researchers, including Haseena Jalal.
Titled “When All Hope Seems Lost: Sustaining Learning Motivation in the Absence of Educational Pathways,” the study examines how people maintain their motivation to learn when formal routes to education are unavailable.
In a post on her X account, Jalal wrote that the paper was co-authored by David Navarat of the Technical University of Munich, Forouzan Danesh of the University of Toronto, and Jalal of the University of Pittsburgh. It was nominated in the Academy of Management’s Management Education and Development Division.
Jalal, one of the study’s researchers, said receiving the award meant more to her than an academic honor.
She emphasized that, at a time when girls and women in Afghanistan face restrictions on access to education, international recognition for research into their efforts and resilience carries particular significance.
Jalal expressed hope that the paper would amplify the voices of Afghan women and girls and show that being denied an education does not extinguish their aspirations or their capacity to learn.
She dedicated the recognition to women and girls in Afghanistan, especially those whose experiences and stories informed the research.
