When I taught in a sixth-form college, I sometimes overheard folk wisdom about South Asian girls and the supposed tensions between their education, careers and marriages. The girls themselves had their own individual (often surprising) stories, but I could only declare my ignorance. Anecdotes and hearsay are not the best of informants.
Kalwant Bhopal, however, has conducted a detailed statistical analysis from Labour Force Surveys and other sources that present reliable information and a secure context for discussion. It is called “How Gender and Ethnicity Intersect: The Significance of Education” and it appears in the current (freely available) Sociological Research Online at: http:www.socresonline.org.uksocresonline336.html A virtual school visit for A-level sociology classes ought to be compulsory.