Re: Islamic Scholarship
There are plenty of female Islamic scholars and many more are on their way(insha’Allah). Perhaps you feel as such because you aren’t familiar with them.
Al-Huda (http://www.alhudapk.com/) in Pakistan is an excellent example of such an organization from where many female and male scholars graduate every year.
I know many female (and male) scholars within Toronto, but many of them have graduated from iffy Islamic places. I also know of a few good places and some good scholars within Toronto as well.
Nonetheless, we’ve got plenty of them and many more are well on their way to become scholars, insha’Allah.
As for the change, I don’t know how fast we can bring about change. Given that most of our parents have been raised in Pakistan/India, they are not willing to give up the Hindu practices so easily. Try correcting them and you’ll learn how difficult and in some cases literally impossible it is to bring about change with our parents’ approval.