Where Does the Power Lie? Gender, Leadership, and Positional Power in Pakistan

• In Event: Women Leading Education Across the Continents: Overcoming the Barriers

Abstract

Purpose
Social institutions such as educational organizations and the practices are made up of diverse and often contradictory discourses. Each formation can be seen as consisting of a set of shifting and dynamic discourses, where multi-positioned subjects discursively constitute meanings and truths to guide the practice. This study examined women college heads in a region of Pakistan that unveils the discursive dynamics in a specific context where multiple factors interact to determine “what is to be done and what is acceptable at a given moment” (Foucault, 1991, p.75). Positioned as women educational leaders in a Muslim society where according to the religious texts, knowledge and knowledge-giving are attributes of God and the legacy of prophets with claims to respect and obedience, these college heads face complex challenges regarding religious status and positional power.

Perspective
This study used Islamic educational theory as the basis for the examination of the women college heads and their experiences of power (Shah, 2006). This intersects Islamic law (shar’ia) and the Islamic religion to create a complex set of values and guidelines for educational institutions and implications for women who lead in educational settings.

Methods
Eleven female college heads of girls-only institutions from one region of Pakistan participated in interviews. These were recorded and coded for anonymity and confidentiality.

Findings
The study suggested that religious status as a moallam (teacher) as well as positional power and expert power became virtually equal to having no power if not supplemented by socio-political influence in that particular context, where the latter frequently appeared to supplant the other sources of power. The data unveiled an intricate play of complex technologies of power, divesting the de jure authorities of their authority, and highlighted how these technologies operated and interacted with formation of practices rendering the women college heads helpless in many matters with serious implications for institutional management. However, another interesting finding was how these female college heads availed the cultural and religious discourses to empower themselves as educational leaders, drawing attention to the impact of societal culture and belief systems on educational leadership practices.

Results
Multiple, and even conflicting intersectionalities affect how women participants exercised leadership and positional power. Gender, faith, culture and other factors acted as barriers in the exercise of positional power.

Significance
This investigation suggests that power needs to be reconceptualized in Pakistan to be inclusive of women’s experiences of leader and positional power. Furthermore, more investigation is needed to determine if the increased presence of women in top leadership positions may create new codes of order where women are not deviants but rather the norm.

Author

• Saaeda Shah, University of Leicester