Pakistani Women: Adding Cracks to the Glass Ceiling

• In Event: Women out Front: Activism, Engagement, and Attitudes

Short Description

Contrary to prevailing stereotypes, the number of Pakistani women in key leadership positions is on the rise adding cracks to the glass ceiling. The presenter will share findings from a narrative study to identify how female leaders meet challenges, overcome hurdles, and work effectively in Pakistan’s sociocultural context and globally.

Detailed Abstract

The prevailing Western stereotypes about Pakistani women include neither leadership nor decision-making power. Contrary to the general belief the number of women rising in key leadership positions is on the rise. Pakistani women in senior leadership position have their own unique style of leading that allows them to be effective in Pakistan’s sociocultural context as well as hold their own in a global context. What makes these women successful and how they cope with the challenges they face as leaders and especially as women leaders have not been studied. Not is there sufficient research on how these women maintain the balance between life and work.

An ongoing narrative study offers some insight into what these women attribute to their success and the strategies they use to cope with challenges, especially those challenges they face due to their gender in a male dominated workforce. In this session I will present the preliminary findings from a narrative study to identify some challenges these women face and how they rose up to face those challenges, overcome hurdles and to put a few cracks in the glass ceiling.

Participant

• Urusa Fahim, Kinnaird College for Women