Time to break through
I appreciate Pakistani women who have not only been fighting for their own rights but also grooming younger girls to break through the barriers. They have had a long journey to maintain their positions in home, neighborhood, workplaces and society even in the presence of threats, harassments, and all types of violence against women. Many older women have been able to hold their positions through "patriarchal bargains" yet some of them did not compromise and became mentors, saviors, shelters and hand holders of the younger girls in family, neighborhood and workplaces. There are many females in our work places, who have remained passive and submissive for long. They surrendered their rights and they agreed to work in lower positions. Only a few reached at higher ranks and their success stories are shared everywhere. Some people share their stories to motivate other girls, while some of them use these examples to say "if they can do it, why can't you?" I take this statement as "blaming the victims". Any way let us see how the girls in past many years are breaking the barriers and making holes in the glass ceiling. Keep it up and be mindful of the challenges.
In Pakistan during past many decades, there were some of the specific fields of work where females were always allowed to work. Education is for sure one of those fields. In past few years I have been analyzing secondary data to see how and why more women are there in classrooms but less in executive bodies which govern and make policies for education from basic education to higher education. Let us have a look at statistics drawn from Bureau of Statistics and Gallup Pakistan:
You may like to open the websites and look for the following:
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There are two major theoretical lens to look at gender disparity in voice, power, and position of females in school education and higher education in Pakistan.
The "glass escalator" theory, introduced by sociologist Christine Williams in 1992, explains a phenomenon where men in female-dominated professions (such as nursing, teaching, or social work) experience faster advancement and often reach higher positions more easily than their female counterparts. We can clearly see men working in education sector experience advantages in career advancement, receiving preferential treatment, mentorship, and encouragement to move up to higher, often managerial, roles. Men in these roles are often more visible because they are in the minority. This visibility can lead to a perception of competence, making supervisors more likely to promote them. Men in Pakistani culture feel pressure to move up the career ladder quickly due to stereotypes about men being more suited to leadership and management roles, as opposed to caregiving or service roles. Unlike women who face barriers in male-dominated "higher education", men in female-dominated "school education" have more opportunities to advancement, experiencing a "glass escalator" that facilitates upward mobility. The executive cultures favor traits stereotypically associated with men, such as assertiveness, dominance, and competitiveness; and values these traits more than the peaceful, and collaborative traits associated with women. As a result, organizational norms are implicitly discouraging women from seeking or being considered for top leadership roles.
This concept contrasts with the "glass ceiling," which describes the barriers that prevent women from advancing to top positions in male-dominated fields. The term was coined by Marilyn Loden, a New York telephone company manager, at a 1978 Women's Exposition. The theory, emphasizes how deep-rooted biases and organizational structures keep women from breaking through to top executive or leadership roles despite qualifications and experience, indicating that it is not individual limitations but systemic issues that create and reinforce these barriers. What are these invisible yet systemic barriers that prevent women in the field of education from advancing to senior positions in ministries, secretariats, and executive bodies. One major assumption is that workplaces harbor biases—both conscious and unconscious—about women’s capabilities, particularly in leadership roles. Stereotypes such as the belief that women are less assertive, less decisive, or less capable of handling pressure contribute to limited advancement opportunities. Male-dominated networks connect and provide mentoring to men in administrative set ups excluding women from networking spaces, resulting in fewer connections and mentorship opportunities.
The glass escalators and ceiling in education sector are affecting women differently based on other aspects of their identity, such as race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Women from minority backgrounds or those belonging to underrepresented groups are facing compounded discrimination, making progress even more restrictive for them. More so, women are more likely than men to face career penalties due to their family roles and caregiving responsibilities. Organizations view women’s family obligations as a limitation on their ability to dedicate time and effort to high-level positions. They resist altering traditional hierarchies or challenging long-standing cultural norms, resulting in continued structural and attitudinal barriers for women. This resistance preserves the the barriers limiting women’s advancement potential. A few years ago I was thinking that private institutions are better, but recently I came to know that they even terminate women as soon as they get married or at the time of child birth!