Pakistani Women in Academia

Abstract

Many women in Pakistan join academia, but it is a difficult journey as they have to navigate spaces where they have to deal with adult men as students and staff and the patriarchal issues of the society that spill over into the workplaces. Pakistani women in academia negotiate their roles in their academic workspaces, where they are often kept out of the loop of strategic positions and opportunities. The existing limited literature either looks at their overall challenges or how women leaders in academia have worked through the system. They rarely focus on the challenges of women at mid-career stages. In this chapter, the author highlights some of the key challenges that Pakistani women at the midcareer stage face in academia, where she presents the role of the context and how it intertwines with their identity. Then, the focus is on presenting the enablers that have helped women progress in academia in Pakistan. The last section briefly outlines the way forward for the progress of women in Pakistani academia.