There is much Government lawmaking and pronouncement about bringing women into the workforce motivated perhaps by a requirement to meet Pakistan’s SDG goal obligations and the country targets set in Vision 2025.

In 2017 through changes in the Listed Companies (Code of Corporate Governance) Regulations and the Companies Act 2017, the Boards of listed companies were required to appoint one female director.

In 2021, the State Bank of Pakistan issued policies on Banking on Equality and for Persons with Disabilities which established quotas for employment as well as for customer accounts and financing.

This was followed by circulars issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan requiring companies to put in place gender friendly policies. More recently, in July 2024, further changes have been enacted in the Listed Companies (Code of Corporate Governance) Regulations 2019 requiring companies to have DEI policies (diversity, equity and inclusion); implement the law enacted for protection of women in the workplace in 2010 and, to make disclosures on the gender pay gap in the company’s Annual Report as well as its website.

Whilst the formal sector has made a start in terms of facilitating diversity, the figures show that the effort is tepid and lacks conviction. Businesses have increased numbers at the entry level; however, this does not translate into greater opportunity at the mid and senior management level.

A survey of 46 large companies conducted by the IFC and Pakistan Business Council revealed that 2 percent of companies had more than 35 percent women employees, 56 percent of companies had only 6-15 percent women employees, and around 16 percent of companies had 0-5 percent female staff. 63 percent of the companies surveyed had less than 5 percent women in senior management positions.

Women are held back through the interplay of different barriers which range from personal and societal issues to disparate organizational structures. Organisations often lack the will to provide women the internal support required to overcome these barriers.

Women face unconscious bias and gender stereotyping; there are male competence assumptions and it is harder for them to have their skills and expertise acknowledged. There are fewer role models for women which would impact on commitment and satisfaction by example.

Women generally have less access to mentorship thereby losing the strength of a powerful network which could provide access to promotion opportunities and greater job responsibility.

In Pakistan, businesses in the formal sector are currently faced with a dearth of trained manpower as the country faces higher rates of emigration. Despite greater pressure to recruit and retain good quality staff, businesses continue to cling on to traditional modes of thinking and ignore the on-ground realities.

The data shows that the composition of the student population in tertiary education is changing as, more women are graduating from universities and, that female students are opting for non-traditional subjects such as Business Administration, Management, IT, Engineering and Law, thereby providing a rich pool of graduates for recruitment.

The business case for diversity also remains strong as research shows that diversity positively impacts a company’s financial performance, organizational culture, business ethics, resilience and corporate governance.

A study conducted by McKinsey in 2021 during the Covid crisis found that women leaders were more successful in supporting their teams, prioritizing wellbeing and providing extra resources.

A study conducted by the Securities and Exchange........

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