A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF PAKISTANI WORKING WOMEN’S ADVANCEMENT TOWARDS UPPER LEVEL MANAGERIAL POSITIONS

Abstract

Women’s presence at top managerial positions is less than men across the world and Pakistan is also no exception. Pakistan is a conservative and male dominated society where working women face a lot of obstacles while making advancement in their careers. However, due to the increase in literacy rate and greater efforts from government, civil societies, and media, working women and women at managerial positions are becoming more acceptable by the society. Keeping in view this changing scenario, the objective of the current study is to understand the working women’s experiences, barriers, and related issues while making advancement towards managerial level positions. The study is qualitative in nature and used phenomenology as a main mode of inquiry. Sample of the study was drawn from banking, education, and telecom sector in Pakistan. Data was collected from thirty female managers working at various levels among the three mentioned sectors. Key findings of the study are that Pakistani female managers face familial, organizational, and cultural barriers. The study also identified that there is greater acceptance of female managers as compared to the past. Moreover, Pakistani female managers also possess some unique leadership characteristics which are not very common among male managers.