Introduction

Introduction

Introduction

Globally, women’s workforce participation is increasing rapidly; however, they continue to experience unequal opportunities in the job market and most of them are confined to lower and middle administration (Bader et al., 2018; Parker & Funk, 2017). The few women, especially in Pakistan, India, South Africa, Bangladesh and Nepal contrary to Norway, Iceland, New Zealand, and UAE, who have managed to reach the top management level of the hierarchy, encounter several personal and professional constraints (Khokhar, 2018; Lathabhavan & Balasubramanian, 2017; Thakur & Kumar, 2019). Despite being well-equipped with professional skills and experience, gender discrimination, harassment, and intimidation at senior management positions remain a reality across the world (Folke et al., 2020; McLaughlin et al., 2017; McKie & Jyrkinen, 2017). In developing countries, the predominant patriarchal structure regulates these discriminative organizational arrangements and legitimizes male hegemony (Bader et al., 2018; Lathabhavan & Balasubramanian, 2017).

Sexual harassment in the workplace is a widespread social phenomenon despite the prevalence of policy interventions and laws for its prevention (Castner, 2019; Folke et al., 2020; Hadi, 2018). Although several countries have established laws against sexual harassment in the workplace, the implementation of laws remains a challenge (Tavares & Wodon, 2018; Thakur & Kumar, 2019). Statistics show that one to three in every five women in United States is exposed to some form of sexual harassment during their careers (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering & Medicine, 2018; Raj et al., 2020).

Women working as staff, faculty, and administrators in academia experience a similar complex series of challenges. They are underrepresented in positions of power, decision-making, and influence. Moreover, they are exploited and harassed by men (Phillips, 2020; Tenbrunsel et al., 2019). Researches on sexual harassment in academia in the West have identified it as a major cause of the underrepresentation of women at the top management levels. However, the issues of harassment vary across societies due to their unique socio-cultural contexts (Folke et al., 2020; McLaughlin et al., 2017). Moreover, each institution represents a distinct organizational culture and individual behavior towards sexual harassment (McKie & Jyrkinen, 2017; Raj et al., 2020).

In Pakistan, male hegemony is normative and violence against women is not a new phenomenon. Women are discriminated against and disadvantaged in almost all fields of life (Shah, 2018; Yasmin & Jabeen, 2017; Yousaf & Schmiede, 2016). According to the Human Development Report (2020), the Gender Inequality Index (GII) value of Pakistan is 0.538 and it is ranked at 135 out of 162 countries in contrast to Bangladesh and India that are placed at 133 and 123 positions respectively, in the 2019 index. Although women’s political participation in Pakistan has improved over the past two decades, they are not empowered in other sectors i.e. health, education, and economy (Sadruddin, 2013; Yasmin & Jabeen, 2017). It is also evident that workplace harassment is commonly experienced by women in Pakistan (Ali & Rukhsana, 2019; Shah, 2018). However, many women still feel reluctant to formally report issues of harassment due to the fear of being stigmatized, losing jobs, and feelings of shame (Hadi, 2018; Yasmin & Jabeen, 2017).

Scholarly work on sexual harassment in Pakistan predominantly focuses on economic and political organizations (e.g. see Ali & Rukhsana, 2019; Bader et al., 2018; Hadi, 2018). The existing studies on harassment in academia have mainly focused on women students and faculty (Agha & Magsi, 2017; Thakur & Kumar, 2019). However, the experiences of women academic leaders about harassment in Pakistan are largely ignored (Yousaf & Schmiede, 2016). Therefore, this study sought to examine and document women leaders’ lived experiences of harassment in universities in the context of Pakistan.

This paper aims to contribute to the discursive understanding of sexual harassment in Pakistani universities. We define sexual harassment as an act of physical or emotional discomfort that encompasses sexual advancement from males toward females. ³ We see such acts as a means to control and dominate women in academic culture. The findings of this study will contribute to the existing scholarly work on sexual harassment worldwide. Furthermore, at the practical level, the findings may be utilized by academic institutions and thinktanks in developing effective policy measures to overcome the issues of harassment in academic spaces. Such strategies would play a key role in encouraging more women to aspire leadership roles. At present, majority of women are reluctant to work as academic leaders due to the fear of harassment, besides other challenges such as the issue of work-life balance, traditional gender socialization, lack of supportive structures etc. This paper seeks to answer the following two research questions: (1) How do women leaders in Pakistani universities experience harassment at their workplace? (2) In what ways do they cope with such acts of sexual harassment?

Introduction

Table of Contents