‘Laws not enough to break glass ceiling’

KARACHI: Laws and quotas are not sufficient to propel competent women to senior management positions in the corporate arena which, experts say, will remain a ‘men’s club’ until gender biases are removed.

These were the views of a panel at a two-day workshop on gender diversity entitled “Women Directors on Corporate Governance” held under the auspices of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance (PICG).

According to a study conducted by the PICG, 80 per cent of the top 100 companies listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange do not have any woman board members.

CEO PICG Fuad Hashmi told The Express Tribune that most women who are present on company boards have been nominated due to nepotism or favouritism and not based on merit. The same research also revealed that women constitute less than two per cent of senior management in the corporate sector.

“Compared to western economies, women in our country do not have similar opportunities to join a company’s senior management or board of governors,” explained CEO Citibank Zubyr Soomro.

After graduating from university, young women in Pakistan face cultural pressure to not pursue professional careers and many abandon their jobs after starting their families, he said.

“Attitudes are changing now, but even though we are moving in the right direction, our pace is still very slow,” Soomro added.

CEO KASB Funds Naz Khan, one of four women at the helm of a mutual fund company in the country, pointed out that greater gender inequality starts with educational institutions.

“We need career counselling not only for female students but also for families that are hesitant to allow them to work and pursue careers.”

The panellists said that women could break the ‘glass ceiling’ themselves. Head of the IFC Khawar Ansari said that while the perfect solution is a long way off, a start in the right direction is being made.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 23^rd, 2010.