Absence of female representation in science deterrent for others

Despite a general increase in awareness for women’s education, the country’s female population is yet to break the glass ceilings that exist in the field of science.

With a vast majority of women opting to study medicine, female representation in science is minimal in Pakistan due to factors ranging from cultural barriers to socio-economic position.

For instance, 24-year-old Shumaila Khan, who resides in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's (K-P) capital Peshawar, her dreams of pursuing a Post Doctorate (PhD) in science were washed away when she was married.

However, Shumaila, is not the only one there are thousands like her in K-P and all over the country who had to trade their books for domestic chores.

Independent educationists across the country have termed this predicament of women having to reverse roles as one of the causes that science is a male dominated field. Some like Maheen, an engineering student at the University of Engineering and Technology in Lahore, concur with the assessment stating that even before stepping into the workforce, most women are deterred in undergraduate programs pertaining to science.

“All of my classes barely have any girls and with so many men in the classes sometimes my choice to pursue engineering seems daunting,” Maheen said, “furthermore, most girls are conditioned to believe that fieldwork is not their cup of tea as men fare better at it.” The Vice Chancellor of Punjab University, Dr Niaz Ahmad Akhtar, commenting on the lack of female representation in disciplines like engineering, acknowledged that the enrollment rate of women in engineering was very low.

Dr Akhtar, while talking to the Express Tribune, stated: “The total number of admissions in engineering at Punjab University till December of 2021 stood at 329,487 out of which 304,766 were men and only 24,721 were women.” However, data obtained by the Express Tribune shows that a slight uptick in science related disciplines has been witnessed in Sindh’s capital Karachi, the country’s most populous city.

In Karachi University, the largest university in Sindh in terms of enrollment and departments, the proportion of female students in total admissions to science related disciplines stood at 56.7%.

Similarly, out of the total admissions in the engineering program at the NED University of Engineering and Technology this year, the percentage of female students is 41% compared to 40% in the previous year. Dr Soroush Lodhi, Vice-Chancellor of the NED University, talking about the uptick in the interest of female students in science, said that it was a positive sign. “Over the past four years, the number of female students in NED has been constantly increasing by 1%,” he informed.

Despite Dr Lodhi’s optimism, at the intermediate level as per the results of the Karachi Board, a total of 22,119 students from Inter board Karachi passed the pre-engineering examination in which the number of female students stood at a measly 28%. “We have no actual female role models in science, so how can you expect women to pursue a career in science?” inquired Nadia Khan rhetorically when asked about why women tend to choose medicine over science.

Nadia, who is a PhD scholar working in the Science and Technology Department in the K-P government, further added that cultural barriers, socio economic position, gender discrimination, and other stereotypes in the society discourage young girls from pursuing a career in science. Former Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) Chairperson and educationist, Dr Mohammad Nizamuddin, agreeing with Nadia’s views, said that the customs of our country are such that very few women can fulfill their potential in science related disciplines.

“We discourage women from fieldwork, especially if they are married and end up wasting their talent. We should bring forth policies that encourage women to pursue an education in science and then actively contribute to the workforce for the development of the country,” Dr Nizamuddin said while talking to the Express Tribune.