Gender Inequality in Banking Sector

Prepared for

Sir Ashraf Janjua

Instructor, Seminar in Economic Policy
Institute of Business Management
Korangi Creek
Karachi, Pakistan

Prepared by
Zain Ali (2002-1-31-2747)
 LETTER OF ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

September 10th, 2007

Ashraf Janjua,
Dean and Instructor,
College of Business Management,
Korangi Creek,
Karachi.

Dear Sir:

It is an honor for me to prepare this report by the help of survey, which I conducted, on a
topic, which was assigned to me by International Labor Organization.

I am thankful to all the Bank Employees who filled out the questionnaires truthfully and
Gave me an overall idea of Gender discrimination in banking sector.

I would especially like to express my acknowledgement to you for providing me valuable

direction about the professional aspect of this report.

Sincerely,

Zain Ali

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY …………………………………………………... 4

INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………………..6

GENDER INEQUALITY ………………………………………………….….6

FACTORS OF GENDER INEQUALITY …………………………...…...…..9

LOCAL SCENARIO ……………………………………………….…………11

EFFECTS OF GENDER INEQUALITY ……………………………………14

STEPS TAKEN BY GOVERNMENT ………………………………………15

OVERVIEW OF PAKISTANI BANKING SECTOR …………………...…20

DETAILED FINDINGS ………………………………………………………21

SOLUTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ………………………………43

CONCLUSION ………………………………………………………………..45

REFERENCES ………………………………….…………………………….46
APPENDIX …………………………………………………………………….48

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 Executive Summary

Gender inequality is often based on thinking and perception of a particular society, i.e.
considering men physically strong and women as emotionally sensitive. Gender
discrimination has had several psychological effects on women who either resort to
committing suicide, revolting in a similar way or end up becoming psychological
patients.

My aim of the research was to determine the gender inequality in Pakistani Banking
Sector, because the issue of women’s status, autonomy and equality has frequently been
raised internationally on the premise that a nation cannot progress when a vast segment of
society is deprived of its due share and not allowed to play its role properly. Inequality
between women and men limits productivity and ultimately slows economic growth.

There is discrimination against female workers arising either from job segregation or
unequal pay for equal work or less investment in training by employers or lack of support
services for working mothers

Currently, female literacy rate is 32 per cent as compared to 56 per cent for males while
school participation rate is 27 per cent and 73 per cent respectively for females and
males.

In my research by going in different banks, I analyzed how gender inequality prevailed in

their working environment. Though I found a lot of difficulty in my research because this
is a very controversial topic.

Data was taken to determine ratio of males and females employees working in banks and
according to my research most banks were male dominated and had an average ratio of
(Male 3: Female: 1), I took views of the employees about Discrimination acts in their
work place and the most frequent answer I got is that our society is male dominated
society and women are always regarded as a weaker sex .In the banking environment
authorization of documents by female have less value than the authorization by men
employees as well as their decision making is not valued by the top management as
compared to decision making of male employees, there was another aspect which I found
was the personal liking factor which prevailed all over banking sector and was the main
reason for discrimination among genders.

In some local banks especially there was differences in pay scale but foreign banks paid
its employees on the basis of equal pay act. Marital status did affect the chances for

4
promotion for employees like single women were much easily promoted as compared to
married women. I also found out that in some places different working hours were
allotted to women because of their family issues and women were facing a difference of
attitude by the clients. Co-workers had different attitude towards men and women and
they were usually more polite towards women.

Our Society has the perception that women should not work and remain at houses, this
perception should change and more education should be provided to women so that they
could compete with men and a culture should be built in which both genders should be
treated and respected equally.

Banks should keep checks on employees to ensure that discriminatory practices do not
prevail in the bank. Such policies should be mentioned in the rules and regulations as
well as in the employment contract. There should be surprise visits by top management or
people assigned who would look into such cases. Employees working in the banks should
change their approach toward other employees and work more professionally and fairly
so that gender inequality doesn’t prevails in the work place.

There are societies made in which laws regarding how to protect women from being
harmed and also against discrimination. Societies such as Welfare Organization of
Women, Society for the Advancement of Community, Health, Education and Training,
Alliance Against Sexual Harassment, Women in Urban Credit

All societies think that solution of gender discrimination is women empowerment, where
they should be equipped enough to fight for themselves and reduce dependency.

Need is there to put them in practice and then evaluating the performance of the law. This
campaign should not be kept on the shoulders of the government of the country, instead
Banks should plan and execute these laws in collaboration with the local governments.
Further, mass media can play a vital role in bringing awareness among the general public.
Social reforms of the societies by inviting the leaders of the societies at a bigger arena
can also help to resolve the conflict.

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 Introduction

Nature has always maintained a balance in the objects of this world in order to garnish it
with beauty, and so it produced a balancing factor for each and every object. These
balancing factors vary in the proportion of the support they provide to their counter part.
In the same context, men & women are considered as the supporting counterpart for each
other, but the major conflict in this systematic support is the term ‘gender inequality’.
The role of woman in society is largely influenced by the role of woman prescribed in the
religious tenets. The interpretation of the religion is unfortunately in the hands of the so-
called religious representatives like mullahs. The average mullah neither has the
education nor the mental capacity to interpret the teachings and tenets of the Quran in an
open and unbiased manner. The role of the religious institutions in our society has
dominated the perception of the ordinary public on defining the respective gender roles.
Concepts like "Chaadar and chardivari" have been enforced as decrees by these mullahs.
It is unfortunate that this misrepresentation of the religion by the Mullahs in Islamic
countries

Gender Inequality

Gender inequality is often based on gender stereotypes of a particular society, i.e.

considering men physically strong and women as emotionally sensitive. It is because of
the fact that the term ‘gender’ is often conflicted with the term ‘sex’. Both the terms are
used as synonyms of each other in normal context, but there’s a technical difference
between the both. ‘Sex’ is a biological differentiation of individuals, categorizing them as
males and females, this difference of individuals is same in all the cultures, while
‘gender’ is a social differentiation of individuals which categorizes them as ‘masculine’
and ‘feminine’. This difference determines the role of individuals in a particular society.
The role of individuals in different societies is different and thus the role of gender is
variable in accordance with the prevailing social setup.

Gender inequality prevails at various levels in our socities:

• At the individual level (individual’s thought of male chauvinism’) gender

discrimination exists round the globe, regardless of the influence of any
religious or social factor. In this context we can’t say that followers of such
kind of discrimination are found more in western society than eastern, or they

6
 exist more in religion ‘A’ than religion ‘B’. The reason behind this
phenomenon can be any physical or psychological factor.

• Secondly, comes group level activities which hold the conflict of gender
discrimination. In this context economic and social responsibilities of
individuals are misallocated. Starting with social responsibilities, keeping
females away from general education, holding that they are not supposed to
participate in any economic activity so there’s no need to educate them, is one
of the major examples from Asian social setups. Women are discouraged in
other social concerns as well, for instance people will heartily accept a man as
their leader even if has some criminal record in the past, but for a woman it’ll
be impossible to become the leader of a mass if she’d been involved in a
minor crime.

Sex discrimination is treating an employee or employees differently because of their

gender. Whenever this discrimination affects the terms or conditions of employment, it is
illegal. Terms or conditions of employment means just about anything relating to
someone's job: their position, pay, title, hours, vacations, most everything is a term or
condition of employment. Whether or not a person is hired is also considered a term or
condition of employment.

There are two types of sex discrimination:

• Disparate treatment is straightforward discrimination. Simply put, it is treating a

person differently because of his or her sex.

• Disparate Impact Discrimination is more complicated. Disparate Impact is where

some type of company policy excluded a certain individuals from the job or from
promotions. The policy was not designed to exclude them; that was just the
unfortunate result.

There are several different forms of discrimination:

• Direct Discrimination
This occurs when there is less favorable treatment of a woman or a man because
of their gender. There does not have to be a person of the opposite sex who was
actually treated better. You only have to show that they would have been better
treated. There is no defense for an employer who has directly discriminated. It
does not matter what the motive is or whether the discrimination was intentional
or not.

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 Examples of direct discrimination include sexual harassment and discriminating
against a woman because of her pregnancy.

• Indirect Discrimination
This type of discrimination is more complicated. It occurs when a requirement or
rule is applied equally to men and women but in practice, affects women more
than it affects men (or vice versa) and is not genuinely necessary. Indirect
discrimination applies when all of these conditions are met:

o An employer applies a condition of employment which is applied equally

to members of the opposite sex
o Fewer workers of one gender than the other can meet the requirement or
condition
o Those workers are put at a disadvantage
o The employer cannot justify the requirement or condition other than by
reason connected to the worker being male or female

An example would be changing shift patterns that are more likely to adversely affect
women relative to men.

Moreover, frequently employers expect women to have certain duties, such as caring for
children. This is presumed as assigning gender specific roles. In one case, an employer
did not hire women with preschool-age children, while at the same time it did hire men
with preschool-age children. Even though most of the people it hired were women, there
was still discrimination. The employer didn't think women with young children should be
working outside the home. The employer is entitled to this belief. But he couldn't let it
affect his employment decisions. His hiring criteria clearly reflected discrimination based
on gender roles.

Jobs that are considered “men's jobs” or “women's jobs” tend to unnecessarily deny
employment opportunities to one sex or the other. Therefore, in the following situations :-

• The refusal to hire a woman because of her sex based on assumptions such that
the turnover rate among women is higher than among men.
• The refusal to hire an individual based on stereotyped characterizations of the
sexes. Individuals should be considered on the basis of individual capacities and
not on the basis of any characteristics generally attributed to the group. Such
stereotypes include, for example, that men are less capable of assembling intricate
equipment, or that women are less capable of aggressive salesmanship

• The refusal to hire an individual because of the preferences of coworkers, the

employer, clients or customers.

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One key reason why women and men have such different job experiences is that as a
group, women generally face barriers that prevent them from reaching the top positions in
many companies. This phenomenon is known as the ‘Glass Ceiling’. The U.S.
Department of Labor defines such barriers as

“Those artificial barriers based on attitudinal or organizational bias that prevent

qualified individuals from advancing in their organization”.

Moreover, it appears that gender-role stereotypes are key in keeping this ceiling in place.
Specifically, the glass ceiling often takes subtle forms rather than conscious efforts by
male executives to keep women from their domain. For example, women may receive
fewer opportunities that prepare them for top-level jobs. Further, women also report
fewer chances than men to take part in projects that increase their visibility or widen the
scope of their responsibilities

Factor of Gender inequality

Per Capita Income

A rise in real per capita income can be a major factor in reducing the extent of gender
inequality for a variety of reasons; there is a strong correlation between the level of per
capita Income and the degree of equalization of economic opportunities for men and
women. A rise in household incomes, which is accompanied by a reduction in the
proportion of households below the poverty line, can also lead to significant increase in
expenditures

The implied growth in labor demand can contribute to breaking the shackles of gender
discrimination in the labor market and lead to larger participation rates and higher wage
rates for females. The growth rate of per capita income can, therefore, also act as a proxy
for the unemployment rate, which is fraught with serious measurement problems in
Pakistan.

A rise in the real per capita income leads to a reduction in inequality, possibly because of
narrowing of the nutrition and education gap between males and females at the household
level and an improvement in economic opportunities for women.

Access to Public Services

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Access to public services such as proximity to school etc affect the pattern of time
allocation of women and enable labor savings, thereby promoting women participation in
schooling and labor market. Also, access to cheap health care services help reduce
maternal mortality, improve productivity and enhance female participation rates
Relating to provision of services was best proxied by the ratio of girl to boy schools. This
highlights the importance of schooling in gender inequality and the role of access to
educational facilities as opposed to demand factors, which influence female enrollment
rates.

Social-Cultural Norms

Literature extensively highlights the contribution of socio-cultural factors in inhibiting

the Participation of women in schooling, labor force, and other socio-cultural activities
the role of demographic factors like fertility rate, marriage age and religion/culture have
in particular been highlighted. Following the ‘Islamic cultural revolution’ in Iran, for
example, all coeducational schools were converted into single sex institutions and Islamic
dress code was adopted in schools. Similar steps have been taken in Pakistan such as
establishment of single sex schools and female teachers for female schools. This
phenomenon can be proxied by a dummy variable, which takes the value of unity for
periods when the prevalence of such forces peak in the country.

Socio-cultural norms play an important part. Age at marriage and changes in religious
norms, especially as they relate to the role of women outside the households, have an
important bearing on the time path of gender inequality

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 THE LOCAL SCENARIO

Since the beginning of civilization, woman, the subservient slave, gives birth, sustains
and nourishes her family, and takes the responsibility of several other roles including that
of a bread earner. It is a common sight in the rural areas of Pakistan to see a woman
washing dishes or lifting bricks in the scorching heat whilst her husband comfortably
rests at home. Such a woman manages her household, looks after her children, works to
fulfill the financial needs of her family and yet suffers the brunt from her husband and in-
laws. She is viewed by man as an individual who has no rights whatsoever and can be
dominated easily. The issue of gender discrimination has given rise to several evident
problems. Adherence to abhorrent rites and rituals in the past such as sati (a Hindu
tradition) and honor killings even today provide evidence of how a woman is and was
sacrificed.

Since early on, Pakistan has suffered from the problem of gender discrimination. To a
very large extent women in Pakistan are dominated and subdued in every walk of life, be
it the political, economic or in the social arrangement where we all reside. Here, we face
a challenge to overcome gender discrimination within the public as well as the private
domain. Women face unequal treatment throughout the course of their lives, and this
conduct has become an integral part of the Pakistani corporate system. Culture, media
and traditions are a few of the agents that make gender discrimination customary and
commonplace, increasing its acceptance in society.

Furthermore, in the labor market women face wage discrimination, glass ceilings for top
management jobs, harassment at work and are encouraged to occupy less challenging
jobs e.g. secretaries, teachers etc. Our society has created unwritten rules that restrict
women to the household. Generally acceptable and yet never questioned norm of women
to be responsible of domestic chores and childrearing while men are the bread earners of
the family puts an unfair burden on women especially the working women who face dual
responsibility.

In our study, we found the determinants of gender discrimination in Pakistan to include

the following. All these factors individually or in combination make up the face of gender
discrimination.

• The General Perception of Individuals, Groups and/ or Societies.

o Gender inequality is basically divergent in nature. According to the article

mentioned, there is one focal point from which the roots of gender
discrimination emerge. This is the very cliched term, “Male Chauvinism”.
This term is a prejudiced belief of an individual or a group of individuals
that men are undeniably superior to women. Male chauvinism does not

11
 stop on biased categorization of the society in two groups but furthers to
glorify one as the more privileged one and the other, as merely the less
privileged. It is an ultimate outcome of individual perception. This
perception of the individual is regardless of any external factor, like,
family, society, religious belief, culture etc.

o The problem of gender inequality is also due to the fact that women are
categorized as the inferior sex. This is primarily due to the wrong
interpretation and manipulation of Islamic principles. Islam has adequately
defined the role of both man and woman and how both are necessary and
play a vital role in society. However, the definition of the man as the
provider has led to a great deal of male chauvinism which defines the
woman as the weaker sex which hinders women empowerment in
Pakistan.

o Gender stereotypes of a particular society. Stereotypes are ideas held by

some individuals about members of particular groups, based solely on
membership in that group. They are often used in a negative or prejudicial
sense and are frequently used to justify certain discriminatory behaviors.
According to the article referred, “it is noteworthy that stereotypically
male traits are associated with success in the business world and that
stereotypically female traits are not ”. This clearly shows that stereotypes
not only exist, but are rampant in the local environment,

o Gender roles. The conflict of gender discrimination arises when only

physical part of one’s strengths is considered and the mental part is
neglected. As a result of such half considered phenomenon, individuals are
categorized as ‘strong’ and ‘weak’, ‘emotionally strong’ and ‘emotionally
sensitive’, ‘competent’ and incompetent’, ‘leaders’ and ‘followers’ etc. In
this case the gender discrimination doesn’t remain in its totality or
originality and is considered as a factor deteriorating the process of
development of human skills.

• Moral Standards/ Respect for Women

o Recently, the definition of honor has lost its true meaning. The standards
of honor and chastity are not equally applicable to both males and females.
Surveys conducted in Balochistan and NWFP, show that men often get
away with having illicit relationships, whereas the women are killed at the
slightest suspicion of immodesty.

o Due to certain personal conflicts gender discrimination is evident, such as

numerous petty interests that provoke people to indulge in gruesome

12
 crimes against women. Also the influence of the Hindu culture has further
weakened the status of women.

• Marital Status/ Maternity

o Marital status has an adverse effect in the sense that human resource
managers prefer not to recruit women of marriageable age or those already
married. The argument they present is one of increased responsibility on
women’s shoulders due to which their work is sacrificed. So, in order to
prevent future bottlenecks, they have a proactive strategy instead.

o Maternity is one of the factors leading to gender discrimination. At

instances, due to pregnancy, and at the time of birth, women need time off
from work. This creates gaps between work assigned to women, and their
performance. Hence, employers prefer recruiting fewer women

• Education.

o Lack of education among the masses is another vital cause. The female
literacy rate is as low as 28% as compared to the third world average of
66%. Hence women, ignorant of their rights, are constantly exploited at
the hands of the male members of society.

• Economic Conditions

o Economic aspect of gender discrimination is of utmost importance. In

enlightened parts of Asia, women are encouraged to get educated, so girls
readily join the advanced courses. But after getting technically or
professionally qualified, they are not granted permission to play their role
as an earning member of the family, so they don’t participate in economic
activities and hence their professional qualification goes down the drain.
For instance, consider medical studies in Pakistan. As the admission in
medical colleges is subjected to merit and girls excel in academics, more
girls avail admissions there. After getting qualified from there as doctors,
90% of the girls do not practice, due to social hurdles. According to
careful approximations, it takes about Rs. 150,000 for the education of a
doctor. Hence those who do not practice, waste public finance as well as
deprive others of the opportunity to educate themselves and ultimately
serve the nation.

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 Gender equality has a direct impact on economic growth and the reduction
of poverty by raising productivity, improving efficiency, increasing
economic opportunities and empowering women.

Effects of Gender Inequality

Gender discrimination has aided in further undermining the status of women. It has led to
several barbaric practices, which have deprived women of the basic right to live, such as
rape, honor killings, being married of to the Holy Quran and several other gruesome acts.

Our Society has the perception that women should not work and remain at houses, this
perception should change and more education should be provided to women so that they
could compete with men and a culture should be built in which both genders should be
treated and respected equally.

Gender discrimination has had several psychological effects on women who either resort
to committing suicide, revolting in a similar way or end up becoming psychological
patients. Gender discrimination also plays a great role in impeding the career
development of women. They are either restricted to their houses, or prevented to excel
by various other social processes and norms which also tend to discourage them. Due to
this, there is also an indirect unfavorable impact on the families of those discriminated
against.

As time progresses, the advent of the concept of feminism and the appearance of certain
influential women rights activist’s (such as Asma Jahangir) work towards solving these
problems. This is leading to a greater women empowerment. However, the problem of
gender discrimination still prevails in Pakistan where the woman lives in a constant fear
of attack, which can come at any time from men closest to her.

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 STEPS TAKEN BY VARIOUS GOVT. AND NON-GOVT.
ORGANIZATIONS

Changing social perceptions is a long process. However, steps have been taken to
Bring about a positive attitudinal change regarding women:

EDUCATION

For the appalling situation of girls’ education in Pakistan there is a lack of concern on the
part of government, but some religious groups, political parties and NGOs are working
actively to do so despite all barriers. Following are some examples of successful
education programs in Pakistan:

1) Al-khidmat, a countrywide NGO, is running almost 100 non-formal

schools in small villages of Sind , Baluchistan and NWFP Provinces ,
where not merely girls but adult women are admitted for basic primary
education.

2) In the remote Achhro Thar region of Pakistan, where female literacy is a

shocking 0.3 per cent, Oxfam and the Makhi Welfare Organisation
(MWO) have succeeded in getting 168 girls into school, as well as
changing community attitudes towards education and gender equality, and
influencing the national Education Department.

3) In the province of Sindh, NAZ, a Khairpur-based NGO, is running fifty

formal and non-formal girls' schools in the city's outskirts

4) The NGO Resource Center, a Karachi-based organisation, is operating

scores of girls' schools.

5) Green Crescent, another Karachi-based NGO, is running twenty non-

formal schools for girls in villages throughout the province.

15
 6) In Punjab, the Al-Ghazali Education Trust, a Lahore-based organization, is
operating some 200 formal and non-formal schools, mostly for girls and
women, all over the province.

7) The government, however, has contributed by setting up around 1500 non-

formal girls education schools yet due to political instability such projects
fail to remain functional. Nevertheless some semi governmental
organizations like the Sindh Education Foundation have achieved great
success in renovating government schools and introducing effective
teaching techniques.

MEDIA

1) The Pakistan Television has produced plays giving a positive portrayal of women.
Through a donor funded ‘Portrayal of Women in Media’ project, a positive,
balanced and diverse portrayal of women was undertaken in the media. The
National Project Director of this project was a woman and was awarded the pride
of performance award and the Commonwealth Broadcast Association’s award for
gender programming and technical excellence. The Pakistan Television also
established a training academy for media professionals in program development
and production techniques. Gender sensitization and mainstreaming were
important elements of the training program. Furthermore, gender-awareness
workshops were organized (1998) for senior PTV managers, producers and other
media professionals. Of the five hundred and four participants from public and
private sectors who received training, two hundred were women. In 1999, PTV
also issued a directive that violence against women or verbal and physical
humiliation of women is not to be shown on the television.

2) The MoWD initiated an awareness raising Campaign for Women through Mass
Media. Puppetry shows were one of the mediums employed to raise awareness
about women’s issues. The campaign aimed at a) Creating overall awareness of
women’s rights and status and b) bringing a positive attitudinal change within the
society regarding women

3) Ethical Code of Practice (print media) was approved by the Cabinet in 2002.
Guidelines have been provided for reporting publishing and disseminating
materials based on gender discrimination and violence against women.

4) The Code of Ethics adopted by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ)
states under Article XII that the press has a special responsibility to prevent bias
against women, minorities and other disadvantaged sections of society. As such
extreme caution shall be exercised in reporting incidents pertaining to them.

16
REGULATIONS

The articles 14, 25 and 26 of the Constitution which enshrine equality of citizens
regardless of gender, cast and creed and promise fundamental rights, carry a potential of
remedial measures through courts of law.

Speaking at a seminar sponsored by the AGHS Law Associates on gender-based

litigation to be conformed to international human rights’ norms, the SCBA president was
of the view that the judiciary was under a major responsibility of ensuring freedom of the
people and society from gender bias and discrimination in any of its manifestations.

However, the law fails to protect women from harm and ironically is unjust to women.
Within the courts, judges and lawyers have misused law in numerous rape cases; property
rights cases, cases of zina and other forms of abuse. Therefore the solution of gender
discrimination is women empowerment, where they should be equipped enough to fight
for themselves and reduce dependency.

OTHERS

1) Alliance Against Sexual Harassment (AASHA)

Alliance Against Sexual Harassment (AASHA) aims to raise awareness about, and
assists the government and private sectors to create a society free of sexual
harassment. AASHA is an initiative directed towards taking active measures to
mobilize and influence policy makers at higher levels for providing protection to
women at their workplace and ensuring safe and healthy working environments. This
website explains the issue in easy terms, and contains a proposed code of practice for
gender justice at the workplace in downloadable form.
www.aasha.org.pk

2) Women in Urban Credit (WUC)

17
This is the website of Women in Urban Credit (WUC), a project of the UNDP and the
First Women's Bank Ltd. Pakistan. Through five modules, it explains the concept and
the steps taken to develop and replicate the model throughout Pakistan.
www.un.org.pk/unworks/stories/sakina.htm

3) Society for the Advancement of Community, Health, Education and Training

(SACHET)

Based in Established in 1999, the Society for the Advancement of Community,

Health, Education and Training (SACHET) is a registered, non-profit, non-
governmental welfare and development organization. News updates about its
activities; Urdu and English articles related to health, education, gender, human
resource development and population are available on this site. Details about
SACHET's organizational setup, its newsletter "Agehi" and contact information are
accessible online.
www.sachet.org.pk

4) Pakistan Women Lawyers' Association (PAWLA)

The Pakistan Women Lawyers' Association (PAWLA) is an NGO delivering

professional legal services and economic counseling to Pakistani women by
networking with legal bodies, the government, donors and other NGOs. Striving for
women's rights, equality, equity and empowerment, PAWLA's various projects,
publications, case studies, and upcoming activities are showcased on this website.
www.pawla.sdnpk.org

5) Saving Women's Lives

The Saving Women's Lives initiative is an international collaboration of

organizations dedicated to the health and well-being of the world's women. Led by
Family Care International, this website aims to educate and raise awareness of the
broad range of women's global health and rights issues, including reproductive health,
safe motherhood, poverty and economic development, violence against women,
women's social status and education.
www.savingwomenslives.org

18
 6) Welfare Organization of Women (WOW)

The Welfare Organization of Women (WOW) has been set up as a non-political

welfare organization to combat the dominance of men in social and economic
spheres of life, based on gender, class, religion, race and nationality. This website
introduces the organization's work on advocacy, human rights, information
dissemination, poverty alleviation, education and law. They provide legal aid in cases
of sexual and psychological violence, and improving the living conditions and health
status of women and children in prisons through training. This site outlines its
research work, project details and objectives.
zafcointl.com/wow

A society’s attitudes, preferences, biases and prejudices develop over centuries and are
the product of a complex mix of culture, history, custom and religion. Changing these is a
difficult task. There is no doubt that compared to more developed countries, ideas about
the roles of men and women are more deeply held in Pakistan. However there is also no
doubt that change has started to take place. Efforts, like those afore-mentioned, are
gradually paying off as slow but sure change in the attitudes of people over time has been
witnessed. Though the number of such individuals might be considered insignificant, yet
their mere existence is encouraging for people who put in immense effort to curb the
exploitation of women in our surroundings. The increase in percentage of the girls going
to school, the increase in female literacy rate, the increase in the percentage of women in
the labor force, the decrease in population growth rate and the fertility rate, while in some
cases not very impressive numerically, point to a change in the right direction.

Role of Women

Education, the wide availability of information through the radio, television and cable, all
give a broader perspective to the viewers and show them that women can play a number
of important roles other than being wives and mothers. Pakistani women are taking an
active part in the management of NGOs. In varying numbers, they are engaged in all
sectors of the economy, ranging from nuclear technology, post harvest food care, animal
husbandry, petro-chemicals, education, media, healthcare, diplomatic service, social
services to research and management etc. A more recent phenomenon has been women’s
entry into the uniformed services. Women now make up an increasingly significant
proportion of the police force. The Airport Security Force also has a large complement of
women. Women are also receiving training as air-guards. The first woman Major General
was appointed in the Army Medical Corps in 2001. Women are also being recruited in

19
the regular armed forces. For instance they are serving as air-traffic controllers and as
pilots in supporting roles in the air- force.

20
 OVERVIEW OF PAKISTAN’S “BANKING
SECTOR”

Today, Pakistan offers a promising ground for financial experimentation and innovation.
Pakistan’s banking industry has seen brisk growth in banking assets, which today stand at
around $3,693 billion. The profitability of banks is at an all time high and unprecedented.
Pakistan, like the rest of Asia, is growing fast and the rise in per capita income,
emergence of the middle-income group and relative wealth increases altogether bring
with them new demands for the retail banking industry. Among others, both investors and
industry are seeking better investments and financing alternatives and solutions, with
demand for private debt, asset based and mortgage based securities, credit derivatives and
hedge products now emerging from different segments of the economy and population.
Pakistan shows immense potential through its banking sector, which can be made better
by careful investments, especially in human capital.

Employees, as in every other industry, are crucial to the success of the banking industry
as well. Upon being questioned about the future of the banking industry of Pakistan, Mr.
Syed Ali Raza, Chairman of the country’s largest National Bank of Pakistan stated,

“ Banks will have to engage qualified professionals for providing specialized banking
products and services to their customers, reorganization of existing systems as well as
infrastructure with de-centralized work processes. The human resource factor plays a
critical role maintaining the efficiency and profitability level of the bank in future.
Career planning development would be of essence for efficient banking industry in
Pakistan, whose volume of business is expected to expand enormously in future ”

This serves to further emphasize on the importance of recruits for the efficiency of
banks.

According to the Labor Force Survey 2003-2004, the overall labor force participation rate
in the banking sector was 30.41 percent. In today’s era human resources are as important
as financial resources to any organization. The Banks need to develop their human
resources for future challenges and produce professionals having the desired expertise for
specialized banking like Treasury functions, SME financing and Islamic Banking etc.
This is the need of the hour that banks should develop their own Human Resources. To
deal with this issue, banks may enhance their collaboration with the educational
institutions. These challenges as mentioned before are crucial in determining the long run
robustness of the banking industry. In addition to this, there are a number of challenges
that have emerged following the most recent macroeconomic developments in the
domestic and global economy, in short, external challenges.

We have chosen the banking industry for our hypothesis because of its increased
importance in our economy as mentioned above.

21
DETAILED FINDINGS

22
 Data collection

Data used is collected from the Pakistani banking industry, Karachi. Data is sorted
depending on the gender of the employee, his or her designation and the concerned
department by help of questionnaires, which was previously prepared by me, and
employees were asked to fill the questionnaire out with honesty and without any bias.

The total sample size was 200 and therefore I sent out 20 questionnaires each to the
following banks:

• Citi Bank
• Habib Metropolitan Bank
• Muslim Commercial Bank
• ABN AMRO
• Bank Alfalah Ltd.
• Standard Chartered Bank
• Meezan Bank Ltd.
• Bank Al Habib Ltd.
• HSBC
• United Bank Ltd.

There were 121 females and 79 males who filled the questionnaires

Employees according to their Gender

140
121
Number of Employees

120
100
79
80
60
40
20
0
Female Male
Gender

23
 • Ratio of Males and Females in Department of Bank

Ratio of male employees in banking sector was more than female employees because of
more workload could be placed on males as they are treated as dominant in our
community and females are always thought weaker than males.

The other reason behind low ratio of women in banks are that very less women apply for
banks and it’s a very stressful job and work load is high because people have to work
long hours and dead lines which employees have to meet which women usually don’t
prefer because of family issues.

My survey stated that a lot of females are employed in marketing departments, sales,
customer relations and few in human resource departments. In core banking such as
corporate, investment banking, treasury and credit analysis very few female employees
are employed and there is a norm that males have more growth than female employees
because of their dominating nature and they could leads more efficiently than women

According to my survey I found that on an average ratio of male employee to female

employee in various banks is 3:1

" Average" Ratio of Male to Female Employees 3:1

Male
Male Female Female
75% 25%

24
 • Current Head of the Department

In our survey 133 employees had males as their department head, which makes up to
66.5% and 67 employees had female employees as their head which makes up to 33.5%

The reason behind so many males as head of the department is that educational
backgrounds of males are much stronger than females. Females think that MBA is their
limit but man goes for higher certifications after MBA such as ca, cfa, frm etc

The other reason behind more as head of department is that males feel weak when they
work under a female and they don’t have a smooth working relationship and in Pakistani
culture male doesn’t want females to dominate them because females are always thought
as a weaker sex.

Communication barriers was another reason, because when there is a male which is head
of the department he communicates more effectively to both male and female
subordinates as compared to a head of department which is female because males have
more positive approach in their leadership

Head of the Department

140 133
Number of Employees

120
100
80 67
60
40
20
0
Male Female
Gender

25
 • Discriminatory Act Taken place

There is a general tendency among the masses that holds the view that the banking sector,
being relatively new and ‘modern’, is free of discriminatory practices. There are a
disturbing number of cases, which we came across during our analysis that portray the
pessimistic, cynical treatment of women in the Pakistani banking industry. Though most
of our respondents preferred not speaking about them, but internal sources revealed to us
some upsetting cases.

In my survey most women were facing male dominance in their working environment as
well as the documents, which were witnessed by women, have less value as compared to
male witness of documents. Males were assigned much more workload than women
because of the thinking that males are much stronger than women to hold more workload.
Womens faced open display of Chauvinism and men regard women as chattel. They think
that they should be meek and submissive. Even if there is a wrongdoing on part of the
men, they think it is ‘obligatory’ for women not to report such cases. However, if a
female turns out to be audacious, unlike their expectations, they leave no opportunity
unveiled to make her remorseful for such an act.
There is a perception in banking sector that females are not as much committed towards
their work as compared to males in banks and this is the main reason why discrimination
takes place further more females are preferred in banks to do mostly indoor work while
on the other hand males can do both indoor and outdoor work easily.

Females have the upper hand in dealing and interacting with customers in branches,
which gives a good impression on clients, and they feel more satisfied with the working
of the bank.

In some banks there is no female policy because banks don’t prefer hiring female
employees because they think that working environment will be disturbed and males
would not be able to focus on their work properly.

Gender and power can only be understood in terms of the social structures and how they
distribute values in Pakistani society. Looking at the general values, social structures and
cultural orientation of the Pakistani population, one finds women in the country as the
most oppressed social and political class. Dependence, passivity, low self-esteem and
denial of even some of the basic rights characterize their general status.

Gender equality has a direct impact on economic growth and the reduction of income
poverty by raising productivity, improving efficiency, increasing economic opportunities
and empowering women.

26
 • Equal Pay to both genders

The Equal Pay Act requires that equal wages be paid to men and women who perform
jobs that require substantially equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and that are
performed within the same establishment under similar working conditions.

According to my survey 145 people had their views that men and women were getting
the same pay which makes 72.5% and 55 people were facing discrimination of pay in
their work environment which makes 27.5%

Pay Scale of Male and Female Employees

145

160
140
120
100
55
80
60
40
20
0
Equal Pay scale Discrimination in Pay
Scale

In most of the banks pay scale is based on job position, education qualification, and work
experience therefore less discrimination is found in regard to pay

But in sum banks differences in pay scale does exist because males have to support their
whole family and males are paid more as compared to women.

As far as pay differences were concerned Men on the same level were paid more relative
to Women, who, according to sources were relatively more capable and hardworking.
However, these differences reflected discrimination against Women as opposed to Men.

According to my survey I didn’t found any differences in pay scale in foreign banks but
in local banks men were paid more than women and there was a lot of discrimination in
regard to pay scale.

27
 • Gender biasness in benefits and perks to Male and
Females

According to my Survey 148 of the people which makes 74% think that as for benefits
and perks are concerned gender biasness is not involved rest 52 people which makes 26%
thought that discrimination does take place in regard to benefits and perks to male and
females are concerned.

Reason behind this is that paid leaves, vacations, incentives, bonuses, and medical which
are the benefits and perks given to employees are comparatively equal to both genders. It
is basically given on the seniority basis.

Loans which are granted to employees at lower interest than market are given to males
easily as compared to women because there is a perception that female could leave the
bank whenever they want because of family issues.

Gender Biasness in Benfits and perks for Male

and female Employees

148
150
Yes
No
100

52
50

0
Yes No

28
 • Glass ceiling used for not permitting women to secure
higher position in Banks

157 people responded in a positive manner and stated that there was no culture of Glass
ceiling in their relative banks which restricts female employees to secure higher positions
in an organization that makes 78%% and 43 employees which makes 22% stated that
Glass ceiling was used in their banks and Males were dominating in every department of
the Bank.

Concept of Glass Ceiling in the Bank

22%

Yes
No

78%

Education has come to the aid of women here because now the concept is changing as to
only men should be the heads rather many people believe that organizations operating
under a women head works far better.

To remove glass ceiling women have to prove themselves by working hard and they
should have the desire and passion to reach to the top-level position. Yes glass ceiling
does exist but only women can change this concept of this glass ceiling by their
performance and they should keep a balance between their work commitments and family
commitments and none of these factors should over lap each other.

They should work more professionally to change the mindset or culture of glass ceiling,
which consistently persist in Pakistani banking sector. This type of glass ceiling should
be broken and only females can break it because it’s a male dominated society therefore
male doesn’t want females to lead them and to come at the top therefore measures should

29
be taken by females by continuous hard work and commitment only then they can
overcome this barrier.

Employee stated

“Nothing major but a general observation, females are not considered for overseas
postings. It is presumed that their family will not permit them. They should at least
be given the right to choose.”

Women have to prove to their questioning male counterparts that they have risen to these
positions not on the basis attractiveness but on their genuine brilliance and competence.
In addition of an "attractive" female is sure to increase the attention and attract the
clients. This is especially true when women working in the marketing field are perceived
as trying to sell themselves to sell the product. The minute designations like "Public
Relations" and "Client Executives" are attached to women the sly and suggestive look on
men's face tells the story about how the male mind works.

Thus image of the professional female has been stereotyping this belief in nearly all-
managerial ranks - i.e. that women may be good for routine work, but to lead and manage
organizations, you need men. Such discriminatory and biased opinions will of course be
more prevalent in the under-developed societies

30
 • Recruitment of employees of one gender to those of other

There were several different answers to this question but most people were of the view
that recruitment of one gender to other may depend on the education, job requirement,
skills needed and work environment as well as appearance of the employee, his or her
communication skills because every bank needs a well cultured and well dressed
employee. Intellectual capabilities also play an important role in recruitment process.

Males could work better in stress full conditions as compared to women because they
could meet short deadlines and can take more challenging work than women, this is an
important factor of discrimination because many females decision making was not valued
as much as compared to male decision making.

For example customers interacted with females at the front office or reception more
comfortably and they are attracted to the treatment which females gives them because
women are more polite, soft spoken and understanding therefore female are hired in such
cases on the other hand in Analysis departments such as treasury, corporate, credits more
men are hired because of heavy work load and perception is that males have more
accuracy than females.

This makes gender mainstreaming critical to the success in Pakistan. Gender

mainstreaming is a strategy for making the concerns of women and men and their
collective and individual experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation
and evaluation of policies and programs in all aspects so that they benefit equally.

Women’s empowerment therefore needs to be made an integral part of broader issues

such as health, education, and economics and decision-making bodies to yield long-term
transformation of society.

31
 • Discrimination cases in local working environment

125 people said Discrimination cases does take place in local working environment,
which is 62.5% and 75 employees were of the view that discrimination cases does not
prevails in Banking environment which makes 37.5%.

Discrimination Cases in Local Working

Environment

140
125
120
100
75
80 Yes
60 No
40
20
0
Yes No

The reason for discrimination is the perception of head of the department that females are
weaker than males and males could do more work as compared to women for example
they could do late sittings for completing as much work as they can. The other reason for
discrimination is lack of education of females, which tends to become an important factor
why discriminations take place. Personal liking may be another factor for discrimination
between men and women employees.

The constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan gives equal rights to both men and
women. However, in practice men are more equal than women are. The reality gives a
picture where women rarely appear in positions of power. Low-participation of women
are culturally and socially determined traits, and the traditional male-dominant society of
Pakistan has done very little to meaningfully empower women. The low social status of
women because of the customs of largely feudal and tribal culture pose the biggest barrier
in the way of women's involvement in an organization.

Males think that there is no need to give more decision-making power to females to
handle affairs of the banks, mainly because they perceive females to have less

32
knowledge. In order to increase female autonomy and empowerment, there is a need to
encourage the role of females in decision-making and to discourage the stereotyped
thinking among males and females within the society.

Discrimination of genders can be reduced by increasing female education and by

providing extra facilities to female workers like skill training facilities and transport
facilities. This will have important implications keeping in view the increased

Women must be given the chance to work themselves and to support their families
through creation of decent employment opportunities that help them secure productive
and remunerative work in conditions of freedom, security and human dignity. Promoting
decent work as a fundamental instrument in the global quest for gender equality will go a
long way in raising incomes and opportunities for women to support their families.

Moreover, employees relate,

“Since there are so many men, and just 2 of us women, it seems quite awkward. Also
some men tend to get excited about working with women, so they may start
messaging and calling you and saying weird things which can be classified as
discrimination. Apart from this, there is no other serious problem about working
with men.”

33
 • Effect of Marital Status for employment promotion

110 people were of the view that marital status does affect employment promotion
opportunities that makes 55% and 90 employees believed that marital status does not
affect employment promotion opportunities, which makes 45%

Effect of M arital Status for Employment

Promotion

No
45% Yes
Yes No
55%

According to my survey I came across to know that 49% women working in Banks are
single or engaged, 42% are married, 9% are divorced or separated.

34
 Marital status of Women in the Banks

Divorced or
Seperated
9%
Single or
engaged
49%
Married
42%
Single or engaged
Married
Divorced or Seperated

In most of the Banks marital status did effected chances for employment promotion like
single women are usually more preferred for promotion because they are young and they
could be employed at the front office or reception while married women are also
employed but they are given less opportunities for promotion because there is an
uncertainty that if they will have children they would leave the job.

• Treatment of Co workers in regard to males and females

In my survey I took views of many employees and I got to know that in some banks Co
workers do treat male and females in a different manner.89 employee have their views
that Co workers treat both genders equally which makes 44.5% but 111 employees were
of the view that different treatment was given by co workers to male and females in
Banking environment which makes 55.5%.

35
 Treatment of Co-workers to both Male and Female
Employees

111
120 89
100
80
60
40
20
0
Yes No

According to my research I found out that Co-workers attitude towards females was
better than Co-workers attitude towards male. Men were usually polite with female
workers as compared to male workers and also men tried to impress female by their work
further more I came across many stories of male employees flirting with their female co-
workers inside the Bank.

• Effect of Gender biasness in Delegation of Authority

155 employees think that gender biasness does play an important part in delegation of
Authority, which makes 77.5% and 45 employees think that gender biasness has no role
in delegation of authority, which makes 22.5%.

36
 Role of Gender Biasness in Delegation of
Authority

23%

yes
No

77%

The reason for gender biasness in delegation of authority is that Pakistan has a male
dominated society, women are in minority and are only considered competent for certain
routine lower management positions. When it comes to the top management ranks there
will be little incidence of female dominance.

In the underdeveloped countries where the historical role of women is confined to the
four walls of the parents or husband's house, the female member is perceived as an
economic burden. Lack of education and lack of earning power makes these societies
wish for male off spring since they can share the economic burden of the family.

• Working hours for both genders

129 employees had the perception that males had more extended hours work than females
which makes 64.5% and 71 employees think that same working hours are allotted to
Male and females which makes 35.5%.

37
 Different Working Hours for Opposite Sex

140
129
120

100

80
71
60

40

20

0
Yes No

According to my survey Different working hours for men and women is because of
transport problems for women which is a major issue, secondly women have family
issues in context of coming home late therefore in many banks women are allowed to go
home early but men have extended work hours because they don’t have the issue of going
home late.

• Equal training opportunities to both genders

182 employees thinks that there is an equal training opportunities for both Male and
females in Banking sector which makes 91% and 18 employees think that both male and
females doesn’t get equal training opportunities which makes 9%.

38
 Equal Training Opportunities for both Genders

200
182
180
160
140
120
Yes
100
No
80
60
40
18
20
0
Yes No

Equal training opportunities are given to both female and male employees whether it is
Management training program, on job Training or different training program to enhance
the skills of workers. The reason for equal training opportunities is that both men and
women have to work in the same environment, they both have to interact with same type
of clients and they both have to analyze risk related to the lending and borrowing of
money by the bank. Therefore both are given equal training opportunities in order to
reduce errors made by employees.

• Client Attitude towards Males and Females

39
According to my survey 156 people were of the view that Clients attitude towards male
and female are different which makes up to 78% and 44 employees thought that there
was no difference of attitude of Clients towards male or females which makes 22%.

Difference of Client's attitude towards Male and

Female Employees

Yes
78% 22% No

Client attitude difference was seen in Banking sector, Clients were more polite towards
women employees as compared to male employees it is due to our culture in which more
respect is given to women. Some clients also passed flirty comments to the female
employees and tried to make friends with them, which were not liked by female
employees, and many female employees of banks had the same complaint.

• Leaves for men and women

40
My study stated that 167 employee were of the view that women got more days off than
man considering special circumstances like maternity leaves which makes 83.5% and 33
employees was of the opinion that both genders gets equal days off which makes 16.5%.

More Leaves for Women than Men

180
167
160
140
120
100
80 Yes
No
60
40 33
20
0
Yes No

Banks have a number of responsibilities to female employees who become pregnant. For
instance, if a woman becomes pregnant, and with the advice of her doctor asks for a
position that is less strenuous or hazardous, the Bank must transfer her to another position
if it has one, or can make one without being "unduly burdened."

Banks requires that if any female employee who plans to take a pregnancy leave should
give the Bank reasonable notice of the date the leave will start and how long it is
expected to last.

• Appropriate Actions to overcome gender discrimination

41
Men are perceived as the masters of women's destiny in a Pakistani society and they
assume a critical role and sensitive responsibility in changing the face of a difficult
situation. They are considered as social gatekeepers and are entitled to certain privileges
by virtue of their superior duties. It is inevitable for them to identify, understand and
analyze the socially determined discriminations, rules and roles for men and women both.

Strict rules and regulations on discrimination should be followed with harsh punishments.
Heads of department should realize and build such environment where equality prevails
and they should change their approach and work more professionally by treating
everyone in the working environment equally.

Banks should keep checks on employees to ensure that discriminatory practices do not
prevail in the bank. Such policies should be mentioned in the rules and regulations as
well as in the employment contract. There should be surprise visits by top management or
people assigned who would look into such discrimination cases

The organization should implement rules and behaviors that all employees are expected
to follow. Training and punishments might help establish the grounds expected to be
followed. Top management should set an example and eliminate all activities and
procedures, which discriminate against any sex, in most cases women. Employees must
learn to respect each other and work amicably

Gender discrimination needs to be taken seriously before it leads to severe discrimination

cases. Give employees lectures on the topic, and communicate the pros of no
discrimination and the cons of discrimination. This will make them realize the
seriousness of the issue and will enable them to get rid of it

Anonymous employees from Faysal Bank Ltd,

“Talk to your employees and tell them that you respect both genders, unless you
have homosexuals and lesbians working for you too, then it would be 3 or 4 genders.
Discriminatory behavior should be penalized. Top management should keep an open
door policy where people discriminated against can complain”.

Mr. Ali Dossa, Habib Metropolitan Bank,

“In my opinion the management should look into the matter and consult the
employees who are being made the target. Such issues need to be solved at an early
stage to avoid any kind of unforeseen event.”

An anonymous employee, Citi Bank,

42
 “Level of discrimination can only be eradicated if equal opportunities are
provided to both genders to prove their abilities.”

Mr. Syed Habib Ahmed, Habib Metropolitan Bank,

“Tougher consequences should be set if one is found guilty of such an act.

Gender discrimination is a term that many people are not aware of, thus employees
should be made aware of their rights and the appropriate authorities to approach if
they ever come across such situations. There should be guidelines set within every
organization.”

Ms. Sana Zafir, Bank Alfalah Ltd.,

“Such discrimination can be overcome by delegating the tasks equally to female

and male employees.”

An anonymous employee, UBL,

“Hiring more women to improve ratios. Stricter punishment for petty

harassment.”

Ms. Fatima Mariam, MCB,

“Education of men is more in higher management therefore women must be

educated equally to men to compete with them and then only they can come to the
higher positions in banks and eliminate discrimination.”

An anonymous employee, UBL,

“Education is the key to eliminate gender inequality”

Ms Syed Raza, Meezan Bank

“Escalate to top management or HR”

Anonymous employees, HSBC:

“Have better gender ratios.”

“More educated employees.”
Mr. Fahad Jafferi, MCB,

43
 “Social attitudes towards women in all aspects of life need to be addressed and
a positive attitude towards gender equality needs to be engendered in the mindset of the
population.”

Ms Tabita Zafar, ABN AMRO,

“Pass on the discrimination as to the seniors involving HR to remove the

obstacle"

Ms Sumayra Ali, ABN AMRO

“Heads of department should realize and build such environment where

equality prevails and stricter policies and harsh punishments for the culprits”

As far as the banking sector is concerned, a Press Conference of Women across the globe
was held. In the conference, Karen Mason, of the World Bank, said that: -

“Women’s empowerment was vital for achieving the Millennium Goals. In terms of
reducing poverty, women’s productivity was necessary for economic development and,
therefore, needed to reach that goal.”

The representative of Pakistan, Nilofer Bakhtiar, reported to have said that: -

“The Pakistani Government is carrying out an ambitious program of economic

empowerment of women. Providing economic opportunities to women was among the
priorities of the program.” According to her, “special schemes had also been launched
to provide poor women access to micro-credit to help them start businesses. A special
lending institution, the Khushhali Bank, had been set up to provide micro-credit to the
poor. Pakistan had also established the First Women’s Bank, which could best be
described as “of the women, by the women and for the women”.

However, contrary to the normal employment practices followed in the country,

Dr.Shamshad Akhtar, was appointed the governor of the State Bank of Pakistan at the
start of this year. She is the, first woman appointed after fourteen previous governors
since the bank’s inception in July, 1948. The most obvious reason for her selection is her
vast experience in the corporate side. Prior to her appointment as SBP Governor, Dr.
Akhtar had been serving the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as its Director General,
Southeast Asia Department since January, 2004. Earlier, she was Deputy Director
General of the Department. She also held the position of Director, Governance, Finance
and Trade Division for East and Central Asia Department of ADB.

Solutions And Recommendations

44
During our research, I came across many incidents, situations and occurrences that
reinforce the extent to which gender inequality is prevalent in our society. These cases
were quite disturbing.

The conflict of ‘gender discrimination’ is a long term issue, and there’s no one tool which
can bring a change in status quo. Formulating a law is not the solution of the problem.
Laws which have already been made are comprehensive. Need is there to put them in
practice and then evaluating the performance of the law. This campaign should not be
kept on the shoulders of the government of the country, instead domestic, regional and
international organizations should plan and execute these laws in collaboration with the
local governments. Further, mass media can play a vital role in bringing awareness
among the general public. Social reforms of the societies by inviting the leaders of the
societies at a bigger arena can also help to resolve the conflict.

Women Empowerment

Unaware and ill-informed women have been vulnerable targets of mistreatment and bias.
The challenge of gender discrimination has been on the agenda of various organizations
over the years who have tried to spread awareness an empower women so as to reduce
their dependency on the male of the family and provide for themselves. Education is a
powerful tool that can empower women and help them compete with men in the labor
market for better jobs. Although its impact becomes evident over a decade or two, yet it
is an effective tool if used wisely to combat poverty and discrimination.

Media

Media plays an important role in bringing about change in society. The messages that are
played and replayed through media go a long way in determining the mindsets of the
reader, audience and viewer. This has seen the realization and implementation of gender-
sensitizing projects in various sectors within Pakistan.

One such project initiated and funded by the United Nations Development Program
(UNDP) was in partnership with the country's state-controlled television, i.e. the Pakistan
Television or PTV. The Portrayal of Women in Media lasted for five years, ending in
2002. It aimed at sensitizing media professionals of the PTV and members of private
media houses to end stereotype images on the screen.

45
Likewise attempts have been made to develop a sensitized code of ethics for the print
media. The need is especially felt when the print media plays upon images and stories
that not only portray and reinforce the stereotypes, but are also gender discriminatory.

A particular case constantly reminds one of how the print media can play a negative role.
A few years ago, a young woman was murdered brutally in Islamabad. Certain
newspapers made it a point to assassinate the victim's character in a manner that justified
the crime. As if that was not enough, some of the newspapers printed the picture of the
slaughtered head. The portrayal and reporting of the case was not only gender-biased, it
was also grotesque and insensitive.

Gender Sensitive Code Of Ethics

A gender sensitive code of ethics for the print media was the subject of the regional
conference held somewhat recently in Islamabad organized by UKS, a research, resource
and publication center on women and media. Delegates from neighboring countries
including Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka had been invited to present a
picture of their countries and share their views on how a gender-sensitized code of ethics
could be created. What they discussed at the forum highlights those countries in the
region face a situation similar to the one in Pakistan.

Advertising

Additionally, advertising has been used as an effective tool of communication by the

government and the private sector to support awareness campaigns e.g. media has also
played an effective role in convincing people to send their daughters to schools, yet the
situation remains dramatic especially in the villages and small towns where almost 70 per
cent of the country's population resides.

46
 Conclusion

Analysis shows a high degree of gender inequality in Pakistan. This is largely a

consequence of inequality in labor force participation rate followed by literacy rate and
school participation rate. On the whole gender Inequality has decreased in the 70's,
increase in the first half of 80's and is on the decline in the 90s and 2000.

Today many women work in banks, whether they are single, married with children or
divorced because their earning are more necessary to support a family. Though Bank’s
discrimination in hiring and pay has been discouraged. Despite this gender inequality still
persists in the banking sector. Women remain less likely than men to be active in the
labor force and an average 25% of females are employed in banks.

In some banks there was a different pay scale for men and women with same educational
background, which I usually found in local banks but in foreign banks there was no
difference in pay scale and both male and female employees were earning equally

Education is frequently seen as preparation for the labor force. Levels and types of
education provide entry to occupations and professions. Women with good education
background were hired in banks and were placed in core departments of the bank but still
they were less in number than men. Education and occupational differences remained in
the bank such as most of the women were working as secretaries, in marketing
department, human resource and in core finance departments mostly men were placed.
Thus, differences in experience were also responsible for differences in Men and
women’s pay

Potential measure should be taken by the government to change the regulatory framework
to encourage women’s participation in Banks like elimination of wage differentials and
implementing equal pay act, elimination of glass ceiling, punishment of discrimination
acts and other measures that can promote gender equality in the country.

Our Society has the perception that women should not work and remain at houses, this
perception should change and more education should be provided to women so that they
could compete with men and a culture should be built in which both genders should be
treated and respected equally.

In the end, I would like to say that though gender discrimination does exists in the
banking sector of Pakistan, efforts by the top management are being made to curtail it by
keeping eye on the employees to ensure that discriminatory practices do not prevail in the
banks and also by communicating to employees and telling them about the consequences
of inequality of gender because women’s productivity is necessary for economic
development. Continuous efforts are going on to reduce the discrimination of genders and
banks have been successful to a certain extent.

47
 References

• http://www.hec.gov.pk/htmls/journal_lib/JCR/List_of_Journals.htm

• http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_8-4-2005_pg3_5

• Dawn.com

• http://www.pakistan.gov.pk/divisions/women-development-
division/media/06chp5.pdf

• http://www.discriminationattorney.com/pregnanc.shtml

• http://www.discriminationattorney.com/sex.shtml

• http://www.discriminationattorney.com/glass_ceiling.shtml

• http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/articledetails.php?id=52147

• http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-69006-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html

• http://www.infochangeindia.org/WomenItop.jsp?section_idv=1

• http://www.workplacefairness.org/index.php

• http://sachet.org.pk/home/resources/research_material/research_gender_06.asp

• http://www.financialnews-us.com/

• http--www.brooklaw.edu-students-journals-bjlp-jlp13ii_borgida.pdf

• www.sedc.genderdiscrimination.com

• www.ibp.com

• www.pba.com

• www.spdc.com.pk

• Briefing Paper, Second Generation Reforms, PDF- 2006

• Behavior In Organization, Understanding And Managing The Human Side Of

work by Jerald Greenberg and Robert A. Baron.

48
• US Department of Labor (1992) Employment and Earnings Vol. 39

• Glass Ceiling Commission (1995) Good for Business: Making Full Use Of The
Nations Human Capital

• Heilman, Sex stereotypes and their effects in the workplace, Journal Of Social
Behavior.

• Aluetta , In The Company Of Women. “The New Yorker”.

• Bureau of National Affairs (Employees Relations Weekly)

• “Gender Inequality and Theories of Justice”, Women, Culture, and

Development: A Study of Women Capabilities, World Institute for Developing
Economic Research. (Amartya Sen)

• Gender inequality in developing countries (Aisha Ghaus-Pasha)

• Social Development in Pakistan, Annual Review, Social Policy and

Development Center, Karachi

• The World Bank,” Development in Practice: Towards Gender Equality,

Washington D.C.

• World Bank, “Advancing Gender Equality, From Concept to Action” The

World Bank.

• Socio-Economic Indicator by gender: A Regional Comparison for

Pakistan (Naushaba Khatoon)

49
 APPENDIX

Gender inequality in Banking Sector

(Questionnaire)

Name (Optional) ____________________________

Organization: ____________________________
Department: ____________________________
Designation ____________________________
Age ____________________________
Gender □ Male □ Female

1 What is the ratio of males to females in your department?

□ 1:1
□ 1:1.5
□ 1:2
□ 1:3
Other ___________

2 The current head of the department is male or female?

□ Male
□ Female

3 Have you ever been subjected to any sort of discrimination in your workplace, or if
you know of any discriminatory acts that took place in your presence please state

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

50
____________________________________________________________________
_____

4 The Equal Pay Act requires that equal wages be paid to men and women who
perform jobs that require substantially equal skill, effort, and responsibility Do
you think that this Act is followed in your organization? (Yes or No please state
your views)

□ Yes
□ No
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
___

5 As for fringe benefits and perks are concerned, do you think gender bias is
involved?

□ Yes
□ No

6 Glass ceiling is a term used when female employees are not permitted to secure
higher position in an organization. Do you think that your organization culture
supports glass ceilings? (If Yes/No why?)

□ Yes
□ No
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
_

7 In your opinion, what are the most obvious benefits to prefer recruiting employees
of one gender to those of the other?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____

51
8 Do you think discrimination cases prevail in the local working environment? (If
yes why)

□ Yes
□ No
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
__

9 Does marital status affect opportunities for employment promotion in your

management?

□ Yes
□ No

10 Do your co-workers treat you the same way as they treat people of the opposite
sex at your work place?

□ Yes
□ No

If no, please specify how?

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
___

11 Does gender bias play a role in delegation of authority?

□ Yes
□ No

12 Are different working hours allotted to you relative to people of the opposite sex?

□ Yes
□ No

13 Are there equal training opportunities for everyone, regardless of gender, at your
bank?

□ Yes
□ No

14 Is there a difference between clients’ attitudes towards males and females?

□ Yes

52
 □ No

15 On average, do women get more days off than men, considering special
circumstances, like maternity leave?

□ Yes
□ No

16 If gender discrimination is actually found in an organization, then what do you

think is the appropriate solution to overcome such obstacles?

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

53