The British Council in Pakistan commissioned this study in response to concerns about the under-representation of women in senior leadership positions in higher education in South Asia. Researchers identified existing knowledge on the situation for women in higher education leadership in six countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. 30 interviews were also conducted with women and men in the region.

Recommendations were produced, advising what future actions and interventions for change could be implemented in South Asia.

The study discovered an overwhelming absence of any statistical data in the region on women and leadership - with the exception of Sri Lanka. It also found that gender was an absent category of analysis in most of the higher education policy documentation in the region.

An empirical study found that women are not being identified and prepared for leadership. There is also evidence globally that when women do aspire for leadership, they are frequently rejected from the most senior positions. 

The study concluded that there is an urgent need to revision leadership to make it more attractive and hospitable to women in South Asia.

Summary of Findings

• Poor record on gender equality:
  Five of the South Asian countries in the study - Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka - rank between 68 and 141 out of 142 countries in the Global Gender Gap (WEC, 2014). Afghanistan is unranked.
• Gender is often an absent category of analysis in higher education policy - unless it refers to participation rates of students.
• Quality, rather than equality:
  The dominant discourses in higher education leadership are frequently posed in the gender-neutral language of the knowledge economy with the emphasis on quality assurance, good governance, internationalisation, the digital economy, widening participation and concern for development of capacity in science and technology.
• Where gender policies do exist, there is an absence of attention to strategic management of their implementation.
• There is an absence of gender-disaggregated statistics held at country or regional level with which to inform and evaluate effective policy implementation. The absence of gender disaggregated statistics for staff means that progress is not being monitored or managed.
• The statistics available provide no evidence of any linear trends in the gender distribution of academic staff in higher education, or in academic      leadership. In the context of HE expansion, the numbers of women faculty may have increased, but the low representation of women - particularly in more senior positions - remains substantially unchanged.
• There is an absence of research-based evidence with which to inform policy development on gender and leadership in the region.