The latest decade has seen the inclusion of more women in public administration in Pakistan, signalling a healthy shift towards inclusivity and a diverse approach in public service recruitment. Though the pace is quite low, “every drop counts in making a river”. With barriers diminishing gradually, the future is about to change with a healthy number of female leaders in public sectors, offering a transformation towards community governance where an emotional and caring nature can be used to work on public grievances from within. That is the need of the hour, an increased number of female public administrators.
Be it biologically or socially constructed; women do have a more empathetic build due to their childbearing responsibilities. A study from the University of California collected data from 300,000 participants across 57 countries, to assess the “theory of mind”; and found an advantage with females statistically in recognising mental state and feelings through eye expressions irrespective of familiarity or cultural associations. This confirms higher emotional intelligence, compassion, and perceptiveness than male participants.
This intrinsic quality of compassion is very much needed in a large number of public service and administrative roles, with required adaptability. Women are capable of fostering open and clear communication with the citizens and bringing an honest, clear exchange of grievances. This is what a representative democracy stands for in an ideal condition, i.e. “a leader from among ourselves”. When the public feels heard, it enhances cooperation between them and the administration to make a trustworthy collaboration in decision-making, to make one’s state a better place to live.
According to the 2023 UNDP Report, women in the country (Pakistan) have the smallest share of senior, managerial, and legislative roles in the world, standing at only 4.5%
With women often carrying higher emotional intelligence, they have the capability to work on complex domestic dynamics of administration, manage the conflicts, and play their role in highly effective and informed decision-making, if given the opportunity, education, and relevant support. Women leadership and bureaucrats can bring a collaborative style of working, where their admiring nature can increase job satisfaction and an overall healthy working environment.
Women, making up half of the population in Pakistan, can bring some indispensable perspectives to the public service. Usually, their experiences and skills have been molded by working and living in environments where power roles are held by male domination. This empowers them to understand the system deeply and offer solutions to challenges that may not have been considered previously. According to the 2023 UNDP Report, women in the country (Pakistan) have the smallest share of senior, managerial, and legislative roles in the world, standing at only 4.5%. This indicates the unrepresentativeness of half of the nation. Women’s major representation in the power-held arena, whether in politics, bureaucracy, administrative functions in various departments, etc will indirectly mean addressing the challenges and problems relative to half of the nation’s population.
Already facing a gender bias in countless aspects of life, women rise as peacemakers and leaders will indirectly create a large number of opportunities. By bringing their perspective and innovative approach to key administrative sectors such as healthcare, education, taxation, law-making, and social justice, women can revolutionise traditional practices with the power they will have. For instance, Pakistan has seen several transformative policies and programs led by female leaders in the administration, such as Dr. Sania Nishtar’s educational and social policies, with the latest in the form of the “Ehsas Program”, or Digital Medicare platform “Sehat Kahani” launched by Dr. Sara Saeed. These programs show the expanded impact a women-led initiative can make. According to UNDP Report 2021, a move towards equitable distribution of resources and opportunities, empowerment of women, men, transgenders, and other marginalized sections based on religion and status, and sustainable decision-making can be ensured significantly with women empowerment.
All the above-mentioned factors indicate the qualities required in a true public administrator, to make communal governance possible. Like a family setup needs a female member as a carer and an empath to stabilise it, and so does a country setup. Not all issues need to be dealt with with stern hands. The example of Jacinda Ardern for “Christchurch attacks” and policies during COVID-19 is already known to the world. Fostering strong and quality relations with the public builds "trust", i.e. the only factor through which the government can perform decision-making and policy implementation without any conflict of interest.
The list of women leaders serving around the world is easily accessible to the world with a single click away. What needs to be highlighted is the importance of the feminine side of humanity in the present world which is increasingly becoming a battlefield of physical, financial, social, and cultural wars. The diversity represented by women is beneficial for all species on the Earth. Studies have shown women tend to be of less corrupt and more transparent nature when serving professionally. This does not mean that there are no corrupt practices by women at all, rather it indicates that when it comes to compassion and honesty towards the next person; women are one step ahead of men.