What ’ s happening with women leaders in higher education : Understanding careers for women in the higher education sector of Pakistan

Despite funding opportunities to PhDs and Post-Docs, as well as various faculty recruitment programmes, there are still a number of issues facing academics in Pakistan, especially in building a successful and productive academic career. According to HEC Medium-Term Development Framework II, the HEC is still facing ‘low quality and lack of employability of college and private graduates; lack of appropriately qualified high quality research faculty for universities and lack of capacity for continuous faculty and staff development’. This study aims to provide evidence to support the development of informed strategies for career development for academics in Pakistani Higher Education Institutions, in collaboration with the Higher Education Commission (HEC). This paper delineates key findings and suggests strategies to promote academic careers and scholarship among faculty of HEIs with a specific focus on promoting women.


Introduction
In 2002, the University Grants Commission was modified to create the Higher Education Commission (HEC).It was aimed at developing an improved higher education teaching and research system in Pakistan.Since then HEC has invested heavily in the academic community and has awarded more than 10,000 scholarships to staff to complete PhD programmes and Post-Doc positions, including 6,000 overseas scholarships.Of those overseas scholarships, around 4,000 candidates have already completed their PhDs and returned to Pakistan to work in the university sector (HEC, 2013).
In addition to funding PhDs and Post-Docs, the HEC has introduced programmes such as the Foreign Faculty Hiring Programme (FFHP), Short-term Foreign Faculty Hiring Programme (SFHP) and Visiting Scholars Programme (VSP).These programmes have sought to promote research culture in Pakistan by bringing foreign professors on short-term and visiting positions to serve at various Higher Education Institutes.These programmes have brought in a total of 594 foreign professors, with 60 professors still serving at various public sector universities (HEC, 2013).Despite these efforts, there are still a number of issues facing academics in Pakistan, especially in building a successful and productive academic career.According to HEC Medium-Term Development Framework II, the HEC is still facing 'low quality and lack of employability of college and private graduates; lack of appropriately qualified high-quality research faculty for universities and lack of capacity for continuous faculty and staff development' (HEC,p. 14).The HEC strategic vision's dominant discourse is with regards to 'faculty growth and development for meaningful development in the education sector'.
This study aims to provide evidence to support the development of strategies for career development of academics in Pakistani Higher Education Institutions.

Literature review
In looking at the literature on academic careers, two main areas of interest emerge globally, the changing nature of academic careers and gender issues.Literature is abundant for both of these areas.Highlighted below are the most recent key studies in the field and examples for Pakistan.

Global changing nature of academic careers
Due to the growing numbers of students attending higher education institutions and the increased focus measuring on quality publications, universities worldwide are increasingly working on business models to optimise the return of staff effort on research and teaching, encouraging their staff to take on larger teaching roles and demanding higher quality publications.Scott's (2014) appropriately titled death of 'the don' highlights the recent changes in an academic career in the UK in the introduction to Bryan Cunningham's edited collection on professional life in UK higher education.This collection considers how academic careers have evolved in an environment of increased participation and HE expansion and reflects on: the changing character of higher education work (Temple, 2014), the consequence of national attempts at measuring research output through mechanisms like Research Excellence Framework REF (Brown, 2014) and growing interest in the importance and value of teaching roles (Duncan, 2014).
The tension between teaching demands and research expectations is not unique to the UK.A similar collection of papers in Teichler and Hohle's (2013) edited collection based on data from 12 European countries shows similar changes across Europe and similar consequences for the shape of academic careers, changing nature of work (Kwiek & Antonowicz, 2013), research focus (Drannan et al, 2013) and the value of university teaching (Hohle and Teichler, 2013).
The current experience in Pakistan is similar to those presented above for the UK and Europe.The issue is amplified due to a lack of academics within the system where recruitment and retention is a major issue.Khan et al (2014) consider the lack of organised professional development at Pakistani universities linked to academic burnout.They think burnout is in part due to policy set at university and HEC levels with regards to the measurement of a successful academic career.They suggest policy driven professional development systems within universities.

Gender issues in academic careers
Gender gaps in academic careers are also not unique to Pakistan.Morley (2015) argues that the financial aspect of research has disproportionately disadvantaged women and has led to the underrepresentation of women as research leaders.Her recent work has used data collected from British Council Seminars in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Dubai considering empirical data collected via questionnaires, group and panel discussions and individual presentations.Morley (2014) uses the same data to consider the key enablers, impediments and distractions for women in academic leadership and knowledge production.She discusses seven key themes: women's promotions to inward facing roles in academia, extreme gender imbalance, exploitation of work-life balance arrangements, loss associated with leadership, mentoring and CPD for success, organisational and cultural constraints and female academics often being considered as a third sex, not female and yet not quite male either.The concept of the glass ceiling is often used in the literature to attempt to explain why women are underrepresented globally in academic leadership.Yousaf and Schmiede (2016) attempt to understand the reason for this glass ceiling effect considering the role of exploitation and harassment of female academics, often with male line managers in Germany.This glass ceiling is expanded to consider a glass cliff by McKimm et al. (2015) in the context of medical education.Morley and Crossouard (2015) provide an excellent overview of the issues faced by Pakistani female academics and the state of the literature to date.They highlight the importance of women-only universities in pushing for change.They recommend that in order to implement and monitor change, the HEC collect and report statistical data on the proportion of female academics in academic leadership as a starting point to quantify the scale of the problem.As a result of a lack of quantitative data, many studies considering the gender gap in Pakistani higher education focus on small-scale qualitative studies.One such example is the work by Maryam Rab.In her work, Rab (2010a, b, c) collects life story data from previously unheard women professors in Pakistan to explore issues in moving up the university hierarchy.She finds that few women make this journey successful and suggests that there is scope to improve this and for other similar studies exploring the perspectives of other key stakeholders.
It is evident that a gender gap in academic career progression and opportunities exists across the world.In Pakistan, it is particularly for professors and those in lower administrative posts.

Recruitment and retention issues
Despite recent HEC initiatives to help promote the quality of academic staff at Pakistani universities, the recent literature suggests that there is still an issue finding and retaining sufficient academic staff nationally.
Various studies focus on understanding the determinants of staff turnover at Pakistani universities.Khan et al. (2014) attempt to build a framework to help reduce this turnover based on existing literature.They place particular importance on the commitment of the academic to their institution.Mubarak, Wahab and Khan (2012) focus on pay satisfaction and opportunities to learn and grow.
A recurrent theme is the impact of the lack of support for career development and its association with high turnovers considered by Saleem and Amin (2013).They suggest making academic and institutional human resource career development programmes part of university strategic plans.Boice (1992), Menges and Associates (1999), Caplan (1993), andSorcinelli (1994) debated the complications and challenges facing a new faculty member.Sorcinelli (1994) described this as follows:

Challenges of new faculty and lack of mentoring during induction
New faculty must unravel the organisational structures and values, expectations for performance and advancement, and the history and traditions of their campus setting, ….and the ability….tonavigate these early years is critical to their success and satisfaction with an academic career.(p.474).
In a reflection of the challenges that junior academics face in establishing their career in higher education, Mullen and Forbes (2000) asserted that through mentoring relationships, new academics can receive assistance with learning unfamiliar tasks, developing their research, networking at conferences and within the university, and navigating the political issues in the workplace.This study demonstrates to individual faculty associates how being involved in mentoring relationships 49 accelerates professional and personal understanding and growth.Harnish and Wild (1994) and Luna and Cullen (1995) discovered that through mentoring relationships, both experienced (senior mentor) and less experienced (junior mentee) academics developed greater awareness of their professional roles and responsibilities, which supported professional growth.Wunsch (1994:4) proposed that 'The 21st century will bring new challenges to higher education so that bureaucratic institutions must renew their responsibility to support the developmental needs of staff, students and faculty and recognise the relationship between personal change and organisational vitality'.

Supporting academic careers through mentoring
The literature on supporting academic careers is largely based on more established academic communities in the UK, America and Australia.The main area of interest in this literature is mentoring and its formal and informal use to support academics in their careers.Holloway (2001) discusses the need for an experienced teacher to provide guidance and support to novice teachers and facilitate their professional development.This is in line with Danielson's (1999) view that 'mentoring helps novice teachers face their new challenges'.He argued that mentoring is important to foster the professional development of both new teachers and their mentors.
Mentoring research and practice over the past 15 years has evolved to account for the changing career landscape (Baker, 2014).Researchers have explored the role of mentors in teaching (Hall & Chandler, 2007), offering insights into the mentor's perspectives (Allen, 2007) and have also revealed the dysfunctional side of mentoring for the mentor and the mentee (Eby, Butts, Durely & Ragins, 2010;Lunsford, Baker & Griffin, 2013).Numerous guides are now available to help individuals to become effective mentors (Johnson, 2007;Johnson & Ridley, 2008) and to improve mentoring behaviours (Shea, 2002).

Models of mentoring
Researchers have also run trials on different mentoring models that can support young academics in their career development.A recently developed programme focused on Formative Assessment and Support System for Teachers, which was tested by the California Department of Education in collaboration with the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (Holloway, 2001).It was seen that by engaging with new practices, the experienced teachers were also benefitting from this learning experience.A similar programme aimed at finding a specific model for framing discussions on teaching and learning with a view to develop prospective teachers' pedagogical skills was tested by Giebelhaus and Bowman (2000).This study also concluded that the novice academics who were assigned experienced mentors performed better than those whose mentors were not experienced.Such mentoring programmes suggest a range of possibilities that can be explored to assist young academics to develop their potential, including Formal Mentoring, Informal Mentoring, Peer Mentoring, Group or Consortia Mentoring, Intra-Departmental Mentoring, Inter-Department Mentoring and Research Mentoring.

Research design
The aim of this research report was to provide evidence for the British Council to support their aim to increase the number of women in higher education in academic and administrative positions through international collaborations and local opportunities.The key objectives were to: • increase number of women in higher education in academic and administrative positions • provide opportunities for women's professional development • increase women researchers and research networks • facilitate international linkages and collaborations for Pakistani women • In order to achieve these aims and objectives, the data reported herein were collected to enable a situational analysis of women in higher education in Pakistan.

Method
A mixed methods data collection approach was used.A thematic analysis of 27 interviews (20 females and 7 males) with senior faculty members in private and public higher education institutions in Pakistan is presented.These interviews were undertaken by a British Council interviewer in early 2016.The role of women in Higher Education Institutions in Pakistan and the gateway to improved research and professional development were the dominant discourse of these interviews.
In addition, an online survey was sent to all academic and administrative staff in public HEIs in Pakistan.The survey was completed by 522 faculty members (350 women and 172 men).The questionnaire sought to explore the environment in which academic and administrative staff work, including exploring the role of gender.
Survey and semi-structured interview were used as a research tool to gather information about the potential of the mentoring relationship and research and academic development with gender equality.The surveys were sent online to participants and interviews were taken mostly at the university campuses (in their respective offices) by British Council Pakistan.The surveys were circulated in all public sector universities to young academics and senior faculty members; whereas, the interviews were conducted with senior faculty members from a total of 21 public universities and private universities in Pakistan.

Procedure and analysis
In-depth (Johnson, 2002;Kvale & Brinkman, 2009) semi-structured interviews were conducted and transcribed by the British Council Pakistan, choosing senior faculty members from a total of 21 private and public universities in Pakistan.The transcriptions formed the basis of this analysis.We have not changed the language or expression of words as recorded in the interviews; therefore, the 'interview quotes' are provided as recorded from the participants.The identities of the participants are kept confidential, thus quotes are provided anonymously and are only mentioned as 'interview quote' rather than attributing them to a named participant.Thematic analysis is employed as an appropriate method as it helps to identify, describe, analyse and report themes and patterns in the selected data set (Braun & Clarke, 2006).
The online survey data were provided in EXCEL which was used to produce the graphs within this report.The data were moved into STATA to undertake the descriptive statistical analysis presented here.

Findings and discussion
The study findings are presented under two themes separately which include thematic analysis of interviews and findings from the online survey.

Thematic analysis of interviews
From the analysis of the transcripts of the 27 interviews with senior academic and administrative staff in public and private universities across Pakistan, five key qualitative themes emerged: • Increased awareness to improve research at Pakistani Universities • Women's progress and culture of academia in Pakistan • Barriers and opportunities in women's career pathways • Way forward for personal learning • Gender concerns and support strategies

Research culture and practices at Pakistani universities
In this contemporary era, research has become an essential element to achieve prominence and funding for HEIs (Bosch & Taylor, 2011).There is a new wave of pressure on Pakistani Higher Education Institutes to become research-oriented and an immediate shift is being pushed for a move from traditional teaching focus to 'active research' status.
'….out of the top 500 universities of the world, we were the only Pakistani university who made that list…..the research which comes out of our natural sciences and biological sciences is truly amazing I would say, our faculty publishes in some of the best journals in the world.Social sciences however is lacking behind.It's not where it should be and we are trying to do something about that too'.(Interview Quote, 2015) The understanding towards research culture requires an understanding of the research intensity or research emphasis (Bosch & Taylor, 2011).The understanding of research emphasis has generated awareness towards research intensity.For instance, the United Kingdom's Research Assessment Exercises include parameters like: 'research-led', 'research-driven' and 'research-informed' (stated from most research-intensive to least research-intensive) (Ball & Butler, 2004:90).This scale leads research institutions to vary from each other based on their research emphasis and intensity.

Women's progress and culture of academia in Pakistan
Women empowerment in academic culture is an emerging theme.Malik and Courtney (2011) in their research argued that women's participation in higher education enables them to influence discriminatory practices and provides them with better opportunities.
'We are a male dominating society that is true either we accept it or not ……but when we go higher in hierarchies, we find a marked difference between the number of men and women……women usually have the burden of families as well so women in our profession do not commit longer timings'.(Interview quote, 2015) Even though the Pakistani Constitution grants all citizens equal rights irrespective of gender, the traditional patriarchal structures and customs pose a challenge to women's eminence.

Barriers and opportunities in women's career pathways
There is continuous marginalisation of women faculty in an academic environment, and 'the culture of academia has been described as less than hospitable to women' (Gibson, 2006:1).
"The only thing that goes against me as a woman is 'I being a woman can't do anything'.Let me share one thing, on my second day at university of ……the professor, they had some lunch for me and over there …he (professor) mentioned that today I shared the story with my wife, I said what story?....he shared (with his wife) that there is a huge trouble, his wife asked what trouble?He replied, "our new Vice Chancellor is not 'HE' but it's a 'SHE'."(Interview quote) As described by Rios & Longnion (2002), women faculty normally assess themselves as 'outsiders', feeling constrained as well as secluded in the existing academic culture or because of outside responsibilities.
In Pakistan, to provide a substantial change in women's position, it is essential to provide wider opportunities and safe working environments.Notably, in northern and rural areas, the perception of women's status in society needs to change.Existing literature confirms the feelings shared by participants about the gender gap and suggests training on professionalism and gender equity.

Personal learning-way forward
The need for facilities conducive to improving learning and understanding in the academic environment also emerged as a theme.Discussing from the developed countries context, the participants felt that mentoring relationship between senior and junior academic members should be evolving both skillfully and individually.
'Professional environment should have proper document and message sharing from seniors to juniors on any existing gaps….They don't know that they have to contribute beyond teaching in classrooms'.(Interview Quote, 2015) According to Edmondson, 1996; also cited in Ragins and Kram (2007, p. 285), 'when there is a greater power differential between two people, the likelihood of perceived safety to take learningrelated risks could be lower for both people than when the individuals are roughly equal in power'.This relationship between peers suggests illuminating the areas of concerns to each other with little doubts of reprisal.

Gender support strategies
Gender was found to be an important theme.The participants of both genders presented concerns about women's learning priorities in the workplace.During interviews, male participants expressed dissatisfaction over women prioritising family commitment over job responsibilities even when given equal opportunities and compensation and asserted the importance of mentoring for women.Existing literature has emphasised the significance of mentoring relationship for all people at work irrespective of gender.Many researchers (Burke & McKeen, 1990;Noe, 1988;O'Neil, Horton & Crosby, 1999;Ragins, 1989Ragins, , 1997aRagins, , b, 1999) ) focus on mentoring needs of women to have successful careers.
In order to maximise benefit and opportunities out of a mentoring relationship, schemes need to be developed with the gender and social context in mind.

Analysis of online survey
The online survey data from the 522 questionnaires were analysed.Findings are discussed in the next section.

Demographics of sample: those working in public sector universities
The following figure shows the educational profiles of the faculty who completed the questionnaire: Larger proportions of the respondents are women, although they are under-represented in higher education as a sector.The lower average number of children (1.6) is explained by a large proportion of the respondents having no children (27%) and a significant proportion being unmarried (33%).These characteristics suggest a large proportion of the respondents are relatively young academics.This basic demographic data suggest that the respondents to this survey are more likely to be female and younger than in the entire population.
Figures 3 and 4: The relative youthfulness of the sample is confirmed by the experience measures.The average of 10 years in higher education rather masks the fact that only 24% of the respondents actually have more than 12 years of experience.Therefore, more than half of the sample would be considered as early career researchers and mid-career researchers in the UK.Lack of experience of those who have responded is confirmed, in that only 31% have completed a doctorate, only 38% have received any training to teach and with only 15% having supervised a doctoral student.
As Figures 3 and 4 indicate, least experienced staff is found in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Sindh (SD), whilst for this sample, the most experienced are found in Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).Further regional analysis has not been undertaken due to the small sample size for some regions.
The results of this section suggest the relative lack of experience, both in socio-economic measures and work experience characteristics.This confirms the view from the literature that the academic community in Pakistan is relatively young and may benefit from the development of mentoring opportunities.

Publications and general research profile of Pakistani academics
The following graphs show the situation of the publications by academics in HE in Pakistan.

Indicators to reflect engagement with research
Figures 5 and 6: The profiles of these staff look more akin to some of the UK post-1992 institutions rather than the more traditional research-focused universities.This general comparison suggests that most academics are very teaching focused (17% not publishing a journal paper at all and more than 50% making less than one journal publication a year).In such environments, any research is rewarded highly, maybe even too high.
Figures 5 and 6: Beyond the low publication rates, other measures of general academic research report worrying signs of low-level research activity.55% of respondents are not linked to a research network, 34% do not have co-authors outside of their own HEI, 82% have not held a research grant at all and only 4% have visiting posts outside of Pakistan (8% within Pakistan).This data suggest that research in Pakistan is still in the early years, with little research and engagement with the wider academic community.The analysis also explores gender differences in these measures.Although on an average, women engage more with research networks, men are more successful on average at publishing.

Web-based academic activity
The following figure shows the level and situation of engagements of academics with online research and learning.With academics being encouraged to publish worldwide and be part of the wider academic community, many academics maintain a web-based presence as a way to promote their research and improve citations.At times of promotion to professor in the UK, academics are required to provide indices for their publications, which is easier to undertake with a Google Scholar or similar profile.With growing numbers of academics in Pakistan being trained in the UK and US, where this is an important part of academic life, it is interesting to see if this trend is also seen in Pakistan.
Figure 7 reports which standard web-based research networks, used by academics in the UK and US, the academics in Pakistan are signed up to.Note that the proportions in the table are for those who report using at least one web presence.In the figure below, we have also corrected these responses for the large proportion of the sample, around three quarters, reporting no web presence at all. Figure 7 shows that even with the most used tool, LinkedIn, less than a quarter are engaging.In addition, the majority, 84% of those working in public universities, report not having a university web profile.These levels of engagement with the wider academic community are surprisingly low.If the visibility of research in Pakistani universities is to improve, then academics of all levels need to be willing to engage significantly more with online research networks.At the very least, universities should be challenged to provide an online profile of all academic and administrative staff on their websites.Mas-Bleda et al (2014) find that effective use of the social web can help to improve citation and visibility of the academic.Mentoring programmes should include the benefits of interactions with the social web.

Career paths in higher education in Pakistan
The forthcoming graphs show the situation of changing the careers of academics in Pakistan.The average length of time in higher education is 10 years and around half of the respondents have had at least one job change.Around 50% of those who do experience a job change, a promotion did not occur on entry to the role.This pattern of job changes without promotion is more dominant for married women, which may be the consequence of moving employer to keep a family together, that follows a job move of their husband, rather than for career development.
The next graph shows the perceptions of junior staff on constraints and enablers in career development.

Figure 9. Junior academic perception of constraints and enablers
Figure 9: Those in junior academic posts were asked about their views on the key constraints and enablers in starting a career and in progressing on a career path in academia in Pakistan.Figure 9 considers human capital, social network, financial assets, processes and macroeconomic social trends that are most highly reported as constraints and enablers in entering and progressing in an academic career in Pakistan.It is clear from the figure that each factor is more strongly associated with being 'enablers' to starting, as well as progressing a career in higher education than 'constraints' are.
Figure 9 (Entering a Career): Of all the factors, the human capital enablers have the highest scores, with the most important enabler being qualifications.This is a reflection of the HEC policy to improve the proportion of academic staff with a doctorate; clearly, the community is aware that a doctorate is important to start a career in higher education in Pakistan.The next two most important enablers are soft skills, those of confidence and commitment to the job.The fourth most important enabler is a process, that of institutional policies.Linked to the highest scoring social network variables colleagues and associates, it is clear there is a strong institutional role to play in enhancing career opportunities for junior academics.
Figure 9 (Progression in Career): Once again enablers are reported more strongly than constraints and human capital enablers are the most important.The importance of the institution is moderated and replaced with more human capital factors around work experience.This appears to be reassuring that once in the role, the perception of junior academics is that progression is much more dependent on their own human capital than other institutional, social network and macro variables.
It appears from the data that the progression presently is more dependent on Human Capital.Institutional Strategies to improve the environment and culture of academia needs to happen.

Gender difference and links to factors such as human capital, social networks, processes and financial assets
The next graphs show the staff views on gender bias in Higher Education.The senior academic and administrative staff clearly expressed gender differences and their thoughts on this were strongly linked to all of the factors considered.The next figures reflect perceived enablers and constraints for reducing the gender gap.Two human capital factors score more than 70% for factors which promote the number of women in higher education, both in terms of reducing the gap and promoting career progression.These are qualifications, suggesting that more PhDs held by women would help to level the playing field, and confidence, suggesting a role for mentoring and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) to help women develop the confidence to be considered for these roles.The next important factor after the human capital factors is institutional culture.This is strongly associated with the gender gap, suggesting that there is a role for more than the empowerment of women for the universities in addressing wider institutional culture issues.Riaz, N., Sultan, S., Dossa, N., & Aftab, F. (2018).What's happening with women leaders in higher education: Understanding careers for women in the higher education sector of Pakistan. New Trends and Issues Proceedings on Humanities and Social Sciences. [Online].5(3), pp 128-145.Available from: www.prosoc.eu141

Summary of the findings
The results of this comprehensive situational analysis of higher education labour market and academic careers in Pakistan could be used to develop strategies for academic career development by the HEC and provide information for universities looking to develop their staff as a way of reducing turnover and filling vacancies.
The thematic analysis of interviews highlighted five qualitative themes: increased awareness of the need to improve the research at Pakistani universities, a general concern about women's progress in higher education careers and the role of the culture of academia in Pakistan, the identification of barriers and opportunities for women following a career within a public university in Pakistan, the need for academic staff to actively engage with personal learning as a way of developing their career and a wide range of gender concerns linked to the development of support strategies to help ensure that the best quality staff are promoted and retained within higher education in Pakistan.
The analysis of the online survey of 522 academic and administrative staff employed by public universities within Pakistan provides evidence across six broad areas.The demographic structure of academic and administrative staff within public universities is younger, less experiences and less qualified than in countries such as the UK with more mature higher education.As a consequence, the average Pakistani academic has a rather low level of publications and engagement with the wider academic community globally.Surprisingly, given the demographic nature of the higher education community, web-based academic activity is very limited across the sector and leads to less global visibility of the research work undertaken within Pakistan.Successful career paths in higher education for both men and women are thought by young academic staff to be highly dependent on human capital factors, especially holding a PhD, and are stronger for entry to the industry than progression.Finally, evidence from the senior academic and administrative staff suggests that gender bias plays a large role in obtaining a post and securing a successful career path.
The evidence of this situational analysis suggests that there is scope for the HEC to consider the development of strategies to help support individual academics and the entire academic community to fulfil their potential.Such support needs to take special notice of issues around gender for more junior academics.

Conclusion, discussion and recommendations
This report recommends HEIs and the HEC to consider the development of strategies to help support careers of individual academics and the entire academic community.Based on the findings and global literature, a few key strategies are proposed for addressing the issues around academic and professional development, particularly for women faculty.

Addressing gender concerns and creating support strategies
• Key hindrances for women academics include lack of supportive cultures, structures and mentoring opportunities for professional and scholarship development.

• Higher qualifications (PhDs) and confidence development through Continuous Professional
Development would help to level the playing field for women in HE leadership.• There is a need to maintain gender-segregated data at the institutional level to monitor and ensure gender equity at each level.• Male-female faculty and staff ratio in Higher Education Institutions should be more even.This is possible through developing and following a strategy for recruitment and induction to ensure gender equity.

Introducing strategies for creating a research culture
The study reveals the HEIs lack a thriving learning and research culture and environment to support academic leadership and scholarship.A standard research culture that provides sufficient support to its researchers and staff, and has impact and visibility needs to be ensured by the HEC through taking policy measures.

Using mentoring as a key strategy to promote academic careers
The study revealed that novice researchers both men and women struggle to adjust in HEIs.HEC can contextualise and implement successful models of mentoring from other developed countries whereby experienced mentors provide guidance and support to novice mentees.

Models of mentoring
Researchers have also run trials on different mentoring models that can support young academics in their career development.HEC can conduct research and develop collaborative networks with international institutions to promote academics' development in Pakistan.Mullen and Forbes (2000) established mentoring relationships as an effective tool for junior academics to learn and adjust in new roles.

Peer mentoring
With the lack of experienced, senior academics in many Pakistani universities and growing numbers of junior academics, peer mentoring potentially offers the opportunity to provide mentoring within his differently demographic structured academic community.One such example of peer mentoring is the role of Women's Writing Collectives to help female academics to support each other's writing and offers the potential to boost publications of the participants.

Group or consortia mentoring
A more formal and traditional approach within UK HEIs to provide opportunities for group mentoring is the development of formal research groups.These are often a collection of academics across a department/faculty/HEI with common interests who form a research centre, headed by a senior academic to share research ideas, present work, get peer feedback on drafts before submission to journals and offers to work on joint research grants or bids for research funding.

Research mentoring
Finally, plugging into the research community nationally and globally can help to provide opportunities for research mentoring conferences and other meetings and visiting positions.Keep et al. (1996) describe a general lack of consistency and integration of personnel management approaches within universities and across the sector as a whole1 .HEIs in Pakistan also lack 360-degree appraisal systems which could contribute to promoting professional development of staff.Shelley (1999) suggests exploring good practices for performance-related pay in higher education.

Figure 1 .Figure 2 .
Figure 1.Proportion of women in academic roles in Pakistan and the UK 2014-2015

Figure 3 .
Figure 3. Percentage of university staff by qualification

Figure 5 .
Figure 5. Publishing rates by Pakistani academics

Figure 7 .
Figure 7. Web presence of academics in public universities in Pakistan

Figure 8 .
Figure 8. Job change to lead to promotion

Figure 8 :
Figure8: The average length of time in higher education is 10 years and around half of the respondents have had at least one job change.Around 50% of those who do experience a job change, a promotion did not occur on entry to the role.This pattern of job changes without promotion is more dominant for married women, which may be the consequence of moving employer to keep a family together, that follows a job move of their husband, rather than for career development.

Figure 10 .
Figure 10.Senior academic and administrative staff views on gender bias in higher educationFigure 10: Much higher levels of perceived gender bias exist at an entry to higher education than in terms of career progression; this is especially true for administrative roles in higher education, regardless of the type of post.

Figure 11 .
Figure 11.Perceived enablers and constraints for reducing the gender gap as seen by senior HEI staff Figure 11 considers the potential factors which explain this perception of very high levels of gender bias.Two human capital factors score more than 70% for factors which promote the number of women in higher education, both in terms of reducing the gap and promoting career progression.These are qualifications, suggesting that more PhDs held by women would help to level the playing field, and confidence, suggesting a role for mentoring and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) to help women develop the confidence to be considered for these roles.The next important factor after the human capital factors is institutional culture.This is strongly associated with the gender gap, suggesting that there is a role for more than the empowerment of women for the universities in addressing wider institutional culture issues.