The Impact of Higher Education in Promoting Women Empowerment in Pakistan

Abstract

This article explores how higher education in Pakistani universities could be used to empower women. Although there have been significant improvements in the number of women enrolling and developing policies to address the issue, there remains gender disparity in the leadership, decision-making, and institutional processes. A survey-based approach was applied. Stratified random sampling was followed in selecting six universities in Punjab. Convenient sampling was used to select 600 students from these universities. Data was summarized with the help of descriptive and inferential statistics. The numeric results indicated that the respondents identified institutional initiatives to equality and the current existence of gender stereotypes within higher education. Higher education institutions can play a big role in transforming the policy and practice of women and gender balance as well as a more inclusive society by closing the gap between policy and practice.