Now You See Them, Now You Don’t - Women and Civil Service in Pakistan

Organizations are gendered with complex patterns of visibility and invisibility embedded in their structure and norms. This paper analyzes the patterns of gender inequality within organizations, which are reinforced by gender-blind policies. My argument is that gender-blind policies promising equality do not always translate into gender equity. I will focus on careers of women in District Management Group (DMG), a prestigious administrative civil service group in the Federal Government of Pakistan, to trace the hidden patterns of persisting gender inequalities in DMG. I use qualitative data from in-depth interviews with middle and upper management DMG officers, to tease out the invisible pattern of inequalities experienced by these women. To identify the differential effects of gender-blind policies I will use the concepts of visibility and invisibility in workplaces. Visible equal opportunity policies fail to provide a level playing field when the model of ideal manager is based on masculine assumptions. Women face systematic disadvantage and struggle to compete in a system that does not take into account their invisible constraints of work and family responsibilities, gender stereotypes, different life experiences and social roles. A model of integrated manager needs to be constructed and acknowledged, where public professional life is integrated with the private life of family, community and personal commitments.