The discussion about whether a woman can make it or not in Pakistan without a man got me thinking. And I watched an interview of Muneeza Hashmi about the status of women in Pakistan. ( http://www.youtube.com/user/urduvoanews#p/u/434/S2oMDZgjaB0 )
A lot of people on this forum are desis living outside of Pakistan, but of those who are living in Pakistan, how many of you are women with paid jobs in Pakistan? What kind of work do you do? How comfortable are you in your workplace? Are you paid the same as male colleagues in the same position? Are there many other women in the place where you work, or are you the only one or are there just a few of you? Are you married or not, and if not, do you intend to keep working after marriage? Is it a govt job or in the private sector? A big company or a small one? Do you have ambitions to move up in your field, or are you just making a living/some extra money?
(I don’t really mean to be so nosy, so specific – I just want to get a general sense of how it is for women working these days in Pakistan.)
Umm I myself might not qualify as am no longer in Pakistan nor worked there. But I can talk about my mum and my khalas etc who have been working in Pakistan from decades. my mum's a telecom engineer working at a big private company. She has worked at the govt sector as well.
And we know in telecom sector on the engineering side it's mostly a male dominated field. Mom says that she has never had problems working with t male colleagues and they really respect her. But yes it's true that with her added responsibilities of home etc...she can't put up that much effort or as has much chances to excel as her fellow colleagues.
Similarly I have doctors in our family as well as those working in banks etc. But not sure about the workplace atmosphere there. I guess it all depends on the woman herself.
No, actually, I mean any working woman. Clerks, saleswomen, secretaries, teachers, administrators, bank tellers, designers, hairdressers,flight attendants, and yes, doctors, engineers, lawyers, bureaucrats…you name it. I figure there won’t be a lot of domestic naukars posting on gupshup though.
Since nobody is posting, I imagine they are all working…
(Oh, wait a minute. Are you implying by “working woman” I meant something like prostitute? )
^Well, most of my female cousins are working women in Pakistan. My phuppo is a doctor, another cousin of my dad is a surgeon at some big hospital in Karachi (Agha Khan i think), two cousins are managers in a bank. One cousin's a teacher i don't know if she is still one after having a kid. My own mother never worked while she was in Pakistan but she always wanted to..she is a nurse and a cosmetologist. She is good at both professions.
Sister worked as an IT administrator for 7 years. Cousin is a well renowned plastic surgeon in Karachi, her mothers a professional painter as well. Khala is a principle/teacher. Another cousin and 2 friends are teachers. Another friend is a dentist in Altamash dental hospital. Another friend works as a flight attendant. Another 3 are graphic designers while another 2 are call center executives. Anothers a Pharmacist. One works as an RJ. Another cousin runs a kids activity school all by herself in Karachi. Two are fashion designers, one has her own label. Another friends mother runs Nabilas and she has endless female employees working for her at different branches.
My dad used to be in saudia and my mum was a teacher in a government school Having the passion for this profession she mvoed to a private school. It wasn't because dad wasn't able to support us but it was because she din want to leave this profession. After sometime, when my dad fell ill and he came back to Pakistan, my mum opened her own school and with the grace of God she had great success.
She is 63+ and even now she goes to school and manage her staff and school etc.
My 2 cousins chose the same profession after being influenced by my mother and they are one of the senior teachers in local schools where they are definitely being paid well.
I don't think that this is an issue in pakistan anymore. A woman has equal opportunities to work in work places as long as their families are okay with that. If families are not okay then they will make random stories about workplaces and what not.
Been worked in 4 software houses in Lahore and i never saw any discrimination or something.
P.S:
- My mum were 3 sisters and she was the only one who studied till BA.
- She was one of the female to have higher studies in our village and stayed in the village.
- No one in the family wanted her to study, sicne my mothers elder sisters studied till 5 and 8th class respectively, but she forced my grandma that she wants to study.
That's pretty cool that some women have had professional success.
I personally don't know a single woman in the family/extended family who has any sort of career (aside from being a stay at home mom/housewife)...not in US or Pak.
That's pretty cool that some women have had professional success.
I personally don't know a single woman in the family/extended family who has any sort of career (aside from being a stay at home mom/housewife)...not in US or Pak.
Wow. Really, none at all?? There weren't many who did in my in-law's family, but there were some, and I'm talking 30 years ago now.
i think if husband makes enough money to live comfortably and not working is NOT an issue with wife, she should NOT work for the sake of proper care of children. they say "a mother's lap is the best institution a child can go to" :)
In my family 'back home' all the girls work before marriage (we have a mix - doctors, lawyers, teachers, a boutique owner, a few who work in banking, politics and lucky thing one of my second cousins is a pilot) but after having kids some chose to stop whilst others have carried on.. Mine is a bit more liberal than most, extended family doesn't really have any say in what they choose to do.. My own grandmother (mum's mum) carried on working into her sixties :)
)