Gender, Culture and Leadership: Learning from the Experiences of Women Academics in Pakistani Universities

This paper has been drawn from a larger PhD research project on women's experiences of academic leadership in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan. This qualitative study aims to examine the influence of socio-cultural factors on women's leadership experiences in higher education. In-depth interviews were taken from eleven participants, who were selected through purposive sampling method. The data analysis is informed by Foucauldian discourse analysis. This paper argues that leadership norms are discursively produced, according to the cultural system of Pakistani society, to limit women's participation at senior leadership positions in higher education. This research article encompasses a combination of four themes