The effects of gender diversity on work group performance in Pakistani universities

• Main Author: Khattak, Zeeshan Zaib
• Other Authors: Doherty, Liz ; Ridley-Duff, Rory
• Published: Sheffield Hallam University 2012
• Online Access: https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.741415

This thesis explores the effects of gender diversity on workgroup performance in Pakistani universities. The study explores the cultural context of KPK in Pakistan and theorises how social constructs attempt to regulate human gender relationships. Qualitative methods are employed to identify, explore and explain how the concept of gender covertly contributes to shaping the professional roles of men and women within extreme patriarchal cultures. The perspectives of both men and women academics, acquired through semi structured interviews and non participant observations of academic meetings, are analysed in this study. They contribute to a deeper understanding of gender disparity that arises and prevails among the individuals working in gender diverse groups. The findings support Goffman's (1954) work on performance and an argument is developed that social and cultural dynamics disempower women by affecting the way they control others' impression of them (women). The study posits a theory that segregation of men and women in Pakistani society, the attitudes and behaviours of individuals as well as social structure, all work to the advantage of men. This is based on cultural values influenced by traditional practices and different interpretations of religious beliefs. In this way, the study undermines Lukes' (1974) and Marxist feminist views of gender relations by arguing that religious thought and traditional customs imposed for social control rather than economic interests can be a powerful reproducer of patriarchy. The study concludes that religious thought embedded in deep rooted historical religious traditions might be a more powerful reproducer of patriarchy than capitalist relations of production, particularly in South Asian cultures. Unlike western cultures where the influence of religious thought has been challenged and diminished over the course of last three centuries, there is no equivalent enlightenment in Pakistan that challenges the hegemony of religious thought. This being the case, the popular (activist) base from which to challenge the dominance of religiously informed patriarchy is not yet sufficiently well developed to support enforcement of legislation. The study recommends a four-step model to university stakeholders and activists for bringing change and promoting equality. Demonstrating social justice in universitiesto young adults brings the hope of a larger change in the society. By contributing to the understanding of gender related dynamics, the study expects to promote gender equality and embrace the notion of gender studies as a source of improving the human condition.