A new report has found that women in higher education in South Asia are not being identified and prepared for leadership and there is also evidence that when they do aspire for leadership they are frequently rejected from the most senior positions. It has also been found that many women academics in the region are reluctant to aim for senior leadership positions and perceive such “ambition” as an unattractive career option.

The research report on “Women in Higher Education Leadership in South Asia: Rejection, Refusal, Reluctance, Revisioning” by Professor Louise Morley and Dr Barbara Crossouard, from the Centre of Higher Education and Equity Research at the University of Sussex was commissioned by the British Council. Based on research they conducted in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, they found that there were complex and multidimensional barriers to women&’s leadership in higher education, barriers that ranged from social, cultural and economic in each country, the organisational culture in universities, discrimination in recruitment and selection, and unequal power relations.

The report also found some enablers to women achieving leadership positions, including training and development, support and mentorship and international networks and mobility across the region. “First and foremost, most selection committees have only men. Very, very few have any women. Most that I’ve gone through, they’e been all men on the committee, for any position,” said a woma dean in India, describing in the report how universities’ selection procedures were exclusionary and discriminated against women.

“My suggestion is that among the Asian countries, there should be a good network between the women. Especially between the universities, there should be a good website for them to exchange their ideas, to solve their problems, because mostly most of the Asian countries have the same problem, the same barriers,” said the vice-dean of a university in Afghanistan.

Another recent report has found that a rise in female educational enrolment in South Asia is not leading to careers in research, to the long-term detriment of the region. The report, based on data and interviews with education leaders across the region, found that there weren’t enough women taking up careers in research in South Asia, and inequalities in the hiring process, unfavourable workplace practices and other institutional barriers could be to blame.

Only three per cent of vice-chancellors in India are women, with six of the 13 women vice-chancellors found at women-only institutions. The report, “Defined by absence: Women and research in South Asia”, was prepared by the Economist Intelligence Unit on behalf of the British Council and and it said that “the rise in female higher education participation has been driven by rising incomes, the creation of a rapidly growing labour market for the higher skilled and gradually changing attitudes regarding women in the workforce. Higher education has become both more affordable and often a prerequisite to the region&’s competitive labour markets. However, female enrolment in postgraduate degree programmes has not risen as rapidly, and women as researchers are notably missing”.

“The average expectation in India,” said Rohini Godbole, professor, Centre for High Energy Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, “was that you would first take care of being a young woman who has to settle and have a family. And then, if time permits — everything else permits — you will continue research.”

The report examined the barriers women researchers faced in South Asia and recommended action to address these. In 2014, it showed that in South Asia, cultural restrictions and a lack of career opportunities played a major role in contributing to the gradual drop off of women researchers after the PhD level. There was a serious lack of gender-specific data on South Asia that could help evaluate the gap in the workplace. Good initiatives were in short supply, and in cases where they did exist sustainable funding could be a problem. The report suggested that this gender imbalance was not being taken seriously enough at the highest levels or by the women themselves.

The report recommended that educational institutions adopt changes in work practices and support mechanisms designed to allow women to commit to a career in research beyond the PhD level. It was acknowledged that in many cases there were not enough strong voices at the highest level. However, the report warned that success demanded that women represent an increasing proportion of the academic talent pool, particularly among the dwindling number of researchers.

Education policy makers from across South Asia and the UK recently took part in a twoday programme in New Delhi that included discussions on:

• The under-representation of women in influential and senior leadership positions in higher educational institutions;
• The lack of gender-disaggregated statistics with which to inform and evaluate effective higher education policy implementation; and
• Bringing transparency into the recruitment and selection processes for senior appointments to improve gender parity in academic appointments.

Rob Lynes, director, British Council, India, said, “To create long term, sustainable and mutually beneficial education links with South Asia, it is critical for the UK to understand the context in which South Asia operates. Gender and equality opportunity is an important area.”