The final day of the Gender & Economy Conference at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) concluded with a sharp focus on the structural barriers limiting women’s economic participation in Pakistan, with researchers warning that mobility, safety and social norms—not lack of intent—continue to suppress outcomes despite rising female education levels.
The concluding panel, “Doing Gender Work,” brought together leading economists, policymakers and practitioners including LUMS Vice Chancellor Dr. Ali Cheema, Dr. Monazza Aslam, World Bank economist Kate Vyborny, Musa Aamir of Rizq, and Dr. Hamna Ahmed of the Lahore School of Economics.
Moderated by Hamza Asif and Ayesha Amin, the discussion centred on why women’s increased educational attainment has not translated into proportional labour market participation.
A key intervention came from Dr. Ali Cheema, who shared findings from a large-scale field study conducted in Southern Punjab across 224 villages and nearly 30,000 households. The research found that women were nearly four times less likely to complete skills training when required to travel outside their villages—even when distances were short.
“The constraint is not lack of interest or incentives,” Ali Cheema said. “It is mobility, and mobility in Pakistan is fundamentally a social constraint rather than just a transport issue.”
He noted that participation rates were significantly higher when training centres were located within villages, but declined sharply when facilities were placed just outside village boundaries. Financial incentives, he added, had minimal impact, while safe and reliable group transport substantially improved completion rates.
The findings sparked broader discussion on how development policy often misreads the nature of gendered constraints by focusing on economic incentives while overlooking safety, surveillance and social acceptability.
Kate Vyborny reinforced this view, highlighting how household structures and mobility restrictions continue to shape women’s access to employment across South Asia, arguing that labour market barriers cannot be understood in isolation from social context.
Dr. Hamna Ahmed emphasised the gap between aspirations and outcomes among educated women in Pakistan, noting that while many express a desire to work, structural barriers prevent that transition into actual employment.
Addressing young researchers in the audience, she urged greater field engagement.
“You cannot understand women’s realities from behind a desk,” she said, stressing the importance of direct interaction with communities to design effective interventions.
The discussion also expanded beyond labour markets. Musa Aamir highlighted the gendered nature of food insecurity, arguing that women disproportionately absorb the burden of household scarcity despite being excluded from policy design.
“Food insecurity is not gender neutral,” he said. “Women stretch meals, sacrifice first, and manage scarcity within households.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Monazza Aslam reflected on progress in girls’ education in Pakistan, noting that while enrolment has improved significantly, challenges remain in reaching the most marginalised groups and translating schooling into economic empowerment.
She also questioned the persistent reliance on “social norms” as an explanation for gender inequality, asking how such norms are defined and how they can be meaningfully addressed in policy.
Throughout the session, panelists agreed that Pakistan’s gender challenge is no longer rooted in a lack of data or awareness, but in implementation failures and structural constraints that continue to shape women’s daily realities.
As the conference concluded, speakers stressed that meaningful progress will require rethinking policy design around mobility, safety and social norms, placing them at the centre of economic planning rather than treating them as secondary social concerns.