Benefits of Women Leadership in Higher Education

Benefits of Women Leadership in Higher Education

Muhammad Hassan

University of Baltistan Skardu Under direction of

STEM Education Pakistan (Skardu)

Introduction:

In today’s world, women may not always realise their potential, and once unleashed, they have a direct route to success. When they find themselves in a leadership role, their capability and abilities are undeniable. However, it is simple to claim this, so that establishes the need to outline multiple benefits of women can bring to leadership roles.

When women become leaders they provide a different  set of skills, imaginative perspectives and importantly structural and cultural differences that drive effective solutions. In bringing a creative standpoint, a new sense of awareness  will also follow to unplug the finer details go unmissed from the naked eyes.

The main challenges for Women Leadership:

As we have established, the working landscape is changing and the business word is no longer just man’s game. But still there are some challenges in this way;

• The first and most obvious challenge is that most of the people in the room are men, but this creates an opportunity for women to stand out and create a long-lasting impression from the off.
• A scenario that appears time and time again revolves around building a supportive network in a space that males dominate.Use this chance to seek both men and women as connections and mentors who will help you along your career path.
• Often with a full-time role, coupled with the additional stress of raising your own family, it can be hard to juggle work alongside personal life. However, if the pandemic has taught us anything, it is to create a healthy work-life balance.
• Women can often be perceived as more emotional and less decisive than men, yet women bring more diverse physical, mental and emotional experiences to everyday conversations.
• The sad nature for a lot of women is that expectations can often be set lower, and the trick is not to see this in a dim light, but to change your vision and realise it’s easier to exceed your goals and showcase why you shouldn’t be overlooked.
• Expectations of caregiving were described as constraining the extent that women can engage in HE careers. However, family support was also cited as critical to women academics’ career progression.

Benefits of women leadership:

Like other countries in South Asia, Pakistan is rapidly expanding its higher education system. The Higher Education Commission (HEC) (2012) reports that The Gross Enrolment Rate (GER) in some regions being below 40% for girls in primary education, and below 10% in secondary education (AEPAM, 2011). In higher education, dominant concerns are the quality of HE, professional development of faculty, linkages of universities with industry, the relevance of programmes; while a general concern is expressed for ‘equitable and enhanced access for underrepresented groups’, this does not single out women or gender (Ministry of Education, 2009: 57). Some of the main benfits are given below:

• Inspiration for other womens:

Leadership  in higher education  can motivate and inspire other women for higher studies. It may provide success  stories of women to next generation and enhance the understanding of importance HE in women. Female Leadership change the negative perseption  against the female laedership and provide more chance of enrollment  of girl in higher education and other field of life.

• Women leaders will paint the future:

In 2019, the proportion of women in senior management roles globally grew to 29%, the highest number ever recorded. In 2020, this percentage remained the same.

While this can be considered positive news, women just entering the workforce will need to be inspired by other women who are currently smashing their role as a leader in the workplace. Once achieved, it can carve a direction for all young aspiring women leaders to increase the global percentage and break new records.

• The enhancement of teamwork

There is no doubt that we’ve all seen women demonstrate passion, enthusiasm and a capability to take command of a situation when need be (let’s not look further than our own mothers or female caregivers in this instance).

Women are able to make bold and wise decisions as leaders; this helps make the team environment less authoritative and more cooperative, bringing a family-like feel to the team. This boosts teamwork across the organisation and helps implement a new culture within the business.

• Fresh new outlooks and perspectives

We have outlined the need to construct a diverse workforce, and with this will come new experiences and perspectives that ultimately contribute to bringing some much-needed innovation into the education.

Women leaders will bring skills, different perspectives, and innovative ideas to the table, but these three combined will help create new perspectives that lead to better decision-making as a whole for the education.

• Women leaders can provide better mentorship

Especially for the younger generation, the power of role models cannot be overlooked. Regardless of a person’s gender, all people need someone who will guide them to progress in their careers. Specifically, for mentoring and coaching young talent, women leaders are better mentors than men.

According to a study, 29% of women believe that their gender will be an obstacle to advancement. To overcome this obstacle, women in leadership positions can take this opportunity and begin empowering the bright young minds of the next generation.

• The ability to wear many hats

In a women’s life, wearing different hats within their roles is often a common occurrence. You can find them often balancing careers, households and taking up the mantel of parental guidance along with many other experiences. These combined help women leaders to quickly adjust to new situations and focus on finding solutions to real-life work issues.

Conclusion:

Higher education can give Female leaders the confidence, flexibility, breadth of knowledge, and technical skills needed to confront effectively the economic and political realities of the 21st century. It also generates cadres of well-trained teachers for all levels of the education system.

Education makes us a better person and teaches us various skills. It enhances our intellect and the ability to make rational decisions. It enhances the individual growth of a person. Education also improves the economic growth of a country.

Review articles:

• Women in Higher Education Leadership in South Asia; Rejuction, Refusal, Reluctance, Revisioning by Professor Louise Morley and Dr Barbara Crossovard.
• Is there a female leadership advantage by Lyrn Offermann and Kira O. Foley.
• A study of importance of women participants in Higher  Education by Prashanth Kumar.
• The female leadership advantages; An evaluvation of the evidence by Alice H. Eagly and Linda L. Carli.

Importance of female leadership in higher education