Women Academicians’ Career Progression in Higher Education of Azad Jammu and Kashmir

Women academicians’ career progression in higher education has attracted the attention of research across the globe. Although, some significant strides have been made, however women academicians still face barriers to progress in the academia. This study is aimed to know the systematic barriers that slow down women academicians’ academic careers in higher education of AJK. We employed quantitative research design and used cross-sectional research method in this study. We selected a sample of 28 women academicians by means of table of random numbers. We collected data by using a questionnaire from one of the public sector universities of AJK while using simple random sampling technique. The findings of the study showed that women academicians face many barriers that significantly affect their career progression. These include barriers in representation, decision-making, recruitment, and research and development. We conclude that women academicians’ slower progress is owing to the male dominated structure of higher education. Based on the findings, we suggest adopting and reinforcing gender-sensitive measures to revisit the hierarchal structure of higher education to ensure equal representation of women in higher education careers.