European Scientific Journal February 2015 /SPECIAL/ edition vol.

1 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e - ISSN 1857- 7431

GENDER RESEARCH IN PAKISTAN: A SCOPING REVIEW

Dr. Nargis Asad,

M.A, Clinical Psychology, PhD. Clinical Psychology, The Aga Khan University, Karachi
Dr. Anita Anis Allana
M.B.B.S., M.B.A., Masters of Bioethics, The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan

Abstract
Researchers focusing on gender issues usually concentrate on how people perceive
and interpret gender, understand or construct sex and gender etc. Much needs to be explored
and understood in relation to research and concepts of gender studies.
The present study “Gender Research in Pakistan: A Scoping Review” was carried out with
the purpose of mapping literature on gender research in Pakistan, further exploring how
gender concepts like social construction of roles, power relationships, division of
labor/resources are understood and constructed by researchers in social science research. Also
the review intended to provide grounds for critiquing how researchers problematize and
integrate gender concepts in their phenomenon of interest and while doing so what research
methods are applied by them.
The paper will share the importance of gender sensitive research and the results of the
scoping review carried out. It shall also attempt to document methodological gaps in the
retrieved literature, concluding with some recommendations for way forward.

Keywords: Gender Research, Scoping Review, Pakistan

Introduction
Gender inequality concerns are globally recognized as gender disparities have been
prevailing in all societies at all times. However gender discourse gained momentum in
Pakistan in mid-80’s when there was a shift from women in development approach (WID) to
gender and development approach (GAD). The establishment of women and gender studies
across academia in Pakistan in the 1980s onwards was a formal recognition of an emerging
discipline that centered on deep-seated socio-economic and political inequalities confronting
women. Historically, in Pakistan, in the year 1989 after the military regime of General Zia,
Ministry of Women development established the “Center of Excellence in Women’s Studies”
in 5 public universities across Pakistan. In the later decades many public and private
universities initiated courses on women and gender studies. All these endeavors indicate the
efforts made in Pakistan to develop capacity of individuals and promote knowledge,
scholarship and research around women and gender issues. Our search showed that there are
about 2 journals on gender studies that are published from local institutions; there are several
others from disciplines such as mental health, education, public health and social sciences that
publish on similar issues.
Following section briefly touches upon the significance of gender sensitive research.

Importance of Gender Sensitive Research

Gender sensitive research is not research on women or on gender relationships; it is
research that takes into account gender as a significant variable in environmental and
development studies (Leduc, Brigitte. 2009). Gender-sensitive research pays attention to the

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similarities and the differences between men and women’s experiences and viewpoints, and
gives equal value to each. It helps both men and women concerned by a problem to analyze
an issue, understand its causes, and find solutions. A gender-sensitive research methodology
is usually more participatory and can contribute greatly to empowering people, notably
women (Callamard, 1999; Leduc, 2009).
Gender can be approached in two ways. Firstly it can be approached as a unit of
analysis for instance making methodology more inclusive by collecting data from men and
women. Secondly, gender is approached as content of analysis where gender theories are
invoked to study content of inquiry itself. (Aslam, 2014)
We made an attempt to see how researchers problematize gender, integrate gender
concepts into their phenomena of interests in the context of Pakistan. This paper aims to share
the findings of a scoping review carried out to map and explore literature on Gender Research
in Pakistan. Specific objectives of this scoping activity are to identify, retrieve and summarize
literature on gender research relevant to Pakistan. It also aims to describe the focus and nature
of research in the area of gender. Furthermore the paper talks about gaps in research and the
suggested way forward.

Methodology
York framework put forth by Arksey O’Malley (2005) was employed as the
methodology for the scoping study. As per York framework the indicated five steps were
followed for the scoping exercise.
Initially the research question was framed after discussion and deliberation with the
research team, other expertise and literature search. The question framed to pull out adequate
literature was “What is the scope (focus and nature) of gender research in Pakistan”.
After framing of the question, search strategy was developed. Relevant databases
inclusive of CINAHAL, PubMed, Eldis, SSRN and SCOPUS were used to search for
published and grey literature. A comprehensive search strategy was applied to all mentioned
databases to collect data. Then an inclusive and exclusive criterion was applied to narrow
down the data. Only research articles and reports of studies conducted in Pakistan or in the
context of Pakistan during 1985-2013 were selected. We included studies using all types of
methodology and published in English with accessibility of abstracts. However articles
related to health and education were excluded as separate studies were carried out for them.
Also excluded were conference proceedings and newspaper articles.
The collected data was then charted for analysis. Charting included: title of study,
authors, study site and design. To elaborate and analyze descriptive data was also charted
which included objectives, methodology, relevant findings and emerging themes. Finally data
was synthesized and summarized, themes identified and formal structure given.

Findings
Following section describes findings of the scoping review.
Table I:
# Search and Selection of Articles Results
1 Total articles retrieved 3272
2 Articles selected after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria 35
3 Articles that applied Gender Concepts 10
Articles talking specifically of gender issues (Domestic Violence, Intimate
4 21
Partner violence, honor killing etc.)
5 Articles addressing differential behaviors among men and women 4

As shown in the above table I, a total of 3272 articles were retrieved using the
designed search strategy. Thirty five articles were narrowed for review of abstracts which

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were charted and analyzed. Of these twenty one articles were inclusive of studies talking of
gender issues and concerns such as domestic violence, intimate partner violence, honor
killing etc. Only ten studies showed researches where gender concepts like gender roles and
relations, gender division of labor, patriarchy, sexual rights etc. were researched. Four studies
were addressing differential behaviors among men and women such as saving behavior, use
of telephones etc.
Table II: Methodologies employed for Gender Research
Methodology Used Number of studies utilizing this methodology
Quantitative 7
Qualitative 12
Mixed Methods 5
Literature Review 11

Table II. shows the common methodologies used for gender research in Pakistan.
Most researches that is twelve out of thirty five utilized qualitative methods for their studies
and eleven researches were literature reviews. Moreover quantitative method was used by
seven and mixed method employed by five researches.
Table III: Year of publication
Year of Publication Number of Studies
1985 – 1995 3
1995 – 2005 3
2005 – 2013 29

Figure III shows that very few studies were done from 1985-2005. The main bulk of
studies fall between 2005-2013. Analyzing the data it could be commented that the trend of
gender inclusive research has gained momentum in the last decade.

Analysis of findings
We made an attempt to understand how researchers delved into the notion of gender
in their work and in so doing we appraised the selected research studies for mainstreaming
gender dimension, for instance applying feminist stance, conceptualizing gender sensitive
research question and research methodology.
We were able to retrieve ten out of total of thirty five studies applying gender
concepts in a varying manner. Studies that incorporated gender concepts addressed the notion
of patriarchy as a deterrent to female decision making, differential rearing of boys and girls,
female subordination and sexual rights. Twenty one studies looked at gender issues and
discrimination against women such as either in the context of special population such as
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), honor killings, intimate partner violence and domestic
violence and sexual orientation. Research studies that attempt to highlight role of women’s
movement also discuss engagement of women in politics and social political movements.
However interestingly, about only four studies considered only behavioral differences
between men and women like saving behaviors, or investment profiles with reference to
socio-demographic factors. To our understanding these studies applied a neutral approach
making it unclear to conclude what is contested or challenged from a gendered framework.
Based on the limited scoping exercise we have attempted to highlight three types of
approaches that use gender as a research framework.
• Religion, social norms, customs used to construct the meaning of “gender”
• Vulnerability and victimization as a result of a given gender’
• Behavioral differences amongst sexes.

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Conclusion
It is clear from the available data that researchers engage themselves in varying degree
of depth in applying feminist and critical research framework to answer their research
questions. Hence there are challenges to be met by researchers, academicians and others
involved in gender scholarship. In order to take forward scholarship of transformative nature
more depth has to be brought in the theoretical underpinnings of feminist and critical research
methods. It is also evident that gender work in Pakistan has been primarily focused on women
and men’s experiences have been ignored in most work so unless masculinities are linked to
gender studies the process of engendering scholarship will not be complete.
Furthermore, in order to produce quality scholarship on gender it is important to
strengthen existing social science curriculums with emphasis on theoretical rigor related to
feminist and masculinity theory, political and social theory. Similarly rigor is required in
teaching and practice of research methodologies to best answer gender questions e.g.
qualitative research of participatory nature.

References:
Agnese Callamard. A Methodology for Gender-sensitive Research, Centre for Human Rights
and Democratic Development, Amnesty International Publications: Quebec. 1999. (citied in
http://eam2014.fss.uu.nl/dimensions-of-gender-sensitive-methodologies/)
Arksey, H. & O’Malley, L. (2005). Scoping Studies: towards a methodological framework.
International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 8(1), 19-32.
Aslam, M Gender: Concepts and Key Theoretical Considerations. Gender: Moving Beyond
the Basics. Conference Proceedings, Karachi 2014
Brigitte Leduc. Guidelines for Gender Sensitive Research, November, ICIMOD. 2009. (citied
in http://eam2014.fss.uu.nl/dimensions-of-gender-sensitive-methodologies/)

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