Do we have proportionate gender in policy making? A Study based on key Government Institutions of SAARC Region

Abstract

Women empowerment has remained a long standing issue for practitioners and policy makers at all levels even in the present modern known era of modernization. The basic objective of this study is to assess gender equality in the top sphere of the SAARC key governmental institutions from the recruitment and selection perspective. This study has used secondary data collected from the official websites of the governments and its affiliated key institutions. The unique feature of this study is that it analyzes gender inequality phenomena form the recruitment and selection perspective. An extensive gap has been identified between male and female top executives serving in key government institutions, which is not only a serious challenge for the global gender equality policy but also a serious question on government gender selection polices in the region. The notion of male dominance clearly prevails in the current scenario of the gender representation in government institutions, which remains a serious challenge for the gender equality. It has been concluded that a special focus is needed to prioritize the selection mechanism for females in top power structure of these governments especially in SAARC region.