Gender inequality in Pakistan: Only 11% of listed firms have female director.

LAHORE -- Pakistani companies are yet to induct greater number of female executives on senior positions to ensure gender equality because currently 50% of listed companies lack women directors on their boards.

Almost 30% of the KSE-100 companies have no female director. In general, only 11% of the companies listed at Pakistan Stock Exchange have a female representative on their board of directors, stated a survey released by the Women on Board Pakistan.

Women on Board is a self-funded initiative of professionals working voluntarily and aiming to ensure diversity as an important component of corporate performance. The survey, conducted for the year 2019 while setting 2016 as the base year, considered a total of 547 listed companies, of which 50 did not have any record.

The survey revealed that 29% companies within the Pakistan Business Council and 41% at the PSX did not have any female director.

The total number of directors in 2019 shrank marginally to 3,852, a drop of 0.44% compared to 2016. However, the number of women directors registered a growth of 22.5%, rising from 351 in 2016 to 430 in 2019.

This translates into 11% companies having women directors whereas directorship in the remaining 89% companies still rests with males.

'There were 185 companies having women directors in 2016 and the number increased to 289 in 2019,' stated the survey. 'Similarly, 208 companies still exist in 2019 without female representation on their boards of directors. The number of such...