Incorporation and Representation Of Female Academics’ Agency in Associated Disciplines: A Critique Of Pakistani Academia

Abstract

This research work explicates “gender” in the disciplinary scholarship and academia of International Relations and associated disciplines in Pakistan. It does so by drawing upon the views of female academics working in these disciplines. With an aim to explore the representation and positionality of women academics alongside the inclusivity/exclusivity of the disciplines and the academia, the study gathers data as focused, purposive interviews of a sample of women in academia. Consequently, founding on a thematic analysis, it finds the gender identity of female academics to be largely unproblematic in voicing their voices but it finds the agency of female academics to be problematic as they do not really align their academic role to serve the creation of a feminist space which they believe is largely missing.