The Pakistani Tech Industry is being supervised and managed by plenty of women. They display the same commitment and passion to run their companies as they successfully look after their families. In this article, we shall talk about the overall employment opportunities and successful females in technology. 

The Success of the Pakistani Tech Industry

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Pakistani Tech Industry is witnessing a boom of new gadgets, appliances, and technology to run alongside all other developing and developed countries. As the fourth industrial revolution gets close, Pakistani tech giants are also experimenting with artificial intelligence, robotics, 3D printing, quad computing, and the Internet of Things. All these top trending technologies are going to change the horizon of the world as we know it today. The future belongs to a fusion of physical, digital, and virtual existence. This hybrid identity would go beyond borders and would help individuals interact with people in every nook and corner of the world for daily lifestyle and activities, particularly business.

Employment for Women in Pakistan

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Your opinion would vary based on your gender and your habitat. In case you are born in the capital or among the four provincial capitals, feel blessed. These cities have higher literacy, especially for women. However, the situation simply changes in the rural areas. Most of the schools have livestock instead of students. The teachers here are just taking their salaries leaving the kids wondering about the cause of being born and ignored, provided with no opportunities to excel and stand among, besides their age, fellows brought up in cities.

Now, if we talk about the overall picture of the country, Only 36% of Pakistani women can read and write. Out of this 36%, only 22% of women get some employment opportunities. These statistics indicate that men occupy most of the positions. In other words, women have to strive hard for finding equal opportunities in different public and private sectors of employment. 

Pakistani Working Women

Although no one says it in public gender discrimination is evident from the above figures. The truth is that the employment opportunities for women have actually declined in Pakistan from the previous figure of 28%. Furthermore, the difference in pay packages offered to both men and women is almost 34%.

What will motivate a girl when she already knows that she has to work for an equal number of hours but will receive lesser pay than others at the end of the day? Despite all these impediments, mothers work hard from the very first day to nurture and bring up their daughters to stand beside men. As a result, we now see women joining every profession including medicine, engineering, business, management, banking, administration, politics, and technology.

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Pakistani Females in Technology and Engineering 

If anyone has any doubt regarding the potential of Pakistani women, just read the story of the young computer prodigy, Arfa Karim. She was such an inspiring personality that even Bill Gates himself invited her to visit Microsoft headquarters in the United States when she was hardly ten years old. Her contributions are galore. She has represented Pakistan at TechEd Developer Conference. She won the Presidential Pride of Performance Award.

If you are a resident of Lahore, you would be aware of the software technology park also named after her. The Guinness Book of World Records listed her name for being the youngest Microsoft Certified Professional. Had she been alive, you can imagine what she would have achieved and contributed to the welfare of the state. Thus, those times are bygones where the women were considered the sole custodian and keepers of your house. It is time to trust their abilities as they can not just perform equivalent to men but can surpass the most successful men of their times. Let us give you an overview of some of the most successful and famous Pakistani females in technology.

Arusha Imtiaz

Arusha Imtiaz, Pakistani, Tech

As we highlighted the literacy rate and the problems faced by Pakistani women in terms of education and finding the right opportunities for pursuing a successful career. Arusha Imtiaz stepped as an entrepreneur and an enthusiast of technology innovation. So, she is one of the successful females in technology. She identified loopholes within the education sector where the teachers are unaware of the socio-economic background of their students. On the other hand, parents rely solely on the class material that the teachers teach in the classes and they expect their child to pass the exam with straight As. How would that be ever possible without even discussing the problems faced by students in-house and in class? If a child is not even able to understand a single word in class due to some impairment, or language barrier, these factors tend to hamper the overall performance of a child.

Arusha Imtiaz founded the mobile communication platform titled ‘Edjunction’ that intends to bring together the key stakeholders in the academic world, the institution, parents, teachers and most importantly, students. Disparate data is taken and converted to draw out useful insights. All these key features enable informed decisions making and the outcome is equity among all learners. The forum is collaborating with multiple public and private institutions operating in different regions of Pakistan. The initiative is indeed laudable and the results would be evident in the upcoming years. 

Read More: Karandaaz Pakistan Joins Hands with Pakistan Fintech Network (PFN)

Asma Zaheer

Asma Zaheer, Pakistani women, working woman

The great Pakistani females in technology on this list is Asma Zaheer, who is a computer scientist. She graduated from the University of Punjab and after that, she completed her MS in Software Engineering from NUCES. Because of her amazing work in the field of cognitive computing systems, data analytics and cloud computing, she received the Best of IBM distinction in 2019. She became a part of IBM afterward and worked to bring more innovation to the field. She also became a leader for IBM’s project of Global Business Services.  

Dr. Nargis Mavalvala

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The girls out there looking forward to pursuing your degree in physics and its further branches, Dr. Nargis Mavalvala is not someone to miss out on as Pakistani women. You probably would dream of studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of the leading universities in the world. Well, Dr. Nargis is a Ph.D. of the aforementioned varsity and currently a professor of astrophysics. Her basic research area includes quantum measurement and the detection of gravitational waves.

She continued experimenting with quantum theory and mechanics. Her early education is at Wellesley College. She won the MacArthur Genius Award in 2010 for her outstanding performance and contribution to Astrophysics. You can learn a lot from these females in technology. 

Hiba Rehman

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You already are aware of the research and exploration being carried out by our space scientists. We all witness the global climatic changes, the rising sea levels with melting glaciers, and the havoc caused by severe tsunamis, rains, and thunderstorms. The greenhouse effect is one major phenomenon leading to all these changes happening with our planet but it’s all the result of the carbon emissions from our industrial wastes and byproducts. Resultantly, the search is ongoing and the descendant of the Hubble Space Telescope known as the James Webb Telescope is all set to begin its search for a sister planet to Earth.

The search for traces of life is another important aspect of space science. In case you girls out there have the passion to embark on this journey and turn this domain into your career, then there are females in technology to start following immediately. She is currently working at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and constantly presents new avenues to explore for the young aspirants of space science as Pakistani women. At present, she is conducting research on expendable launch rockets and vehicles. She is known for providing technical expertise and stands as an ideal person to discuss the latest technologies such as Pegasus, Falcon nine and space rockets.

Tasneem Zehra Husain

 Society of engineers, Tasneem Zehra Husain

Although young talent is anxious to join Lahore University of Management Sciences to pursue a career in management and business administration, LUMS is equally popular for its science and engineering departments. Tasneem Zehra Husain is a famous theoretical physicist and writer who played a pivotal role to lay the foundation of this department. Her journey started with discovering her passion to solve logical problems. That is how she identified her interest in theoretical physics. Later on, she completed and now owns the title of being the first Pakistani woman to hold a Ph.D. in string theory. She is also lauded for classifying supersymmetric flux backgrounds into eleven dimensions which stands as a landmark in her chosen domain.

If we talk about her passion for writing, she once again stands in the limelight with her articles published in international newspapers and magazines. She achieved another landmark by publishing a popular science novel in 2014. In case you hold a passion for both arts and sciences, there is nothing wrong with you and no need to get confused. Just read more about Tasneem Zehra’s life and you will carve out a brilliant future for females in technology. 

Jehan Ara

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We all can witness the rapid expansion happening in the world of Information Technology. People can connect with their families and friends living abroad within seconds. Research and development continue to explore new avenues for facilitating the general consumers of technology. Jehan Ara is also among those successful Pakistani females in technology who have surpassed others. If you have heard the name PASHA which stands for Pakistan Software Association. Then Jehan Ara is the lady behind the entire idea.

The company is not only known for providing services related to software development but also offers services related to cyber, network and system security. As a writer, speaker, motivator, and entrepreneur, Jehan Ara has also remained part of the communication and media industry of Pakistan.

Furthermore, she has also worked in the Far East, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates for almost three years. At present, she is leading PASHA as its president. Alongside, she is working on devising a virtual women’s network. This would pave the way for females in technology to explore, find and collaborate with the international and emerging markets. 

Rabia Garib

Rabia Garib, computer, working woman

There are certain principles practiced and followed by every successful person in terms of their career choices. You have to stand by your decisions. Next, you need to work hard to achieve your goals. And the most important thing is to remain consistent without losing any hope. That is how you mark your presence and contribution recognized by the whole world. If you think all these points are fairy tales, read the story of Rabia Garib. That is how her life started working day in and day out to establish her companies. She had the vision to educate children in a way that makes them even more creative in terms of their problem-solving abilities. She is known to be simple as well as a workaholic. Her efforts are evident from the success and appreciation of Toffee TV, as an educational aid for children.

This platform is meant to help and facilitate children in learning basic education through activities, songs and stories. The idea is to make their learning journey filled with fun and entertainment. She has also co-founded Rasala Publications meant to target IT-based business opportunities. Her life experiences and lessons are always inspiring for the young aspirants. She generally advises all girls not to select and pursue a career just for the sake of earning a good salary. Rather, the focus ought to be oriented toward serving humanity by providing facilities. 

Sabine Mahmood

We have another star on the list. In case you are a resident of Karachi, you would be aware of The Second Floor Cafe also known as T2F Cafe. The lady behind the entire idea was Sabine Mahmood. She is a firm activist and holds different beliefs regarding the situation in Pakistan. That was the sole purpose of establishing T2F Cafe meant to hold healthy debates and discussions. Most of the topics are generally related to the contemporary issues faced by the people of Pakistan. Various cultural events are held in this cafe bringing all the poets and writers together in one place. The Cafe team also organizes various art exhibitions to nourish the physical, mental and emotional health of all the attendees in such events.

If you are thinking that this is the greatest achievement of Sabine, well think again. As there is a parent company to T2F, titled Sabine and remained affiliated with the corporate world for quite a while. Nowadays, the company shifted its focus to education and bringing more awareness among people. As Sabine mainly concentrates on resolving conflicts being a state of peace project, most of its activities are related to art, culture, science, technology and defense. If you would like to know more about Sabine, explore Faraar and Science Ka Adda meant to discuss the recent trends in the domain of information technology.

Salina Haroon

Salina Haroon, tech, industry

The next star on our list is an expert in telecom technology. But before we make a start, we surely believe that you heard of CIO. It is the world’s leading magazine promoting business technology printed in various countries including Pakistan. The good news regarding this magazine is that Salina Haroon is the editor-in-chief of Pakistani CIO magazine. Moving ahead, our Pakistani star is also the founder and director of a marketing company named Communicated Collective. It deals with small and medium enterprises operating in Pakistan and abroad. It focuses on establishing strategic technology companies in different parts of the world.

The intent behind all such endeavours is to improve the international status of Pakistan. Furthermore, the firm also concentrates on studying the influence of social media on news companies and public relations. One important lesson that we learn from Salina’s life is to attend, participate and learn from different conferences and seminars as they provide a holistic picture of all the contemporary research and development taking place in different parts of the world. 

Example for Young Girls

Our next expert is a woman whose life journey is exemplary for so many young girls aspiring to start their own businesses. Some of you have already guessed her right. Yes, we are talking about the chairman of Islamabad Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Miss Samina Fazil. She owns the Misha’s Group which became her identity. Her journey started by setting up a small company selling children’s clothing. That is how the Misha’s Group was set up in 1989. But Samina had to face a lot of impediments. She being unaware of business tactics practiced in the practical industry dominated by men.

She was always in search of some mentors. People who could guide her in understanding the basics of gaining the attention of her potential consumers. In the end, she had to step out of the house on her own. She opened a small store on Mori main road, Rawalpindi to sell children’s products. The next mammoth task was gaining the attention of the audience.

She started disseminating brochures, participated in business exhibitions, and published photographs in local newspapers. All these tactics worked quite well for her business as these enhanced the brand awareness among the general masses. Her endeavours are now evident as Mishas Collections. They act as a source of inspiration for so many young prodigies out there waiting for the right opportunity. Well, you need to put up with all the impediments coming your way. Stay firm, and committed and you will reach sky high to make your dreams come true.