Women in leadership positions: A comparative study of PM Benazir Bhutto and CM Maryam Nawaz
Keywords:
Women Leadership, Benazir Bhutto, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan Politics, Social MediaAbstract
Women comprise 49.6% of the world population. In Pakistan, women comprise 49.33% of the population. Becoming almost half of the population, women's role in the administration, economics, and politics is meager. In the political history of Pakistan, it has had only one female prime minister throughout its independence. In 77 years of Pakistan, for the first time in 2024 female chief minister of Punjab secured a seat. This paper explains the women's leadership in Pakistan. A comparative study of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and current serving chief minister Maryam Nawaz. The paper examines the hardships they both face, their leadership style, and their policies. The studies also analyze the similarities and differences of support systems behind each leader. The study reveals that both women as leaders perform very well Maryam Nawaz is currently serving and her policies and initiatives toward development are very reliable. Both women's styles are democratic, inclusive, and more responsible. The governance of Maryam Nawaz is more active in her province because of social media advancement as compared to Benazir Bhutto's time. Both pawed the path for women in all sectors of government and as Benazir is a landmark personality Maryam Nawaz also will be the most reliable women leader of Pakistan.
Downloads
References
Adler, N. J. (1996). Global women political leaders: An invisible history, an increasingly important future. The Leadership Quarterly, 7(1), 133-161.
Ali, P. S. (1975). Status of women in the Muslim world: a study in the feminist movements in Turkey, Egypt, Iran and Pakistan.
Ali, R., & Rasheed, A. (2021). Women leaders in Pakistani academia: Challenges gender and opportunities. Asian Journal of Women's Studies, 27(2), 208-231.
Eagly, A. H., & Johnson, B. T. (1990). Gender and leadership style: A meta-analysis. Psychological bulletin, 108(2), 233.
Gul, S., & Farooq, M. (2020). Women’s Political Empowerment: A Historical Overview in Pakistan. Journal of Languages, Culture and Civilization, 2(1), 59-71.
Klenke, K. (2004). Women and leadership: A contextual perspective. Springer Publishing Company.
Mirza, S. H. (1969). Muslim women's role in the Pakistan movement. (No Title).
Mumtaz, K., & Shaheed, F. (1987). Women of Pakistan: Two steps forward, one step Back?
Phillips, A. (2003). When culture means gender: Issues of cultural defense in the English courts. The Modern Law Review, 66(4), 510-531.
Silva, A. (2016). What is leadership? Journal of Business Studies Quarterly, 8(1), 1.
Wikipedia. (2024, October 30). Maryam Nawaz. In Wikipedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryam_Nawaz
Anmol, A. (2024, March 8). Let's salute the women who have made Pakistan proud. Dunya News. https://dunyanews.tv/en/Pakistan/796773-Pakistani-women-shatter-glass-ceilings:-A-tribute-on-International-Women
Azeem, M. (2020). Islam, Pakistan and women leadership: A case study of Benazir Bhutto. Journal of Politics and International Studies, 6(2), 29–41.
Business Recorder. (2024, April 19). Women’s empowerment: CM inaugurates ‘Never Again’ app. https://www.brecorder.com/news/40292720
Dalrymple, W. (2008, January 4). Bhutto’s deadly legacy. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/04/opinion/04dalrymple.html?smid=url-share
Dalrymple, W. (2008, January 4). The return of a king. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/04/opinion/04dalrymple.html
Dawn. (2024, February 22). Notable promises newly elected Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz made. https://www.dawn.com/news/1817275
Dawn. (2024, February 26). Punjab Assembly: Maryam becomes Pakistan's first female CM. https://www.dawn.com/news/1817279
Dawn. (2024, March 5). Two Pakistani businesswomen recognized by Forbes. https://www.dawn.com/news/1819190
Directorate General Public Relations, Government of the Punjab. (2024, July 27). My vision is to transform Punjab into digital technology hub. https://dgpr.punjab.gov.pk/node/34235
Encyclopedia Britannica. (2023, March 11). Benazir Bhutto. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Benazir-Bhutto
Facts and Details. (2024). Bhutto and Sharif governments. https://factsanddetails.com/south-asia/Pakistan/Modern_History/entry-8063.html
Forbes. (2024). The world’s 100 most powerful women. https://www.forbes.com/power-women/list/
Indian Express. (2024, February 26). Maryam Nawaz takes oath as first woman CM of Pakistan's Punjab. https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/maryam-nawaz-sharif-becomes-first-woman-cm-of-punjab-in-pakistan-9181681/
Indian Express. (2024). Maryam Nawaz Sharif. https://indianexpress.com/about/maryam-nawaz-sharif/
Jagran Josh. (2024). Benazir Bhutto biography: Early life, political beginnings, history, facts. https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/benazir-bhutto-biography-1672131029-1
Paradigm Shift. (2024, October). Gender gap report 2024: Understanding Pakistan’s position. https://www.paradigmshift.com.pk/gender-gap-report-
Punjab Government. (2024). Empowering women: The vision of Maryam Nawaz Sharif. https://dgpr.punjab.gov.pk/node/25471
Rahi, A. A. (2020). A case study of Benazir Bhutto (Master’s thesis, Punjab University).
Rutten, T. (2008, February 12). Bhutto's democratic dynasty. Los Angeles Times.
Sheikh, W. (2023, November 13). How are women in politics perceived on social media apps in the run-up to elections? Digital 50.50, Feminist e-Magazine. https://digitalrightsfoundation.pk/how-are-women-in-politics-perceived-on-social-media-apps-in-the-run-up-to-elections/
Stars Unfolded. (2024). Maryam Nawaz (Politician) age, husband, family, biography & more. https://starsunfolded.com/maryam-nawaz/
The Friday Times. (2022, December 30). Mother of misogyny in Pakistani political discourse. https://thefridaytimes.com/30-Dec-2022/mother-of-misogyny-in-pakistani-political-discourse
Wikipedia. (2023, October 30). Benazir Bhutto. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benazir_Bhutto.
Downloads
Published
Data Availability Statement
Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Maria Saleem, Ali Hassan, Ali Hasnain (Author)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.



