Pakistani women are more than half of the total population. Despite the country frequently being ranked among the lowest in gender equality, women’s labour force participation has increased by more than 50 percent in the last 15 years – and is expected to grow further! As a nation we are resilient but the women of the country are adaptive, ambitious and resilient.
We are witnessing a steady rise in women paving the way for themselves in all fields across the country. The line between “traditional” and “unconventional” career choices is gradually blurring – from entrepreneurs to holding positions at leading corporations, women are leaving their mark everywhere. However, we still have a long way to go, which would only be possible when women come together to uplift one another. Social media has been playing a pivotal role, especially for aspiring women in terms of connecting with the right opportunities and communities to gain recognition.
For instance, a Facebook group titled, Women of Wonder Pakistan (WOWPK) is one such community of talented and enterprising women that acts as a supporting mechanism for female professionals through highlighting stories of success and opportunities to escalate further. It brings forth the advancement of women and work life best practices, perfect resources to help fellow women achieve more, maximize support, and find inspirations from community members that will improve their personal and professional growth. The community serves as a great networking platform for students and aspiring professionals with industry experts.
“There are many great communities which provide safe spaces for women to talk about anything they want and get advice, however, there was no single community that celebrates the successes of our women. I created WOWPK intending to highlight and acknowledge the efforts of our wonder women, to share resources to help them grow, to inspire young girls to think out of the box and explore careers that need women workforce and leaders. WOWPK especially highlights the phenomenal work of our women in non-traditional fields in Pakistan. Non-traditional (NT) careers for women include any job where at least 75 percent of the workforce is men.” shared Zia S Hasan, while speaking about the idea behind WOWPK
Over a short period, WOWPK has become a thriving and exemplary community where women feel proud to share their success stories and the journey of their achievements. The community’s success can be gauged by the fact that Zia is now regularly approached by men as well who appreciate the community’s mission and want to play their part in helping women excel in their professional lives.
To keep the community members engaged, WOWPK regularly organises Facebook Events such as webinars, broadcast Live sessions to interact on a more personal level and cross-post to create collaboration with other communities. Furthermore, Zia acknowledges the importance of offline communication, hence she regularly organises various events for her community members. Most recently, WOWPK successfully organised a very successful Women of Wonders Awards 2020 in March 2020 in Islamabad. They invited nominations from women all across Pakistan in 9 different categories and awarded them.
When asked about what lies ahead for WOWPK, Zia shared, “We are working on a new initiative called, Book My Mentor, through which mentees would be able to connect and book one to one sessions with the industry experts. We have also just recently started Free Webinars on the trending skills where local as well as international trainers are providing free training to our women.”
We, for one, cannot wait to see the community achieve new milestones!
The writer is a housewife and an aspiring entrepreneur