WIBCON highlights gender workplace gap, women’s leadership takes centre stage

By Wasif Mahmood

More than 700 chief executives, corporate leaders, professionals and entrepreneurs gathered in Lahore for the 18th Annual Women in Business & Leadership Conference (WIBCON 2026), held under the theme “The Inclusive Shift”, where discussions on inclusion, leadership and workplace equity took centre stage.

Organised by the Pakistan Society for Training and Development (PSTD), a non-profit organisation, and sponsored by Gourmet Foods and Beverages Pakistan, the conference focused on translating diversity and inclusion from policy statements into meaningful workplace practices.

Speakers highlighted Pakistan’s persistent gender disparity in the workforce, noting that although women constitute nearly half of the country’s population, their participation in the formal labour force remains below 25 per cent. Representation in senior corporate leadership and boardrooms remains significantly lower, with men continuing to dominate executive positions across most sectors.

Participants observed that despite progress in women’s education and professional opportunities, barriers such as workplace discrimination, unequal pay, limited career progression and cultural constraints continue to hinder women’s advancement into leadership roles.

In his welcome address, PSTD President Fahd Chinoy urged organisations to move beyond symbolic commitments and collectively build workplaces where diversity and inclusion are integrated into leadership and decision-making structures.

One of the conference’s most anticipated sessions featured Pakistan’s first woman foreign minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, who reflected on leadership through the lens of diplomacy. Addressing a packed audience, she emphasised that dialogue, empathy and mutual understanding remain essential leadership tools in increasingly polarised environments. She stressed that societies and institutions cannot progress if women are excluded from leadership and policy-making spaces.

A key highlight of the conference was the CEO panel discussion titled “Leadership in Practice: Closing the Advancement Gap”, moderated by Hasan Adnan. The panel included leading corporate figures such as Gourmet Foods and Beverages CEO Zubair Nawaz Chatha, CCI Pakistan’s Sunay Sanli, FMC Corporation’s Haseebullah Zahur, IGI Life Insurance’s Ali Nadim, Chughtai Lab & Healthcare’s Javaria Khan and Trade Development Authority of Pakistan representative Rafia Syed, among others.

Panellists stressed the importance of eliminating discrimination based on gender, religion, culture and disability within workplaces. Discussions centred on pay equity, leadership pipelines, organisational culture and the structural barriers women continue to face in climbing the corporate ladder.

Several speakers acknowledged that women in Pakistan are often required to work harder than their male counterparts to receive equal recognition or promotion opportunities. A recurring message throughout the session was that inclusion must become an integral part of business strategy rather than remain a peripheral initiative.

Speakers also pointed to encouraging trends within Pakistan’s corporate sector. Referring to findings from a Pakistan Business Council survey, panellists noted a gradual rise in the number of women entering professional workplaces and leadership pipelines in recent years, describing it as a positive and much-needed development for the national economy. However, they maintained that considerable progress is still required to create truly safe and empowering workplaces for women.

Experts at the conference suggested that Pakistan could draw lessons from countries such as Türkiye, which is increasingly recognised among Muslim-majority nations for fostering more inclusive and comparatively safer working environments for women.

Participants observed that several Central Asian states are using Türkiye as a model while shaping workplace inclusion and women empowerment policies. According to speakers, women perform best in environments where fear, harassment and discrimination are actively discouraged at institutional levels.

Another notable session, “From Visibility to Voice”, featured Senator Dr Zarqa Suharwardy and leadership coach Andleeb Abbas. The discussion explored how women often achieve visibility within organisations but continue to struggle for influence in decision-making spaces. Dr Zarqa stressed the importance of creating workplaces where women are not only represented but genuinely heard. Abbas highlighted the direct impact of workplace culture on organisational growth and financial performance, citing international research indicating that psychologically safe and inclusive workplaces tend to achieve significantly higher productivity and innovation. She noted that studies suggest reducing fear-based workplace environments can increase organisational revenue by as much as 46 per cent.

Musharaf Hai, recognised among Forbes’ 50 Most Powerful Women in the World, delivered a keynote address urging organisations to adopt measurable and accountable inclusion policies rather than symbolic gestures.

The conference also hosted a leadership dialogue on “Interfaith Harmony at Work”, moderated by filmmaker and imagineer Shahzad Nawaz, where human resource professionals and development leaders discussed the challenges and opportunities involved in building respectful workplaces across diverse religious and cultural backgrounds.

As WIBCON 2026 concluded, participants agreed that the debate on inclusion within Pakistan’s corporate sector is evolving beyond representation alone towards greater emphasis on influence, accountability, equal opportunity and empowering diverse voices — particularly women — to shape decisions at the highest levels.