Finance is a sector which is dominated by men worldwide. In a country like Pakistan it is almost impossible for a woman to surpass her male counterparts in financial sector. We often hear people saying women are not good with numbers. Whenever a woman plans to pursue a career she is often advised to become a fashion designer or teacher and in some cases a doctor. She is only given these few career options to choose from. However it is rightly said that legends are meant to break the stereotypes. This is what a 39 years old Pakistani woman; Maheen Rehman has been doing over the years.
Maheen Rehman is leading Alfalah GHP Investment Management, which is the country’s top most successful company with a worth of almost Rs. 20 billion. She is the CEO of a company which has $180 million investment in stocks and bonds. She is the first Pakistani woman to have made it to the Fortune’s list of “40 under 40s: top ten women CEO’s”. It is almost unbelievable for a Pakistani woman this young to head a male dominated sector which is considered to be led by the grey haired. . Although she belonged to a financially sound family and studied in the top most educational institutes, she still had to face the same remarks that other females of our society have to face.
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Maheen once mentioned in one of her interviews that being a female CEO leaves you with no chance of making a mistake as all the eyes are waiting for that one wrong move. She explained that for females the scrutiny is tougher as compared to that for the male counterparts. She explained how gender biasness has led to females compromising in the workplace which involves not expecting promotion equivalent to their male coworkers. Even Maheen is not left unaffected by gender biasness at this level since she like other females is paid thirty seven percent less than her male counterparts. Females in Pakistan earn thirty seven percent less than the males who do the same job and have equal working hours.
It is often considered that females who are career orientated are not great homemakers. However maheen yet again proved this myth wrong as she is a responsible mother of three daughters who makes sure that she has her lunch with her family every day. She is an ideal example of a person who can keep a balance between family and work. She always highlights the importance of her support system which is her husband family and in-laws. We wish her all the best for her prosperous future and really hope more females like her will get a chance to prove themselves in this man dominated society.
