Understanding Gendered Perspective to Corruption: Evidence from Pakistan

This study focuses on the debate that whether women are as corrupt as men, or their propensity to corruption is less than their male counterparts on account of their soft gender? It also encompasses the dynamics of networking, with particular emphasis on sifarish (use of influence for undue benefits) &and networking in gender perspective. Are women less corrupt than men? Do the sifarish and networking have gender biasness, how women become part of these networks and what role they play therein? These are the questions addressed in this study. An interpretive approach of qualitative research has been adopted keeping in view the subjective nature of networking and corruption. Semi-structured interviews from seventeen General / Senior Managers of public sector organizations were conducted to get their input on the research questions, middle management of public sector has been selected with a view that they have immediate exposure to corruption occurrences in the society. In addition to it, in depth review of the relevant available literature has been made. It has been concluded that apparent image of women being less susceptible to corruption is not related with their sex or gender, rather it is due to their less exposure to business and economic world which, even as of today, is dominated by men This study will add to the literature on role of gender in corruption, sifarish, networking and favoritism in the Pakistani context. This will also help management practitioners in working out their strategies in defining the role of women in the anti-corruption campaigns in business and political sectors. This study has acquired feedback from the middle management employees belonging to public sector organizations as they are directly related with formation and implementation of policies, which is also a sampling limitation. Future research should be carried out on diverse samples covering private organizations and non-professional people.