ISLAMABAD: Approximately 70 percent of female engineering graduates residing in Pakistan are either unemployed or out of the labor force, a survey revealed.
Out of a total of 28,920 female engineering graduates, 6,054 (20.9 percent) are unemployed and 14,720 (50.9 percent) were out of the labor force, while only 8,146 (28 percent) were employed.
This was revealed in joint research conducted by Gallup Pakistan and PRIDE, using data from the Labor Force Survey 2020-21 on female engineering graduates (including women who have passed Bachelors, MS/M.Sc., M.Phil. or Ph.D. degree in any field of engineering) and their status in the labor market.
The analysis of the data for the three groups (employed, unemployed, and out of labor force) by region (urban and rural), shows that around 21.1 percent of all engineering graduates resided in the rural regions in the country, while 78.9 percent of them were in the urban areas. The analysis of the data shows that within the rural region, 43.9 percent of engineering graduates were employed, while around 36.3 percent were unemployed.
Female Engineers in Rural Areas
The proportion of engineering graduates who opt to remain out of the labor force in the rural region was substantially lower (19.8 percent) than the national average (50.9 percent). The analysis with respect to urban areas revealed that nearly 24.0 percent of female engineering graduates were employed, while 16.8 percent were unemployed. The major share of female engineering graduates remains out of the labor force in the urban region at more than 59.2 percent.
The comparison of the figures of employed engineering graduates by region demonstrated that the employment opportunities for female engineering graduates are considerably higher in the urban areas (67.2 percent) compared to the rural areas (32.8 percent). The proportion of unemployed engineering female graduates was lower in the rural regions (36.5 percent) in contrast to those in the urban areas (63.5 percent). On the other side, out of the total number of engineering graduates who are out of the labor force (14,720) – the predominant share is in urban areas (91.8 percent) compared to rural areas (8.2 percent).
It is to be noted that around 64.2 percent of those engineering graduates who opted to remain out of the labor force were married, and 28.42 were never married. The analysis by age group revealed that the highest share of all female engineering graduates is in the age range of 25-34 years (50.9 percent), followed by those in the age group of 35-44 years (21.7 percent).
