The Inclusion Trap: Evidence from the Elite Civil Service

Early-career geographic mobility plays a critical role in shaping the long-run careers of elite civil servants by providing exposure, networks and administrative experience. In a new study using personnel data from Pakistan’s elite civil service from 1986 to 2020, Shaheen Naseer examines a 2003 gender-sensitive policy that relaxed mobility requirements for female officers.

She finds that the reform reduced early-career exposure for high-ability women, who advanced at similar rates but were significantly less likely to occupy high-responsibility leadership roles. Male officers faced less competition, and the diversity of leadership declined. These findings show how changes to assignment rules for one group can generate system-wide shifts in career dynamics, reallocating authority and reshaping the composition of leadership within the state.

On Wednesday, April 9 from 12:30PM - 2:00PM, join us and Shaheen Naseer, Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Oxford, for a research seminar on unintended consequences of gender sensitive reform and leadership pipeline in a public organization.

This event is part of the 2025 Human Capital Initiative Research Seminar.

https://gdpcenter.org/HCI-April-2025-Zoom