A Qualitative Exploratory Study of Work-from-Home as a Workable Strategy for Female Participation in Labor Force from a Conventional Culture

COVID-19 changed the world completely in terms of economics. Everyone experienced work from home during the pandemic. All sorts of workforce revolutionized and found ways to effectively shift online. Considering the socially fixed gender roles for females embedded strongly in our patriarchal culture, the present study focused on exploring if work from home was a workable strategy for female participation in labor force. A qualitative exploratory research design was used to collect data from (N = 8) Females, mean age (M = 32) years from various work sectors. Data was collected through criterion sampling over a Zoom meeting via a focused group discussion. An inductive approach to thematic analysis was applied to analyze the data. Data was categorized into three main themes: 1. Female social identities in cultural context, 2. Benefits and costs of female labor force participation and 3. Advantages, disadvantages and possible solutions for work-from-home. This study explored an experience-based evaluation of WFH strategy as a viable option for female financial empowerment in a conventional culture like Pakistan from stakeholders’ (female) perspective. This can create opportunities on industrial level, generate avenues for more research into role of females in industry and economy and can help in encouraging women become more financially stable and help increase country’s economy leading to increased female employability and labor force participation.