The British Council in Pakistan commissioned the research in response to concerns in the profession about the under-representation of women in senior leadership positions in higher education (HE) in South Asia. The British Council in Pakistan was coordinating a series of high-level strategic policy dialogues for the South Asia region – Global Education Dialogues (GEDS), each of which was framed by research and think pieces to promote debate on critical issues in the region. As part of this research effort the South Asia GEDS wanted to commission a more significant research report into Women, Higher Education and Leadership