Women Lag Behind in 'Powerful' Cadres

In the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS), certain cadres are identified as "powerful," with Administration, Police, and Foreign Affairs being the most prominent public jobs. This is because top positions such as Secretary or Ambassador are eventually filled from these cadres. Smart officers from these sectors, the majority of whom are men, easily reach the policy-making levels of the state.

The reason is that men make up the lion's share of those recommended for these cadres. The proportion of women is almost negligible. This stands in stark contrast to the latest census, which shows that women now outnumber men in Bangladesh.

An analysis of the male-female ratio in BCS cadres reveals that women are performing better than men in technical and professional cadres. Women are even ahead in Special BCS exams. However, in the "powerful" cadres, women remain significantly behind.

Significant progress in female education rates in the country began in the 1990s. Girls have surpassed boys at the primary and secondary levels, and the ratio of men to women in higher education is now nearly equal. The percentage of women in higher education, which stood at 38% in 2013, crossed the 50% mark by 2024.

Despite this educational progress, women have not been able to reflect this success in the job market, specifically in the BCS. Results from the Public Service Commission's (PSC) last six BCS exams show that while women excel in professional and technical categories, they are nowhere near men in the General Cadres.

The PSC makes final job recommendations after selecting candidates through three stages: Preliminary, Written, and Viva. Among the last six BCS exams, the 39th, 42nd, and 49th were "Special" BCS. In these exams, candidates received final recommendations based only on the Preliminary and Viva stages. It was observed that women performed well in these. However, they lagged behind in the standard three-stage General BCS exams.
Men Lead in 'Powerful' Cadres

According to PSC data, in the latest 44th BCS, women secured only 9 out of the 159 allocated posts in the Administration cadre. In the Police cadre, only 4 out of 64 were women, and in Foreign Affairs, only 3 out of 13 were recommended. Additionally, the names of one woman for Ansar, five for Audit and Accounts, and three for the Tax cadre were recommended.

Out of the 934 candidates recommended in this BCS, 249 are women. Among the 449 posts in the General Cadre, women secured 85. This means the recommendation rate for female candidates is approximately 18.93%.
On November 8 of last year, the PSC issued these final recommendations for the 44th BCS. In the same year, women secured 164 out of 885 posts in technical and professional cadres, accounting for 33.81% of those cadres.

On the other hand, women have shown significant success in specialized BCS categories, such as the Health and Education cadres. Dr. Nazneen Islam, a professor in the Department of Public Administration at Dhaka University, believes that this lagging behind in specific cadres is not merely a matter of merit. According to her, it is also due to opportunities and environmental factors.

She noted, "Despite having the merit, many women, advised by their families, prioritize 'safe' or 'comfortable' cadres like Education or Health in their choice list. The lack of a conducive working environment and surrounding facilities in Administration or Police discourages many candidates from working in these cadres."

Furthermore, the abolition of the 10% women's quota in the BCS in 2018 has also impacted the overall recruitment of women. Previously, with the quota in place, many women who might have lagged slightly behind in the direct merit competition still secured opportunities in the so-called "powerful" cadres. However, since the quota was abolished, those opportunities have become limited.

The 39th BCS serves as an example of women performing well in other cadres. Through that Special BCS, 4,792 doctors were recruited, where women secured more than 47% of the positions. Similarly, in the 42nd Special BCS, the ratio of men and women was almost equal, with 49.2% of the recommendations going to women.

In contrast, in the 40th, 41st, and 44th General BCS exams, women secured only 26–27% of the total cadre positions. The lowest recorded was in the 43rd BCS, where women obtained only 19.46% of the cadres. In technical and professional cadres, women secured 164 out of 485 posts.

Data shows that women are performing best in Agriculture. For the Agriculture cadre or Agricultural Extension Officer positions, women secured 43 out of 85 posts. Similarly, women have fared relatively well in Education cadre subjects such as English, Economics, Bengali, Political Science, Science, and Commerce.

In terms of division-wise success, women from the Dhaka division are the most ahead, while those from Sylhet are the furthest behind. In the 44th BCS General Cadre, the highest number of recommendations came from Dhaka division with 62 women, along with 19 women in technical and professional cadres. Following Dhaka, 13 women from Chattogram, 11 from Khulna, and 6 from Rajshahi secured positions. Additionally, five women each from Mymensingh and Rangpur, two from Barishal, and the lowest—only one woman—from Sylhet were recommended.