E-Governance Without Inclusion: Are Digital Employment Policies Reaching Educated Women in Erstwhile FATA?

Abstract

The article aims to examine whether digital employment policies and e-governance initiatives are effectively reaching educated women in the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan. Based on a mixed-methods case study of seven previous FATA districts, the research results show that there is weak awareness of government digital employment initiatives, the distribution of access to useful digital tools is uneven, and digital skills are still weak among educated women. The socio-cultural norms and the household control of technology also limit the participation of women in online work. These results demonstrate a trend of e-governance without inclusion, in which national policy commitments to digital inclusion and gender equality are failing to be translated into actual opportunities for women in the erstwhile FATA. This article finds that despite the expansion of digital governance initiatives, many educated women face challenges related to limited digital literacy, inadequate internet infrastructure, socio-cultural restrictions, and insufficient policy outreach.