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Decentralization and efforts for inclusivity in Pakistan’s public sector from 1973 led to the recruitment and advancement of women as officers of the newly constituted Central Superior Services (CSS) of the federal government of Pakistan. Quotas for women made government more diverse and representative, and educational and length of service benchmarks for recruitment and promotion made advancement more attainable and transparent. The increasing participation of these new officers of state, outlined in this paper, can be seen as an outcome of the 1973 public sector reforms, but government policy alone is not sufficient to account for women’s entry into public life and policy making where they had been excluded from it over the previous century of the development of the bureaucracy. This paper presents professional life history narratives of 23 women officers of the CSS recorded in an oral history project in Lahore and describes the women who participated in this state project of decentralization and gender inclusivity and their motivations, complementing an historiography of administrative reform. I argue for attention to the role of families and academic institutions in enabling women in finding pathways into the CSS and advancing and succeeding in their roles, mediating between the state and Pakistani society.

Women’s participation in the Central Superior Services of Pakistan 1973–2020