Basic pay scale dilemma: Does it reflect discrimination? Case of teaching faculty of Pakistani public sector universities

Abstract

This study analyzed the perceptions of Basic Pay Scale (BPS) faculty in Pakistan’s public sector universities. The aim was to question whether the BPS faculty in public sector universities faced discrimination. A quantitative and non-experimental approach was carried out to conduct this survey research. A survey tool having twenty-four items with a Likert scale of five choices ranged between strongly disagree and strongly agree was used for data collection. The data were collected from 384 sample BPS-teachers out of 35,089 BPS-teachers working in the public sector universities. The google-form was developed, and its link was shared in the Whatsapp groups for “All Pakistan Universities BPS Teachers Association” (APUBTA). The missing data were less than three percent. It was found that the BPS faculty has no service structure regarding promotions. The BPS faculty are promoted with a process by adding posts, in which the in-service teachers are put in competition with the entire country, leaving fewer chances for their promotion. In contrast, it was found that, unlike the BPS faculty, the Tenure Track System (TTS) faculty have a welldefined service structure, facing no selection board. On the other hand, the BPS faculty sent to foreign universities under the faculty project cannot apply to other universities as per university statutes. This situation is creating a sense of discrimination among the BPS faculty, affecting universities’ performance. It was suggested that the HEC and the government focus on these issues until they are solved, aiming at better universities’ performance.