1 Vol 13, No 2, June 2023, PP. 01-21 International Journal of Management Research and Emerging Sciences Exploring the Pygmalion Phenomenon in a Male-Centric Industry and Developing a Model of Female Career Progression Hira Jehanzeb NUST Business School, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan hira.mshr22nbs@student.nust.edu.pk Mumtaz Ali Memon* NUST Business School, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan Asfia Obaid NUST Business School, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan asfia.obaid@nbs.nust.edu.pk *Corresponding: mumtazutp@gmail.com ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article History: Received: 03-Mar 2023 Revised: 25-Apr 2023 Accepted: 29-May 2023 Available Online: 07-Jun 2023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.56536/ijmres.v13i2.469 This paper explores the relationship between the Pygmalion Effect and female career progression. The data was collected from sales representatives in the real estate sector in Pakistan through semi-structured interviews. Data was analyzed using Quirkos 2.5.3. The results of thematic analysis revealed that male employees received preferential treatment due to their perceived self-efficacy, leading managers to invest more in their development, which can be linked to the Pygmalion Effect. In contrast, female employees did not receive the same treatment within the real estate sector. The findings recommend that top management in the real estate sector should maintain similar interactions with all employees, regardless of their gender, to avoid sub-group formation. Conducting exit interviews with female employees can help identify underlying issues that contribute to their departure from organizations. This paper fills a gap in the existing literature by developing a model for understanding the role of the Pygmalion Effect in female career progression. Keywords: Pygmalion Effect. Leader- Member Exchange Theory, Quirkos, Real Estate, Pakistan. JEL Classification: H21, H71, E22 ©2023 The authors, under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0. INTRODUCTION Women have been recognized for their domestic roles but tremendously disregarded for their economic roles. Countries around the globe present an alarming situation regarding the career progression of women, especially Pakistan. As per the Global Gender Gap Report 2022 of the World Economic Forum, the global index for industries such as Technology, Real Estate, Supply Chain and Transportation, and Financial Services has a 24%, 29%, 21%, and 30%, presence of women in leadership roles, respectively (Hausmann et al., 2022). It is also to be noted that women's presence in leadership roles has not even attained 50% presence in any of the industries per World Economic Forum (Hausmann et al., 2022). Furthermore, the South Asian region has been ranked the lowest amongst the eight regions covered in the report where the economic participation and opportunity for