The Readiness Trap: Why Capable Adolescents Avoid Leadership Roles in Sargodha, Pakistan

Abstract

Despite having one of the world’s largest youth populations, Pakistan sees very low youth participation in formal leadership roles and activities. The present study focuses on external barriers such as cultural norms, age bias, and limited opportunities. Fewer studies are available that show what happens inside young people’s minds when they are in a situation where they have to make a decision. This study explores internal psychological and external barriers that result in school-going adolescents avoiding leadership opportunities altogether. Data were collected from May to August 2025. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 participants aged 14 to 18 from private schools. The findings indicate that leadership avoidance was associated with fear of failure, unstable self-worth, and the calculation of potential gains and losses associated with leadership. The response of family and school curriculum may further reinforce or reduce these barriers. The participants who actively held leadership roles also described similar psychological pressures. This suggests that the difference between leaders and those who avoid it was not the presence or absence of fear, but it was how they manage it. Therefore, this study suggests that youth leadership participation requires both the opportunities and the way they view competence and the potential consequences of taking on leadership roles.