Gender equity is important in healthcare academic institutions for operational effectiveness, quality medical education and workforce sustainability; however, the professional careers of faculty across the globe are influenced by gender‑based disparities. This qualitative descriptive study explored and compared the perceptions and experiences of faculty members regarding gender equality in public and private medical colleges in Punjab, Pakistan. In‑depth semi‑structured interviews were conducted with 19 teaching faculty members from one public and one private medical college through purposive sampling to ensure variation in gender, academic rank, discipline, and years of experience. The interviews were audio‑recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed following Braun and Clarke’s framework of thematic analysis. Data saturation was achieved for the tenth participant in the private sector and the ninth participant in the public sector college. Four major themes, namely, gendered career progression and promotion pathways, workplace culture and implicit gender bias, work–life balance and institutional support, and institutional context and sector‑specific differences, emerged. Female faculty members reported promotional delays, inadequate leadership opportunities, and inconsistent household responsibilities, whereas male faculty members outlined gender-based inequities as systemic rather than premeditated. Although public and private colleges differed in terms of their governance and administrative structures, gender inequities were reported in both, marked by limited institutional support mechanisms and unclear promotion processes and informal practices across the system. By providing context‑-specific qualitative evidence, this study concludes that gender equity in healthcare academia is beyond the numerical representation of males and females in an institution and requires systemic as well as organizational reforms for the implementation of the concept in true spirit.