Career women in the Gulf: Changing perceptions and experiences

Between 2011 to 2013 Cambridge Overseas Trust scholar, Mona Hamade, was given unprecedented access to two national banks in the UAE to conduct research for her Ph.D. on ‘Gender and Emiratization in the Workforce of the UAE’. The three year doctoral project focused on national, regional and international labor market settings, with a particular focus on issues related to the promotion of gender equality and diversity within organizations.
During the course of her research she interviewed Arab men and women across all pay grades in the banks, visiting branches throughout the UAE. She was allowed to conduct her research on the understanding that the banks concerned and the personnel interviewed would remain anonymous.
Hamade also undertook research at universities speaking to undergraduates from Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ras Al-Khaimah and Fujairah.
What emerged during her one to one interviews with male and female employees, faculty and students gives a detailed insight into the issues that concern women in today’s job market and how their role is viewed by what has by tradition been a largely conservative society. Many of the views expressed will resonate with women all over the world who are trying to juggle career and family.
Overall, Hamade concluded that it was evident that change was under way and that traditional gender roles were undergoing a rethink. She attributed this partly to the global nature of the Emirates and the influence of the multitude of expatriates working in the UAE. But most significantly, changing attitudes she said could be attributed to government policies and vision regarding the role of women in the economy.
During the course of her research Hamade came across some key concerns that were highlighted frequently by women staff members. The issue of maternity leave and employment prospects upon returning to work post pregnancy was raised time and time again. Several female staff expressed a strong wish to have day care centers attached to the workplace similar to those provided within the public sector. One woman even suggested placing remote cameras in the child care center so that from her office she could quickly check up on her child for added reassurance.
When Hamade raised the subject of child care centers with management within the banks the response was neutral. While they said that they were not against the idea in principle, they did not see the provision of day care centers as being necessary to retain staff. “The attitude of management contrasted starkly with the views expressed by the women I interviewed on this subject,” said Hamade.
Some women also confided that they had had to cover their maternity leave by using their annual leave as the provision for maternity leave was inadequate.
Two of the female employees interviewed by Hamade spoke about their work experience prior to joining the bank. They had had to resign from their jobs at the point where they became pregnant. Subsequent to giving birth they said that they had found they had ‘no way of taking care of the children and working at the same time’.
When asked why the women could not have resorted to using nannies, au pairs or the extended family to assist, Hamade said that attitudes among Arabs in the Gulf were still quite conservative when it came to roles within the family. “It’s a traditional society and the male is seen as the bread winner, so even if a woman had been working, once there are children she has to stay at home and care for them.” Even if there were nannies or au pairs on hand, the mother was still regarded as the primary carer for the children.
Legislation relating to national child care standards and quotas for women at board level indicates a will by government to support women in the workplace. However, Hamade cautioned, creating an accommodating work environment has to mesh with ‘the dominant culture and mentality in the country’. In this respect she said, because of the way the Gulf states are governed, the vision of the leader is critical to setting the tone and indicating the path to be followed in response to the growing human capital.
Hamade, a Lebanese national, conducted her interviews in both English and Arabic. “I was lucky in the sense that I was able to gather a lot of anecdotal evidence. A lot of the women felt more comfortable discussing things in Arabic,” she said.
She witnessed first-hand how women had progressed to take senior positions in the banks. “There is of course still a glass ceiling, but women are now heads of departments and they act as role models.”
She described her meeting with a woman now in a senior position in the bank. “I interviewed a female head of department who was among the first batch of Emiratis who entered the bank under the localization scheme, about fifteen years ago. She was the only female among ten male employees and she is now head of department and has a focus on trying to retain female talent.”
Hamade observed that the localization policies implemented by the banks had encouraged women to apply for jobs and given them confidence to feel that they have equal opportunities of advancement based on ability. But she noted that though the structures were in place to support women, the women themselves needed time to adjust to and capitalize on the new opportunities.
She found that certain policies regarding the deployment of women seemed to be working well within the banks. “I interviewed a female clerk and she was very excited because the bank had given the female staff the option of having direct or indirect communication with customers.” This flexibility on permitting women to work according to their traditional values within the bank was Hamade said evidence of a pragmatic approach to retaining talent. She pointed out: “Women in the UAE are very active but you have to remember that some might not have had any contact with males outside of their families.”
The gradual evolution of attitudes was illustrated by the story told by a young Emirati student who had interned at a bank. She told Hamade that her father, who had always seen education as important for both girls and boys, did not consent to his elder daughter taking a job. However, when she, the younger sister, a decade later expressed her desire to work, the father not only gave his approval but actively helped her in her search for a job. “That shows how attitudes have changed over the last decade and the next decade will see more change,” said Hamade.
Hamade said that some institutions were showing a very enlightened and practical approach to meeting the needs of women who wished to combine the responsibilities of being a wife and mother with a career. She cited as an example the provision of a nursery on campus at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi as demonstrating a progressive attitude to the needs of women within a culture where it is common to marry and bear children at a relatively young age, a reality which without the right support could prove an obstacle to participating in further education and pursuing a career.
Regarding the attitudes of men to women playing an active role in the economy, she said: “On the whole men are becoming more receptive to change. Of course I came across men who were not receptive and had a different mentality, regarding men as bread winners and women as child carers. I also found some young male graduates were traditional in their approach expecting their future wives to stay at home,” she said. Four women confided in her that after giving birth they had had to defer to the wishes of their husbands and stay at home and could only resume their careers when the children were a little older. They said that they had found this very disappointing.”
Overall, Hamade concluded, traditional values were still in place but there was a significant change in gender dynamics within the workplace.

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