ABU DHABI // The image of Emirati female managers as subservient employees in a male-dominated work environment is a myth, a new study suggests.
In fact they are clever, ambitious, hard working and not afraid to stand up to sex discrimination in pursuit of their professional success.
“They are ambitious, but they are trying to pick their battles,” said Dr Hayfaa Tlaiss, researcher and author of the study.
“They’re not standing and saying, ‘I don’t believe that the cultural values are right’.
“Alternatively, what they are saying is, ‘I respect this but … I’m trying to get to achieve what I want’. And they are doing it smartly.”
Dr Tlaiss, an associate professor at the University of New Brunswick in Canada, interviewed 26 Emirati women who worked as managers in private organisations employing 100 or more people.
She defines “manager” as any salaried employee who supervises and has authority over at least two other workers. The women she interviewed ranged in age from 26 to 51, and most were married with children.
All but two had “encountered discriminatory organisational cultures that questioned the suitability of women for management and implicit discriminatory organisational practices, especially in terms of allocation of training and development and promotions”, Dr Tlaiss’s research found.
The 24 women who suffered discrimination in the workplace used “different techniques to overcome these barriers”. A majority, 18, rebelled against or fought the system to land their desired jobs.
When faced with what they perceived to be discriminatory practices that prevented them from being promoted, six of the women quit their jobs and sought work with companies that offered a “woman-friendly” environment. These six “rebels” found jobs with flexible working hours and employers who supported women’s advancement and granted promotions based on merit alone, according to the study.
“I realised that to meet my aspirations I had to change companies and move between employers until I found one that understood my responsibilities and helped my career grow,” one middle manager in the hospitality and tourism sector told Dr Tlaiss.
Twelve of the women were designated “fighters” because they decided to stay with their employer and “fight” the sex discrimination.
“The theme reported by this group suggests that for women to get promoted, they had to work longer hours, work harder and provide better performance than their male counterparts,” Dr Tlaiss says.
Some women in this group also “fought” by improving their professional skills, attaining a higher level of education and building up a strong network of connections.
Dr Tlaiss said the findings suggest employers need to be mindful of their workplace practices and culture if they are to retain the best talent.
“Women are trying to embrace all these changes that are occurring at a very fast pace. Women are seeking change not because they want to rebel but because they just want to assume their righteous position in society,” she said.
Dr Tlaiss’s paper, Conformers, Fighters and Rebels: the Unfolding Careers of Women in the United Arab Emirates, is published in the journal Human Resource Development International.
Radhika Punshi, a consulting director at The Talent Enterprise, a human-resources consultancy in Dubai, said her company’s research has shown that Emirati women were much more comfortable than Emirati men working in a mixed-sex environment.
“We are definitely seeing a generational trend where younger cohorts of women, often with higher levels of education, are much more concerned about a sense of equity, growth and progress in their organisations, and much more vocal as well,” she said.
“What can organisations and individuals do? We often find that the presence of other, often more senior, Emirati female role models is a big source of motivation for other female workers, providing that sense of comfort, determination and feeling of optimism, ‘If she can do it, so can we’.”
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(via The National)