The 2008 Bayt.com research survey on Women in the Middle East Workplace is out and the results are extremely encouraging for all working women in the region.
The survey shows that professional women are making very positive headway in competing with men on an equal footing in workplaces around the region, from the GCC to the Levant to North Africa. In fact, the vast majority of women (43% of respondents) feel that their gender has not affected their career prospects at all, with exactly as many women feeling that their gender has impacted their career prospects positively (22% of respondents) as the number that believe their gender has affected their career prospects negatively (22%).
Just as refreshingly, a whopping 76% of all women surveyed indicated that women already today occupy the senior ranks of the companies in which they work.There seemed to be a bit of mixed sentiment vis-à-vis how work has affected the marital life of working women with slightly more women (21% of all respondents) indicating that their work has affected marriage life positively rather than negatively (22%) and 26% indicating that their marital life has been essentially unaffected.
Yet while 67% of respondents agree that prospects have improved for working women in their country of residence, often dramatically improved, an overwhelming 80% of women still feel that their work life would be further prolonged were employers to introduce further special benefits to women employees due to their external circumstances, priorities and obligations.
This may be partly related to the fact that while 26% of women maintain their choice to have children has not affected their career prospects at all and only 22% have indicated it has negatively affected their careers to date, sadly, 32% of women feel that their decision to have more children in the future will affect their career prospects adversely.Women want more understanding and more accommodative policies in the workplace in light of their dual responsibilities as primary caretakers for the family unit and productive professionals.
Despite room for improvement always, (and the research is very rich in all the areas it highlights could use improvement), the research is full of upside and silver linings.The vast majority of respondents at 51% of women feel that recognition in their company is based on performance alone, not on gender, with only 15% maintaining that they believe male employees get better recognition than female employees.Moreover 60% of women believe they are being treated fairly with only 23% indicating they believe male colleagues are treated better.Women across the region in every industry, profession and demographic group seem to be feeling empowered, in control of their professional destinies and as ambitious to if not more ambitious than their male counterparts.
With world-class professional women gracing every industry and profession in the Middle East and shining pioneering role models solidifying hard-earned reputations in both public and private sectors throughout the region, the Middle East’s working woman is certainly no longer to be overlooked as a pivotal and crucial fibre of the socio-economic fabric and an important ingredient in the region’s roaring success.
