Gulf businesswomen strike back! (page 1 of 3)

By KAREN THOMAS ABU DHABI

The numbers are surprising. In the Gulf Cooperation (GCC) states, women make up 65 percent of university graduates. In Oman and Kuwait, women outnumber men even in traditionally masculine disciplines such as law and science, and more than 70 percent of students at higher colleges in the UAE are female.
Money matters. Much is made of the need for GCC governments to find jobs for greater numbers of nationals in the private sector, replacing migrant workers whose remittances drain regional economies of much-needed revenue. The question for these governments is how to prepare women to play that role.
"The sooner that the Middle East embraces women in the workforce, the sooner economic recovery will begin," says Dina Kaldi, co-founder of Women in Business in the Arab World. "Statistically, there are more women than men and, although foreign labor compensates for the lack of women, sooner or later the region - and particularly the oil-producing states - will face a serious dilemma."
Zayed University in the UAE is a women-only university that trains young Emirati women in the language, technology and professional skills that they need to enter the competitive modern workplace. Students need basic proficiency in English and a laptop computer to join an entry-level course covering general skills, before choosing a major. The second year includes Arabic and Islamic studies, English, mathematics and science. Work experience is central, with first-year students placed in leading UAE firms, including Etisalat, Emirates, Saatchi and Al Futtaim.
The university's publicity material depicts bright-eyed, enthusiastic young Emirati women at work and at play, teaming their decorous black veils and abaya with subtle makeup, jeans and fashionable shoes. University staff are no less enthusiastic about the 1,500 students, almost glowing when discussing the university's pioneering work.
"Staff from all the other higher colleges in the Emirates say that the level of motivation is so much higher among young women than it is among the male students," says Judy Turk, Zayed University's dean of communication and media sciences. "Al Ain University even has lower entry requirements for male students. If they had kept the same entry level as the women's, few would have been able to enroll."
Women overtaking men in education is a striking phenomenon across all the GCC states, except Saudi Arabia. But while many are motivated by a thirst for education that will equip them for an independent career, these "working girls" are by no means in the majority. Every year, thousands of talented young women graduate from Gulf universities, never to display their skills in public again. For many, graduation closes the deal they have made with their parents: that they will only marry when they have completed their education.
Some Gulf families educate their daughters to become accomplished wives, the better to snare a wealthy, well-connected husband. The degree certificate is not always a passport to a career; it can symbolize the start of married life or, for married graduates, time to start a family. Work-wise, graduation is the end of the road. One of the great ironies surrounding Gulf women is that while, unlike most women worldwide, they have both an extended family and the income to hire childcare and domestic staff, it has traditionally been unacceptable for a woman to work outside the home.