Arab women scientists call out gender discrimination in the workplace

Abstract. Female earth scientists existed in the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century in a number exceeding what we generally imagine. In this paper I present information on 210 of them who were active from 1800 to 1929. These women often overcame great challenges to achieve their positions, sometimes only to have their work attributed to men they worked with or for. Gender discrimination made access to university difficult and access to scientific careers even harder. They found several ways to overcome these difficulties thanks to the support of their parents or to the more ambiguous support of husbands or academic male mentors, through staying single, and through teamwork and mentorship with other women. In the same way many past female artists have been recently rediscovered, women scientists are progressively being saved from the dustbin of history, a huge task that has already been undertaken by several researchers. In addition to the review of their research, a fresh contribution to this collective work in progress is made with the presentation of hydrogeologist Norah Dowell Stearns. Finally, some reflections and suggestions are included on how we could fight this oblivion to which their work, their personalities and modern research on them are subject to.

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L'Oreal-UNESCO recognises exceptional Arab women scientists

Nature Middle East ◽

10.1038/nmiddleeast.2013.20 ◽

2013 ◽

Author(s):

Louise Sarant

Keyword(s):

Women Scientists ◽

Arab Women

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The Arab Women Manager: Participation, Barriers, and Future Prospects

10.51240/jibe.2011.1.3 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 35-56 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Saleema Kauser ◽

Hayfaa Tlaiss

Keyword(s):

Gender Discrimination ◽

Women Managers ◽

Holistic Approach ◽

Career Progression ◽

Arab Women ◽

Future Prospects ◽

The World ◽

The Status ◽

And Gender ◽

Social Organizational

This paper provides an overview of research examining the status of Arab women managers. It summarizes the current situation and highlights constraints Arab women face in their career progression. Given the theoretical shortcomings of research on management and gender in this region, a holistic approach is adopted to evaluate the pressures that Arab women managers must address. Human capital and gender discrimination theories are invoked to explain the restricted managerial advancement of women in this part of the world. This review supports the notion that social, organizational, and personal barriers faced by women managers arises from the culture-based gender roles and status. Research using rigorous designs is needed to probe in more depth many of the issues raised in this review.

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Feminizing leadership in the Middle East

Gender in Management An International Journal ◽

10.1108/gm-07-2016-0143 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 32 (8) ◽

pp. 590-608 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Nessrin Shaya ◽

Rawan Abu Khait

Keyword(s):

Middle East ◽

Leadership Style ◽

Gender Discrimination ◽

Local Governments ◽

Role Model ◽

National Government ◽

International Literature ◽

Arab Women ◽

Content Type ◽

Islamic Work Ethic

Purpose This paper aims to form an empirical study, stemming from a Middle-Eastern context, on eliminating gender discrimination and achieving women’s empowerment. It aims to develop a conceptual model on the principal social and cultural factors inducing the success of Emirati women in attaining senior leadership roles and shaping their leadership style to be transformational. Moreover, it examines the comparability and divergence of the accumulated data on the empowerment of Emirati women in an international context from existing international literature. Design/methodology/approach The design of the study was based on data gathered from face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with four Emirati women occupying the highest leadership positions in various fields, followed by thematic analysis. Findings Data analysis confirmed the significant influence of the study’s key factors, namely, the role of the national government, Islamic work ethic and family, on the subjects’ empowerment and their adherence to transformational leadership style. However, two new k ey factors impacting empowerment emerged, namely, the influence of rulers’ leadership and the efforts in balancing work/life commitments. The findings led to the development of a study model on Emirati women empowerment and leadership style, reflecting the appropriateness of international literature on the Emirati context. Particularly, it is the social and economic circumstances of the nation supported by policies form the major source of empowerment, in addition to the important role that family capital and business ethics play. Remarkably, the challenges facing Emirati working women ought to be different than the rest of the Middle East. Originality/value A dearth of literature pertaining to women’s leadership exists; however, they were mostly carried out within Western contexts that may not be applicable to Arab societies because of cultural and religious differences. The study strives to portray an unambiguous picture to the significant impact of the parenting role and Islam work ethics in relating positively to their daughters and prompt them to develop crucial societal and professional skills, in a country as UAE where expatriates and Westerns dominate the population body. In addition, it shapes the UAE national government as a unique example and role model, to local governments in other Arab states, to learn from regarding supporting women, helping them to achieve excellence. Aiming for feminizing leadership, the Emirati women leadership styles are explored in an attempt to demonstrate the capacities and potentials of Emirati and Arab women in positions of power and influence. It is assumed that this study will help in bringing confidence in Emirati women capabilities, inducing a change in attitudes towards Arab women managers and encouraging employment in non-traditional feminine based jobs.

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