UAE's push for more women in the boardroom is good for business – and society

Last year, Netflix released a drama set in 1987 in the Gulf, called The Exchange . In it, the male-dominated Kuwait Stock Exchange is rocked by the arrival of two talented and ambitious female traders. When viewed in hindsight, their struggle for recognition and acceptance in the world of high finance shows how much Gulf women have since achieved in the business world. The UAE has been demonstrably ahead of the curve when it comes to gender equality and equality of opportunity in companies and boardrooms – not just regionally, but on a global level. According to data from Heriot-Watt University released in April, nearly 11 per cent of board positions at publicly listed companies in the Emirates are held by women. This puts the UAE at the top of the GCC table and ahead of many other countries. However, there is always room for improvement. A new directive issued by the Ministry of Economy this week requires private joint-stock companies to have female representation on their boards of directors from next January. This is not only good in societal terms – such measures have proven to be good for business too. Research published by the University of Navarra in Spain drew on data from McKinsey & Company management consultants and the UN’s International Labour Organisation to reveal that companies with female board members were 20 per cent more likely to improve their performance. This was attributed to improved strategic decision making, the consideration of a wider range of business options and women’s “inherent leadership qualities like emotional intelligence, empathy and good listening”. This effect, the research found, was increased if a woman chaired the board. The Emirates has long recognised the talent that exists among the country’s businesswomen, and has introduced a series of incremental policy changes to harness it. In 2006, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai founded the Dubai Women Establishment , which in 2012 launched its Women on Boards initiative with the objective of increasing the representation of women on boards to 20 per cent. In 2019, the UAE Central Bank said that at least 20 per cent of candidates considered for a new board position must be women. In 2021, the UAE Securities and Commodities Authority said that public joint stock companies listed on the Abu Dhabi and Dubai stock markets have at least one female board member. Businesses were also obliged to disclose the percentage of female representation in their annual governance report and develop policies for improving gender diversity. It is measures such as these that have propelled the UAE to the top of the league for having women in leading corporate positions. But the country’s forward-looking outlook on gender equality can be seen in its policies more generally. In 2015, the UAE Gender Balance Council was created with a goal of helping the country reach its target of becoming one of the world's top 25 countries for gender equality by 2021. Progress towards this goal can be measured by the fact that in March this year, the UAE was ranked seventh on a global list for efforts to promote gender equality and was ranked first in the region on the UN human development report’s Gender Inequality Index. In the world of politics too, female participation has been promoted with a 2018 directive that 50 per cent of seats on the Federal National Council be held by women. It is true that a debate still exists about such quotas in the corporate world but if the UAE’s experience over the past number of years is anything to go by, they have proven to be an invaluable tool supporting the country’s continued growth and prosperity.