Private firms urged to 'nurture' women

A champion of female Emiratis wants the private sector to recognise cultural constraints and do more to tempt job-seekers away from public arena.

Serra Kirdar-Meliti wants companies to encourage Emirati women.

ABU DHABI // Talented Emirati women should be encouraged to work in the private sector and mentored and nurtured once there, says the woman behind a fledgling group devoted to the cause. Serra Kirdar-Meliti, a founder and director of the Muthabara Foundation, has been working on her project with the Middle East Centre, Oxford University, and the Centre for Applied HR Research at Oxford Brookes University, since 2007.

She spent several months interviewing about 60 Emirati women, many of whom had chosen to work in the private sector instead of taking the more traditional public sector path, yet confessed they felt "stifled and shelved" in their jobs. In some cases, expatriates were even doing some of their work. "There were women who were being employed in the private sector, which is not as attractive as the public sector," said Dr Kirdar-Meliti. "They found that although they had initiated this change, they were not getting the kind of attention they needed to grow and progress. It was quite frustrating for these women."

The issue of the "sticky floor" continues to affect Emirati women and was raised in a February report - to which Dr Kirdar-Meliti contributed - called Gaining Ground: Women's Rights in the Gulf Arab States from the US non-profit organisation, Freedom House. While she accepted that the Emiratisation programme had good intentions, she said it had seen some women kept back because they had already fulfilled a company's Emirati-hiring requirements.

Cultural differences could also create obstacles to advancement. A company hiring Emirati women might have to alter its expectations of employees putting in long hours, install a day-care centre for children, or accommodate those required by religion to travel with a male relative. "There are certain things you wouldn't need to do in New York or Los Angeles or Paris, but over here you need to do it to consider the cultural constraints," Dr Kirdar-Meliti said. "They are not even constraints, if you don't operate under a Western view. This is how it works here."

According to a YouGov survey released in December, just 13 per cent of Emiratis working in the private sector are women. Jane Tatterton, career development and employment co-ordinator at Abu Dhabi Women's College, said that even those about to graduate and join the workforce tended to seek jobs in the Government. "A lot of our women like to go into government because the hours are better and there is better pay," Mrs Tatterton said.

Women also tended to be more familiar with the public sector, perhaps following in the footsteps of family and friends, than they were with some of the international companies seeking to recruit them. KPMG, an international audit, tax and advisory firm, was one example of a company trying to hire Emiratis. "They are huge in the UK but when they came to a career fair, the girls hadn't heard of them," she said.

Dr Kirdar-Meliti is still trying to have Muthabara recognised as an official non-governmental organisation. However, in April last year, through the programme, the Higher Colleges of Technology sponsored a dozen male and female students to travel to Oxford University in Britain. The foundation has already begun reaching out to universities and colleges to link graduates with private companies. Dr Kirdar-Meliti's hopes are that six months from now Muthabara will be working to source and place talent and following up with on-the-job training for women, as well as mentors to help guide them through the ranks.

It is the kind of exercise that has helped Shada el Borno advance over the past 13 years while working for Standard Chartered Bank, which sponsored Muthabara's initial feasibility study. At 32, Mrs el Borno is head of financial institutions for the UAE. She also serves as one of the company's diversity and inclusion champions and is one of 374 Emirati women - 26 per cent of its UAE workforce - employed at the company.

Mrs el Borno is among the female employees with a dedicated mentor at the company. There are also plans to launch a programme later this year that will let female employees share their "concerns and ambitions" on a regular basis. "It's a great opportunity for us to learn from each other and grow, to ensure this workplace is conducive to helping women be all they can be," she said. Standard Chartered already offers flexible hours - including the option of working part-time - for women who are trying to balance their careers with family. And a year ago Ghazala Abbas, who at 41 rose to a senior position in the global markets division after almost 12 years with the company, took on a newly created job as head of Emirati employees and development in wholesale banking.

"We are always trying to get the good, talented locals and provide them with whatever they need, training, whatever," Mrs Abbas said. "We are always looking to see them in a bigger, better position." [e-mail]