Women’s ability to lead praised at Dubai panel discussion

In the UAE, 66 per cent of workers in the public sector are women and 30 per cent are decision-makers.

Ketevan Bochorishvili, Georgia’s vice minister of economy and sustainable development, speaks at yesterday’s Global Women in Leadership Economic Forum in Dubai. Ravindranath K / The National

DUBAI // A major glass ceiling will shatter next month if Hillary Clinton becomes the first woman in the Oval Office – yet women only occupy a fifth of US seats in congress and on the world’s corporate boards.

So how can governments enable more women to be brought into senior positions?

This was a topic debated by a panel of politicians at the 18th Global Women in Leadership Economic Forum at the Ritz-Carlton in Dubai International Financial Centre on Monday.

The panel, moderated by The National editor-in-chief, Mohammed Al Otaiba, consisted of the Undersecretary for Economic Affairs, Mohammed Al Shehhi, Georgian vice minister of economy and sustainable development, Ketevan Bochorishvili, and the Lebanese former minister of education, Prof Hassan Diab, who is vice president of the American University of Beirut.

Mr Al Shehhi revealed that he had Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of Tolerance, to thank for joining the government from the private sector 17 years ago.

“I was persuaded to come join the Government by a dear friend of mine, Sheikha Lubna, who at that time was in the Ministry of Economy,” he said.

“I attribute much of my success to her. She was really inspiring to me – a major role model.”

Mr Al Shehhi, who has been witness to “tremendous change” in gender roles, said he felt that the increase in women in the public sector has led to better performance.

His claims are backed up by academic research. A 2012 analysis of the S&P Composite 1,500 found that companies with women in top management experience an increase in “innovation intensity”.

Those companies were worth, on average, about US$40 million, or Dh146.9m, more than those with only male leaders.

“I’ve seen women coming into work more focused on their work than the men,” said Mr Al Shehhi. “Their contribution is much more than the men.

“With the UAE’s vision for a knowledge-based economy, I think women will be a major contributor to innovation in the UAE. Women are very much entrepreneurs.”

In Mr Al Shehhi’s department, 80 per cent of new recruits are now female.

“Within a few years, most senior positions will be women,” he said. “We will have to start making quotas for men because there won’t be a place for us in the workplace.”

Mr Diab admitted that Lebanon had a long way to go to catch up with the UAE in gender equality.

“In the Eastern Municipality elections across Lebanon a few months ago, of the 350 seats won only one was by a woman,” he said. “There is no quota allocation.

“We need more minimum quotas set for women, because having more women in power leads to more transparency, better management and more consistency.

“Unless there are laws in place that protect the rights of women things will not change. The UAE is leading the way in this region.”

In the Georgian ministry of economy, 55 per cent of staff are women. But Ms Bochorishvili said it was just as important to ensure that women were actively involved in the decision-making process.

“It’s very important that male colleagues are promoting women so they are able to make decisions,” she said.

In the UAE, 66 per cent of workers in the public sector are women, and 30 per cent of them are decision-makers, Mr Al Shehhi said.

But he said that more still had to be done to promote women in the private sector.

“We have to remove the psychological obstacles. We can see with family businesses in the UAE how successful women can become.

“But we would still like to see more women starting up their own companies.”