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To Be Or Not to Be Career Women: Arab Women Dilemma

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To Be Or Not to Be Career Women: Arab Women Dilemma BAM 2013 This paper is from the BAM 2013 Conference Proceedings About BAM The British Academy of Management (BAM) is a learned society dedicated to developing the community of management academics. To find out more about BAM, please visit our website at http://www.bam.ac.uk/ To Be or Not to Be Career Women: Arab Women Dilemma Abstract This research work focus on the difficulties, challenges and sacrifices Arab career women encounter during their career path. The central research question is framed as an empirical examination related to how Arab career women reacted to the situation and survived in spite of the difficulties. In addition, the researcher examine the impact of the external environment i.e., the economic and social pressure, and the influence of the internal factors such as self-concept, motivations and role perception on the behaviour and career path of Arab women. There are significant differences among Arab countries regarding social, cultural, religious and educational environment. The researcher narrowed her research study to a sample of four female nationals in Syria, Jordan and Dubai one of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Semi-structured interviews were used in collecting the data. The systematic investigation of the stories of those Arab career women lead to a theoretical generalization that educated Arab women face a lot of pressure trying to balance the modern world i.e., being career women, financially independent and a traditionally conservative social community . Educating Arab girls does not give them the rights or the potential to participate in their country’s struggle at all levels. The researcher believes that with the so called Arab Spring, (a rather conservative political and radical movement), Arab women's right for equal opportunity is difficult to be realised in the near future. The issue is complex and needs social and cultural reassessment of the norms and values that are prevailing in the Arab society. Introduction In the opening ceremony of a Conference about Democracy in the Middle East, held at Phoenicia hotel, Beirut, Lebanon, on January 15 th , 2012, Ban Ki-moon the UN 1 Secretary General said: “No change can be achieved without empowering women (referring to Arab women). No democracy without women being given their rights”. This study focus on the difficulties, challenges and sacrifices Arab career women encounter during their career path. In addition, the researcher examine the impact of the external environment i.e., the economic and social pressure, and the influence of the internal factors such as self-concept, motivations and role perception on the behavior and career path of Arab women. Literature Review Women and the Social Norms Laurel Thatcher Ulrich in a book entitled Well Behaved women Seldom Make History (2007) talking about Western women said that if women want to make a difference in the world, they should not worry too much about what people think and should dare to challenge both social norms and the law. She adds, women in the past were taught from early childhood lessons in good behaviour: "Considerate meant deferential. Respectful was obedient. Polite was silent" (Thatcher Ulrich, 2007, p.11). In addition, Girls were told that no one likes know-it-all women. That is why some women in order to be considered well behaved and ladylike acted as if they knew nothing at all. They were quiet, subservient, polite, indoors, cooking, cleaning type of girl who would never risk shame by voicing their own opinion (Ulrich, 2007). In addition, career women face the danger of appearing either too feminine or too masculine. If women appear too feminine they face the risk of a loss in credibility and considered as sexual objects instead of professionals (Omair, 2009). Similarly, successful career women are often described as anxious, unfeminine, and selfish. If they display masculine characteristics such as competitiveness, career orientation, self-confidence, aggression and forcefulness, they are classified as unfeminine. They are often described as anxious, unfeminine, and selfish. If they display masculine characteristics such as competitiveness, career orientation, self-confidence, aggression and forcefulness, they are classified as unfeminine (Winter, Neal & Warner, 2001). Women in leadership positions are disruptive. Strong women are difficult and dangerous because they trouble dominant 2 masculinities and modes of management by being different (Ghattas, 2009). However, according to Ulrich, (2007) being different is good not bad. The Basic Role of Arab Women There are significant differences among Arab countries regarding social, cultural, religious and educational environment. Given the traditions and patriarchal culture in the Arab world, Gender differences and even discrimination are apparent due to the existing social norms that stereotype women as emotional and men as dominant (Yaseen, 2010). These social norms affect the type of work Arab women choose and their level of engagement at work. The most important role of an Arab woman is her commitment to her house and children, whereas the role of an Arab man is to be the breadwinner for the family. In general, women are considered as delicate, fragile, and easy to influence (Efrati, 2012). Thus, educated Arab women face a lot of pressure trying to balance the modern world and a traditionally conservative social background (Mostafa, 2006; Omair, 2009). Similarly, women in Arab culture are trained to be docile, submissive, discreet, modest and quietly spoken and are subject to dominance by male members of their family. From early childhood Arab women are taught obedience (Jones & George,2011). Happy Hyder in a chapter of a book entitled Arab, and Arab American Feminisms (2011) emphasized that by educating girls (referring to Arab girls), in other words by empowering women through education we can give them the potential to participate in their country’s struggle at all levels even in reforming their governments. Arab women want to take more responsibilities in the political, occupational, educational and social spheres, men are not willing to let them achieve that. Arab women in a male dominating culture have a greater need for credibility, acceptance and legitimacy (Omair, 2009; Efrati, 2012). Similarly, Nadine Naber in another chapter of the same book explains that the concept of good Arab girls "is a product of a superior Arab culture in comparison to American girls and American culture. Idealized concepts of femininity are connected to idealized notions of family… ."(Naber, 2011, p. 83). Nadine quotes one interlocutor talking about the pressure to marry an Arab woman (Naber, 2011, p. 83). 3 My mother used to say: “An Arab girl will stand by her family. She will cook and clean, and have no career. She will have kids, raise kids, and take care of her kids, night and day. She will do anything for her husband.” In addition, the main burden of family responsibilities including child care and domestic work is the main burden of the female partner. Thus, women who work outside the home undertake a “double shift”, or if they have children, even a “triple shift” (Homsi, 2003; Ghattas,2009). Similarly, Efrati, (2012) in a book entitled Women in Iraq (an Arab country), explains that Iraqi women among the low income group had lost their freedom as human beings. They are means of production and reproduction and considered as a property of the male member of the family, i.e., the father, the brother or the husband. It is difficult for Arab women to reach top management and/or middle management positions. One of the arguments used against women occupying management positions is the fact that Arab women with their "aspiration to occupy high positions and hold parliamentary seats was lamentable because it would lead to a forbidden commingling between the sexes and the type of unrestrained liberty.... Do women believe that they have greater abilities than men that would allow them to fulfil two difficult tasks simultaneously- the task they are interested in (the management position), and the natural task for which they were created (the role of a mother and a wife)? Do they intend to fulfil this new task at the cost of breaking up the family and society and spreading anarchy?" Efrati, (2012, p.96). Challenges Facing Women At every level of an organization there appears to be barriers to the advancement of women (Wirth, 2001). Such organizational barriers may operate not only against women, but also positively in favor of men. Some of these barriers include taking a career break and applying for a promotion. Arab women are not considered as the breadwinners of the family and thus are less concerned with a competitive career path focusing on financial rewards. That is why some women do not take themselves seriously and are satisfied with lower level positions (Ghattas, 2009). However, with the economic recession things have changed. 4 Often women face workplace discrimination and great family demands which affect their career development (Homsi, 2003). A study made by ESCWA about employment and gender differences in Arab countries noted that a career break for women is perceived as negative especially if the job is linked to high technology because of the dramatic changes in the areas (Homsi, 2003; Ghattas, 2009; Kelly, 2000). Women who have been successful in management jobs had minimized or avoided career breaks, thus following a career pattern similar to that expected of men. In addition, women face what some call the, glass ceiling effect, an invisible barrier or ceiling that prevents women from rising above a certain level of organizational responsibility despite all the progress in the area of equal rights and anti-discrimination acts (Gerardo Liertz, 2012). Methodology Ontological assumptions concern the very nature or essence of the social phenomena being investigated, “the reality or the sense of being” (Morrison, 2002, p.
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