Tanmia mulls quota for local women in private sector jobs - Khaleej Times
From a distance, such as from Paris or Washington, the countries in the Gulf tend to be assumed to be pretty much the same. But there are big and consequential differences, including society's attitude toward women pursuing a university degree and, then, entering the workforce. The UAE, for instance, is quite different from Saudi Arabia in this respect, with little or no vocal opposition to women pursuing these goals; if you were to put them on a continuum, the UAE is closer to the US of the 1960s than it is to Saudi Arabia of today.
Educated women in the Gulf face the same obstacles to good jobs at good pay as women do in the United States. Only women can bear children, and in both cultures mothers are the primary child care providers. Individual employers, then, have these facts in mind when they consider hiring a woman. Only women take maternity leave (and men rarely take paternity leave), and tend to leave employment for long spells to raise children. Any particular woman may plan to not have chidren. Or, in her marriage the husband may take the primary childcare role. But it is difficult for employers to tell these women from the average.
In the UAE this disadvantage that women bear is amplified by the elastic supply of labor from the subcontinent of men in the "administrative, secretarial, and supervision positions."
Readers of The Emirates Economist will know my recommendation to the government, if its goal is to find jobs for female nationals, is to reward firms for hiring them, not force them to hire them.
There is a group of negative consequences of forcing employees on firms through quotas which is little appreciated, but is important. The employee knows that they are there by virtue of their nationality, not because the employer found them to be the best person for the job. This is not good for the employee's self esteem. And it causes resentment by the firm and the other employees. Besides being burdened with the presumption (true or not) that they are not qualified, there is also the presumption that they do not have to excell in their work to keep their jobs. This is another source of bad feelings and jealousy, and perpetuates stereotypes. That is, the government quota policy would have the effect of perpetuating a view of nationals that the government regards as false.
Further, if nationals are forced on firms, then the incentive for nationals to work hard at university is also undercut. This is exactly contrary to the goal of the Minister for Education to make nationals better prepared for work. Earnest nationals how do study hard may even get teased for working hard for something that will be handed them.
One last point. A colleague reminds me that employment is not the only end of education. Education also helps parents educate their children. It is important to be educated even if your primary goal in life is to be a good parent. Women, more than men, go to school with this as the primary reason.
“We are biased to women and all our strategies and plans take them into consideration given the fact that they represent 75 per cent of the job-seekers registered with Tanmia,” Dr Abdul Rahman Al Awar, Director-General, Tanmia, told Khaleej Times last week.
He disclosed that one of the trends is to impose a quota on the employment of UAE women.
“The targeted job in all sectors will generally be for women in the first place, specially the administrative, secretarial, supervision and other jobs which are suitable for women from a social perspective,” Dr Al Awar explained.
The majority of university graduates are women, he observed.
From a distance, such as from Paris or Washington, the countries in the Gulf tend to be assumed to be pretty much the same. But there are big and consequential differences, including society's attitude toward women pursuing a university degree and, then, entering the workforce. The UAE, for instance, is quite different from Saudi Arabia in this respect, with little or no vocal opposition to women pursuing these goals; if you were to put them on a continuum, the UAE is closer to the US of the 1960s than it is to Saudi Arabia of today.
Educated women in the Gulf face the same obstacles to good jobs at good pay as women do in the United States. Only women can bear children, and in both cultures mothers are the primary child care providers. Individual employers, then, have these facts in mind when they consider hiring a woman. Only women take maternity leave (and men rarely take paternity leave), and tend to leave employment for long spells to raise children. Any particular woman may plan to not have chidren. Or, in her marriage the husband may take the primary childcare role. But it is difficult for employers to tell these women from the average.
In the UAE this disadvantage that women bear is amplified by the elastic supply of labor from the subcontinent of men in the "administrative, secretarial, and supervision positions."
Readers of The Emirates Economist will know my recommendation to the government, if its goal is to find jobs for female nationals, is to reward firms for hiring them, not force them to hire them.
There is a group of negative consequences of forcing employees on firms through quotas which is little appreciated, but is important. The employee knows that they are there by virtue of their nationality, not because the employer found them to be the best person for the job. This is not good for the employee's self esteem. And it causes resentment by the firm and the other employees. Besides being burdened with the presumption (true or not) that they are not qualified, there is also the presumption that they do not have to excell in their work to keep their jobs. This is another source of bad feelings and jealousy, and perpetuates stereotypes. That is, the government quota policy would have the effect of perpetuating a view of nationals that the government regards as false.
Further, if nationals are forced on firms, then the incentive for nationals to work hard at university is also undercut. This is exactly contrary to the goal of the Minister for Education to make nationals better prepared for work. Earnest nationals how do study hard may even get teased for working hard for something that will be handed them.
One last point. A colleague reminds me that employment is not the only end of education. Education also helps parents educate their children. It is important to be educated even if your primary goal in life is to be a good parent. Women, more than men, go to school with this as the primary reason.
Labels: Saudi Arabia
posted by John B. Chilton at 3/05/2005 02:36:00 PM
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