Boardroom blues

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Governments are also taking steps to promote more women in senior positions. In Saudi Arabia last week, the Swedish retail giant H&M announced it would open a female-only store which will be exclusively staffed by women. The move is part of an initiative by the Saudi government to boost employment of women in the kingdom.

Female representation in the government is also increasing. In Abu Dhabi and Dubai female representatives in both emirates account for 22.5% of total government positions, just behind Germany with 26.7% and Spain at 29%.

"The reality is that there are more educated women so therefore more in business," says Foster. But while more women may be taking up management positions, the region's largest corporations remain the exclusive preserve of men.

According to the Power Matters report, just one woman sits on the board among Qatar's publicly listed companies. In Abu Dhabi and Dubai the figure for female board representation is three and in Bahrain it is just four. "Clearly it is cultural," says Foster.

When collectively compared to most other countries with available information on board representation, female representation in big business within the six Gulf states is extremely low. The most notable exceptions are Kuwait which has 30 female board representatives while Oman has 21.

Both fare better than Japan and Italy which have just 0.4% and 2%, respectively.

The fact that Italy, an economically stable country, has such a low female board representation indicates that religion plays a large role in the equation. Around 95% of Italy's population is Catholic.

The GCC has similarly high number of practising Muslims. "In some ways we are finding many similarities between trends in Islamic countries and trends in Christian countries," says Amer Halawi, director of The National Investor. Religion isn't the only factor.

"What you often see in emerging regions is a dominance of family businesses and a patriarchal society similar to those found in Japan and Italy," says Foster.

"The combination of this and the fact that many women in society are only just becoming more common in senior executive positions means there isn't much representation on boards yet."

Inheritance practices are also a contributing factor with some fiscal environments favouring male succession and discouraging the few women who are granted seats through inheritance.

"Women also inherit [but] their inheritance is not translating into a board presence," says Saïdi.

Despite the worrying low numbers of female representation, the small steps being made in the private sector should further encourage publicly traded companies to follow suit.

The representation of women is likely to change as markets become more mature and a greater proportion of women become directors. The results of the Power Matters report only cover listed companies but a closer look at the private sector reveals greater female representation, even in Saudi Arabia.

According to the Khadija bint Khuwailid Businesswomen's Centre at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce & Industry (JCCI), women own 1,500 of the total registered businesses in the kingdom and 20% of businesses in retail, contracting, wholesale and transferable industry sectors are registered to women.

In the UAE there are over 9000 businesswomen, with women accounting for 18% of the UAE's private sector. The figures are low compared to the US and Europe where women own up to 30% of all businesses but translating greater female representation onto boards is a slow process.

"If more women in the GCC are to make it to board level, attitudes will need to change," says Saïdi.

And that is unlikely to happen overnight.

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