Economic recovery is the name of the game in the post-coronavirus landscape, but that can only be achieved faster and better if women work on par with men and the gender economic gap is narrowed, according to regional director of UN Women Susanne Mikhail.
The good news is that Arab state governments are aware of this as women’s economic empowerment emerged as the number one priority for the region, based on a consultation that UN Women conducted with all Arab member states.
In a wide-reaching interview with Arabian Business, Mikhail discussed the regional progress achieved in the direction of women’s economic empowerment and how the private sector can support that. She also talked about the role men play in supporting women, starting with their role as fathers.
Why is women’s economic empowerment now a regional priority?
There’s a window of opportunity [for gender parity] in our region right now, because our political leadership realises the connection and correlation between gender rights and economic development. Yes it’s a rights issue, but more importantly, it is an economic and social development issue.
A McKinsey study that was conducted in 2015 showed that by 2025, the world could gain an extra $28 trillion in GDP output if women worked on par with men – that’s lost financial resources because we’re not working on par with men and more and more governments are realising this.
And if this was important five years ago, it’s crucial now because of the economic recovery that needs to take place post-pandemic.
What is the status of the women’s economic empowerment in the Middle East?
The issue of women’s economic empowerment is also important because we are very low on global averages: on average only 20 percent of women are working in the Arab states.
But there are huge variations between countries and it’s actually dangerous to lump all Arab states in one category because you have Yemen, for example, and then you have the UAE – I think there are a few regions that have such extreme variabilities.
The UAE is one of the good regional examples when it comes to women employment and, if you look at statistics from 30 years ago, there is almost double the number of women in the workforce than there was back then. Together with Qatar, it is the highest in the region in terms of women employment at around 50 percent across public and private sectors.
Regional director of UN Women in the Arab States, Susanne Mikhail.
Overall, in the region, women are working at a lesser extent than women in many other regions. For us [at UN Women], this raises a question mark because we’re quite well educated with almost 50/50 percentages in certain faculties in universities so it doesn’t really make sense. But, of course, it has to do with social or cultural traditions and norms which are slowly but surely changing – albeit more rapidly in the urban areas than in the country side.
In general, women are over-represented in the public sector. For the past ten years, around 60 percent of women who are working are in the public sector or in the informal sectors, lesser so in the private sector.
What could corporations do to increase their percentage of women employees and how can the country’s laws support that?
There’s a lot of really good laws around women empowerment in the Arab world that we can use already. Although we could do more in terms of laws, for example on parental leave issues, but labour is an area where laws are okay if you compare them with domestic laws. So there is a foundation to stand on.
There are three categories when it comes to women in the workforce: attracting, recruiting and retaining.
Attracting is by enabling a corporate environment that allows both women and men to work in a way that has life-work balance. Here is where paternity and maternity leaves come into the picture, for example.
Overall, in the region, women are working at a lesser extent than women in many other regions.
When it comes to recruitment, we’ve noticed that there’s a lot of unconscious bias, particularly in areas in the private sector that have traditionally been male-dominated, which means the company is actually losing profits. Much of our evidence shows that if you have a diverse workforce, the profit increases by around 15 percent, that’s a huge loss for companies just by the fact that they’re not recruiting based on qualifications. The most effective way of countering this is through removing names and pictures from CVs, and looking only at the qualifications.
Retaining your staff again comes back to the issues related to parental leave but also to ensuring that women can rise in the ranks. It’s often quite discouraging to work very hard, but then see that your male colleagues are rising in the ranks while you are stagnating. Here also, all evidence shows that companies which have women on their boards are faring better profit-wise.
What role do men play when it comes to gender equality?
On a personal level, I can comment on the roles that have been played in my life from when I was born, by my father, husband, male teachers, and now male bosses. If you look at evidence and research, those are the four categories of men that are crucial for the success of women, likewise in a man’s life and the women in it.
Growing up at home what you really need is both your parents to support you as a girl to thrive. First and foremost to support you in getting an education: we’re not getting anywhere without that. Parents need to encourage their daughters to study hard, get their grades and get into university, it’s as simple as that.
On average only 20 percent of women are working in the Arab states.
Beyond that support is that psychological impetus that you can reach extreme heights only if you want to do that. So it’s the push from home that can lead you to dream big and fly high regardless of your gender.
With that kind of push at home, you go to school with the mindset of the ultimate goal of having a fruitful life where you contribute to the economy and your self-growth instead of getting an education for education’s sake and then to get married and stay at home.
When it comes to teachers in our region, their role is crucial in supporting girls and conveying the message that their education is a tool for securing a future in the workforce. Whether male or female, they can be important role models and empower that message that girls can reach incredible heights.
Earlier this year, the UAE launched a mission to Mars and 80 percent of that scientific team were women. Sharing this example in itself, is enough to change generations of women. Because you see women in the arts or the education sector which is great, but we need to show them other sorts of roles.
When it comes to women with children, it is important that her husband be supportive, meaning that he is engaged with his children and wants to take care of his family. If you have that, as a woman, you will be less inclined to leave a career and stay at home.
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