GENDER AND EQUALITY IN THE WORKPLACE – A STUDY OF QATARI WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP POSITIONS

Abstract

The major aim of this study is to establish: how far the State of Qatar has achieved the equality of women in the workplace, since the initiation of new reform policies and agendas of modernisation in 1995. It is based on an examination, through the use of a qualitative method, of the real experiences among twenty-five Qatari women in leadership positions. This approach facilitates a critical analysis of the way in which public policy, formulated at the macro-level of society, interacts with participants’ ‘lived experience’ of such changes at the micro-level.

Based on a comprehensive examination of the literature, a theoretical framework of a feminist sociological theory of ‘Theorizing Patriarchy’ of Sylvia Walby (e.g. 1990) has been adopted to explore its relevance to the changes in Qatari women’s positions pre- and post-1995, especially with regards to their employment and education. Through the testimony of participants, this study sheds new light on an evaluation of the lived experiences of Qatari women in senior management positions as means to explain whether their families, their society and government helped or hindered their progress. The main findings have indicated that:

The State of Qatar has widely sought to include women in public life, particularly in the process of decision-making, has implemented several policies in order to improve gender equality in the workforce and fair distribution of development benefits. The number of women participating in senior management roles, however, is still low in several career fields. Qatari women in leadership positions still face major challenges in relation to cultural limitations and organisational constraints; these areas need to be further developed to improve the degree of gender equality and close the wide gap between the two genders in terms of economic rights and equal opportunities.

The study provides insights to policymakers about the importance of introducing the necessary amendments to government policies, with respect to gender equality, in order to bring about the societal transformations required to remove constraints on working women.