Women in The United Arab Emirates - Employment

Employment

Women account for 1-2% of the UAE’s high executive positions, 20% hold administration positions, 35% are in the national workforce, and 80% are classified as household workers. UAE women have the highest rate of participation in employment of the GCC countries, according to the Booz & Company on Women's Employment. UAE women account for 59 percent of the workforce participation, while Kuwait women account for 42 percent, Qatar women 36 percent, Bahrain is 34 percent, and in Saudi Arabia it is 20 percent. Female graduates in the UAE are employed within historically male-dominated professions of government, engineering, science, computer technology, law, commerce, and the oil industry. Within the business sector, the UAE possess the largest number of businesswomen in the region where entrepreneurship is becoming increasingly popular, providing desired social flexibility between a woman’s traditional role in the home and widely emerging career aspirations. At the nine year old Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, women constitute 43% of its investors while the city’s Businesswomen’s association boasts 14,000 members.At the forefront of Emirati women in business is Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid bin Sultan al Qasimi, appointed Minister for Economy and Planning in November of 2004 and subsequently promoted to her current post as Minister of Foreign Trade. Sheikha Lubna holds the distinction of being the first woman to hold a ministerial post in the country. Promoting trade relations throughout the world on behalf of the UAE, her efforts have led her to be rated within the Forbes Magazine’s 100 Most Powerful Women.