UAE | General

'Women missing out on opportunities'

Lack of education, employment talking points at arab Women's conference.

  • By Mohammed N. Al Khan, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 22:51 September 29, 2009
  • Gulf News

  • Image Credit: Ahmed Ramzan/Gulf News
  • Dr Maitha Salem Al Shamsi, UAE Minister of State, speaking at the Arab Women in Science and Technology Conference at Raffles Hotel, Dubai.

Dubai: Science and technology experts from around the Arab world have flocked to the first Arab Women in Science and Technology Conference held this week. Lack of education and employment opportunities were the main talking points of the event seeking ways to empower Arab women.

"Empowering women is about giving them the opportunity to advance themselves and become successful," said Dr Sulayma Al Barwani, Member of Parliament and Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Sultan Qaboos University in the Sultanate of Oman.

"I hope that through the efforts of this conference we can come up with an accurate estimate of how women are doing in the science and technology field, find the size of the gap between men and women in this field and whether this is a problem in the Arab world or with women in general. You can't begin to solve a problem without first identifying it and assessing it."

"A rising trend sees that with the advancement of economic development, women, more than men, are not taking advantage of the employment opportunities offered to them," said Dr Maitha Salem Al Shamsi, UAE Minister of State. "Low-paying jobs are discouraging women from leaving the house."

She added that people shouldn't be satisfied with obtaining a degree, they should strive for continuous training and education; "there are programmes that are put in place to promote that".

"In the UAE, we provide the means and the opportunity for education to allow women to compete in the current job market. UAE University offers Masters Degrees in 12 different science fields including engineering. Zayed University is seeing an increase in the majority of women entering the IT field."

"About 32 per cent of the students in UAE University are enrolled in science and technology majors; of whom 72 per cent are women. UAE and Zayed Universities have had 3,266 students in post-graduate degrees out of which 87 per cent were in the science, technology and engineering fields."

"We are seeing another trend where women are disappearing from the workplace after graduating from university. This is the results of out-dated tradition with Muslim and Arab cultures that become an obstacle for women to succeed in the workplace," said Dr Mona Hassoun, President of the Arab Academy E-Business in Syria.

"Marriage also seems to be an obstacle as we have found that [in Syria] the workplace consists of 20 per cent unmarried women as opposed to 12 per cent married. Allowing women to work from home would be a great initiative that will break these barriers."

"Legislations should also be put in place to allow for part-time employment for women," added Al Barwani.

"We are behind the whole world when it comes to education and science and technology in particular," said Dr Farouk Al Baz, Director of the Centre for Remote Sensing at Boston University.

"There is no field that women cannot succeed in," Al Baz said and added that psychological obstacles appear even before they have finished school.

"Obstacles begin even within the family; women are told not to take science and technology or that girls are bad in math, for example."

"In the UAE, education opportunities are reasonably well; women out number men in universities here," said Al Baz who moderated the session.

"The problem comes in opportunities to apply that education."

Should more women be encouraged to study and work in the science and technology field? How will this benefit the line of work?

Your comments


the need for women working in different fields such as science and technology is very important and as a society and a country, we need to encourage women to work as it will benefit the country and their own families. companies need to start realizing that people have different needs such as a married woman with a child or a single mother who needs to take care of their baby but at the same time provide which is quit difficult when companies do not provide help such as a small nursery with in the work place which is very common in europe. this is will definitely benefit the work place as special skills might be hiding at home because there is no one to give a hand.
Donya Saberi
Dubai,UAE
Posted: September 30, 2009, 17:34

Women need to concentrate on technology, nowadays the world is becoming more Hi-tech and advanced. Also, they need to be entrepreneurs, they must know about the matters of business.
Catherine Cruz
Dubai,UAE
Posted: September 30, 2009, 14:52

Education is readily available. Unfortunately if arab women wish to compete with westerners they need to understand that once they have graduated they need to go straight to work. Family restraints will always be there and should be respected, but there are several industries where you can work from home if needed. I think the women are happy and very capable to go to work. You can't have everything and these very well educated women prove just how far you can go.
Anon
Dubai,UAE
Posted: September 30, 2009, 13:55

Consider humanity as a "bird". In order for this so called bird to soar and fly to heights beyond any limits, it is required that it flaps both its wings together. Humanity today is a "broken winged bird"; because of two main issues: 1- women are not given equal oportunities (socailly, accademically and career wise) and responsibilites as men. 2- That women dont seek the other wing's assistance (men) when trying to solve such issues. It is Cruicial that both wings beat together, and when that happens, i.e. When the Equality of men and women comes into being, we will definitely see a Humanity that soars to new heights. So next time if a woman is harrassed at work or is refused a position or education due to her sex, i urge her to seek the assistance of enlightened individuals from both sexes, in order to come up with a lasting solution. This outlook not only assisted me with my family life, but actually made stepping stones out of otherwise drowning issues on a personal scale. Obstacles are what we make of them. There will be no real salvation unless both sexes put equal efforts into solving the issues at hand.
Verity H Sobhani
Dubai,UAE
Posted: September 30, 2009, 12:44

Congratulations Princess Haya for launching this event, this will be a stepping stone of women's greatest opportunities to get involved for nation's development. This will probably help women to become active and aware for their great paricipation on the progress of the nation. What is a world without women?
Julita
Cagayan Valley,Philippines
Posted: September 30, 2009, 10:57

Women must be encouraged to take up study and work in science and technology and many other fields too. Women can succeed in any field they choose, provided they are supported by their family. Social pressures especially after marriage and family obligations usually suppress women from seeking employment or pursuing a career. In many parts of the world, women are progressing in their respective careers and have surpassed men in various fields. Women are no less compared to men in any aspect of education or career and are quite capable given the opportunity to achieve success and fame. Women must be given more opportunities to prove their aptitude by creating options like working part time, working from home, flexible working hours etc. I believe that women can take up any challenge, are extremely capable and will attain success in any career they choose to pursue. Women have a strong mind and have the required patience and perseverance to complete a job successfully. A major change in outlook is what is absolutely essential to lift the bias towards working women.
Naina Nair
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: September 30, 2009, 10:16

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