The Barriers

One of the biggest reasons why women leadership is frowned upon, especially in the GCC is because of culture. Culture is one of the reasons there are so many constraints to women leadership whatever the situation may be. 

With culture comes the structural barriers which in most cases include inaccessibility to major informal meetings and discussions. Outside of the GCC this would be places like a golf course or sporting events but the main setting where work decisions are made are in the diwaniya. For those who are not familiar with the diwaniya, it is a reception that is vital in a gulf man's social life, where they have gatherings and discussions about business, news, politics etc. It is important that a man is invited or hosts a diwaniya in order to be kept in the loop and be considered of high social status. It is also known that the diwaniya is no place for a woman to be. Therefore, when the important decisions are made without a coworker's input, it creates a very crucial barrier to a woman's success in leadership if she is not even aware of the decisions being made.  

Another barrier that is highly influenced by culture is having an institutional mindset. This is where gender roles become operative. An example of this is the stereotype that woman should be caregivers and men should be “breadwinners”. This asserts that women are less effective at a leading role which is masculinized; and men would be less affective at a role that is feminized. Furthermore, due to the stereotype, people associate leadership behaviors as “masculine” behaviors, such as being assertive, aggressive and dominant, whereas these traits would be considered “improper” for a woman especially in the GCC and the cultural beliefs that a woman should always stay at home and be a caregiver to her family. An example of this is historically in Kuwait, women were housewives who were responsible for their families, while the men held not only leading positions, but all jobs as it was seen as improper for a woman to be in an environment that is male dominated. Throughout the past century specifically the past 4 decades, women were able to get positions such as educational administrators and business managers however there was and still is a gap in politically leading roles. In 2005, Sheikh Jaber was able to grant Kuwaiti females the right to vote and stand in parliament. After many years, of trying to create equality, there were still controversy around the subject and women leadership is still debated formally by the parliament and government and is talked about informally in almost every Kuwaiti household. 

The third barrier that I have noticed is expectations, lifestyle choices and the individual mindset. The individual mindsets are the doubts that hold women back because they feel the need to refuse an offer out of lack of confidence and risk aversion. It is important to understand that women face barriers that men do not, so it makes it easier for a woman to refuse a job, worried about valuing a work-life balance or not wanting to be involved in politics; thinking that it is not her place. An example of this is that if a female is a “breadwinner” she is also most likely the caregiver in the family; however, if the man is the “breadwinner” then it is very rare that he is also the caregiver. These kinds of barriers, even though they aren't negative, are still barriers that women have to overcome. This also leads to lack of women representation in leading roles. An example of this is in the gulf council which completely lacks gender representation even though surveys indicate women exceed men in tertiary education and are qualified to participate in leadership positions. The lack of representation can affect young females with aspirations to achieve leading positions. These young minds will have few women to call their role models, causing them to face barriers as well and having the inability to gain motivation to achieve their aspirations. If changes in parliament and representations in councils. Women will be able to seek passion for politics and earn the leadership roles the deserve.