By Nidaa Sabbagh, Writer and Economic Advisor at the Collaborative Circular Economy International Event, House of Lords, English Parliament on 25th October 2021.
As we all know, the nature of work is changing, affecting almost 1.2 billion full-time equivalents throughout the world. Careers are changing as technology advances: how we work, where we work, and the industries in which we work. The massive productivity gains those robots and artificial intelligence will deliver will benefit all economies, both emerging and developed. The rate and scope of adoption will differ per nation, based on factors like economic development and salary levels. However, no region or industry will be spared.
We’ll look at seven nations in the Middle East—Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—that are home to 78 million women and have a combined GDP of $1.6 trillion. The demographic characteristics of these countries are diverse, and progress toward gender parity is not constant across the board. They are in various levels of economic growth, and some will take longer to capitalise on the benefits of automation, artificial intelligence, and other Fourth Industrial Revolution developments.
However, if women are equipped to engage and take advantage of this opportunity, they will be impacted, perhaps for the better. According to McKinsey Analysis, the area is seeing four “future of work” trends: constant and rapid digitalization, the expansion of digital platforms, a growing impulse toward entrepreneurship, and greater automation.
Increased female labour force participation has several advantages: it enhances economic growth, increases workplace diversity, which has a positive impact on performance, provides financial independence for women, and improves family well-being. Today, the area continues to face unique problems, including the world’s lowest female labour force participation rate (LFPR) of 24.6 per cent, which is substantially lower than the global average of 47.8 per cent.
Men’s labour force participation, on the other hand, is comparable to that of other areas throughout the world. Women engage in the workforce at rates comparable to best-in-region nations internationally in Kuwait, Oman, and the UAE, which can be explained by the larger proportion of expatriates in lower- and middle-income occupations. These bright areas, however, do not spread to the remainder of the region, where female LFPR is still a problem. Women need different talents, mobility choices, and technical savvy to flourish in the modern world of work.
The key question is “what drives long-term parity and gender equality?”
Fair access to professional and technical employment is the most significant driver of long-term parity and gender equality. This is the most important aspect because it could potentially increase women’s prospects of really participating in and thriving in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Women have certain particular difficulties when it comes to producing professional and technical jobs that their male colleagues do not face. For example, the UAE (0.22), KSA (0.31), Oman (0.35), and Jordan (0.44) have the lowest female to male ratios in professional and technical professions, compared to a moderate ratio like Egypt (0.62) and levels on par with best-in-class nations for Lebanon (0.8).
According to the study of seven Middle East Countries carried out by McKinsey for International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 2019, female and male Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) was used as a total share of the total female working-age population (which is 15 years plus). The study discovered that at half of the global average, the Middle East’s Female Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) is the lowest in the world at 24.6% compared to the global average which was 47.8%. In contrast, Middle East’s male LFPR was 77.1% which was relatively on par with a global average of 75.2%.
So why has inequality in professional and technical jobs remained so high?
To find answers, four indicators were identified to have relatively higher correlations with inequality in professional and technical jobs. These are: education level, digital inclusion, financial inclusion and legal protection
Women’s participation in high-skilled occupations is encouraged by parity in these four indicator areas, but a lack of perceived equality is a substantial deterrent.
Education level
Men and women have equal educational levels, with the highest recorded in Lebanon and Jordan and the lowest in Egypt, owing to the region’s significant investment in female education over the last few decades.
A 2018 World Bank report finds that, in addition to equal literacy and higher rates of enrolment in primary and secondary education institutions, girls in the MENA region outperform boys in learning outcomes, indicating that the largest gender disparities in student achievement are in favour of girls. Female university graduates now outnumber males in both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Women, overall, choose non-STEM degrees in the arts and education due to lack of proper guidance, mentoring and social factors; however, this trend is improving with women now accounting for 34–57 per cent of STEM graduates.
Digital inclusion
In nations where data is available, the Middle East has very high gender equality rankings for digital participation (0.95 in Egypt and 1 in both Kuwait and the UAE). Women are pursuing STEM-related degrees in greater numbers in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, but not at the same rate as males, notably in engineering, manufacturing, and construction. If the appropriate conditions are in place, this may be a powerful motivator for increasing female participation in professional and technical professions, as well as future jobs within the region.
As technology continues to transform the workplace, bringing more employment options and greater flexibility for women who work, digital inclusion is a crucial catalyst for increasing female involvement in professional and technical professions in the area. Women have more control over their personal schedules with a reduction in external childcare costs and daily travel to work, despite this, there is a 20 per cent gender difference in mobile internet use, with 69 million women in the MENA area not using it, compared to 4 per cent in Europe and Central Asia, as well as East Asia and the Pacific.
Financial inclusion
Gender inequality is most widespread in Jordan and Saudi Arabia in terms of financial exclusion, whereas the UAE and Kuwait have the highest parity ratings in the area, at about 0.77 and 0.89, respectively. As the global economy grows more interconnected, the internet has grown into a vital tool for job searches, networking, company management, receiving and making payments for trade with buyers and suppliers, and getting microcredit.
Legal protection
Access to justice is a central issue that either can facilitate or hinder gender equality in all areas of public life. Yet in the MENA region, women tend to have less access to, and ownership of, judicial processes. In some countries, women enjoy equal access to justice, yet other institutional and legal impediments, limited awareness and persistent societal restrictions continue to hinder de facto access. Establishing legal protection for the rights of women on an equal basis with men and ensuring the effective protection of women against any act of discrimination in their chosen profession and within the industry, they choose to work in.
How can we ensure ending gender-based inequalities?
According to McKenzie Analysis, in order to accelerate the path to gender parity, three targeted interventions must be undertaken. These are: educate and train; fix the structural foundation; and create a conducive environment.
Reskilling and training are essential for increasing female employment rates in professional and technical occupations. Raising women’s abilities and competencies enhances their performance and prepare them to adapt to new occupations as the Fourth Industrial Revolution unfolds. Similarly, if the present problem is to find excellent jobs for jobless or underemployed college-educated women, investing in financial knowledge and access will give the effort a boost. In addition, a holistic strategy to improving parity requires evaluating and changing laws, rules, and institutions with the goal of levelling the playing field.
Government, business, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) will all need to play a part in assisting women with career transitions by investing in digital platforms, improving transparency on labour demand patterns, and establishing paths for women in STEM. Failure to act before the Fourth Industrial Revolution might exacerbate the gender pay gap, with significant long-term consequences.
Together they form a strong foundation that helps women make a greater contribution to the Middle East economy and society. However, women are fundamentally the owner of these interventions and must be empowered to feel worthy of these opportunities and worthy of success.
Women can be winners in the future workforce if all stakeholders work together to provide them with the infrastructure, support, and skills they need to succeed in this new digital era. Self-employment and entrepreneurship are also viable options, but they require the required attitude adjustments to encourage more women to seek these careers. Finally, women must take a risk and test their own limits to exploit existing possibilities or discover new ones.
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