DISCUSSION

Posted: January 5th, 2023

DISCUSSION

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Discussion

The 36 participants in this study revealed many insights into the plight of women in leadership positions in Qatar. This discussion is organized according to the study objectives, which are:

1. What enhances gender inequality in Qatari public and private institutions?
2. What obstacles do Qatari women face in their attempts to scale government leadership positions?
3. What frameworks should the Qatari administration incorporate to strengthen the existing policies and realize gender equality?

What enhances gender inequality in Qatari public and private institutions?

The study revealed that gender inequality is prevalent in leadership positions in Qatari public and private organizations, with Qatari women being most disadvantaged compared to their male counterparts. When a majority of the respondents (88%) indicated that the career and social demands imposed on women were unrealistic since the society prioritized family affairs which took much of the time required to meet professional needs, they meant that the Qatari society placed demands that that Qatari women could not meet. This means that the socialization and acculturation of the Qatari women regarding the roles they should focus on were reflected in the reality that women experienced in organizations. Men did not expect women to take up leadership roles in public spaces. In turn, few women took up leadership position in public institutions even when they had an opportunity to do so because they felt that they would be contravening social norms that have a longstanding history. Therefore, several realities can be attributed to gender inequality that continues to be evidenced in the public and private institutions in Qatar. First, Qatari women are not socialized to aspire for and take up leadership positions in life from an early age. The situation in Qatar reflects the historical societal worldviews in which paternalistic tendencies have persisted across ages and remain in contemporary society based on the association of peoples’ cognitive and physical abilities. It has been long held that since women are weaker physically compared to men, their mental capabilities are also lower compared to those of men. As such, women are considered unsuitable to heavy menial jobs, mentally involving tasks, and subsequently, leadership positions. In turn, Qatari parents nurture their girls to be carers while men are conditioned to be providers for and decision-makers in the family and society. This patriarchal worldview is reflected across many communities in countries in the Middle East and across the world. Wang et al. (2020) argued that paternalistic leadership was entrenched in societies that have adopted family-like exchange relationships in which leaders take up a parent’s role, and followers, a child-like duty, and leaders are characterized by their authoritarianism and benevolence. Therefore, since fathers are viewed as the heads of families, men are believed to be deserving of leadership positions. Likewise, Muhibbu-Din (2019) has argued that gender inequality is an argument advanced to equate the rights and liberties of women to those of men, as opposed to gender equity which argues that women serve complementary roles to those of men and therefore should be perceived as separate but equal. Besides, Muhibbu-Din (2019) explains that the clamor for gender equality among Islamic women is viewed from a western-feministic perspective that does not appreciate the traditional and religious tenets of the Islamic and Arabian societies. Therefore, women feel left out and undermined in society when they view and aspire for equality using the western societal lens.   

Secondly, Qatar is a semi-constitutional monarchy headed by the Al Thani family that adhered to the male lineage of leadership and power, with women not allowed to take up the position of Emir. The Al Thani dynasty has been in power since 1825 and has always been headed by a male emir (McGann 2019). This trend is replicated in the Arabic world, and is evidenced in countries like, the United Arab Emirates, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and other neighboring countries in the Persian Gulf, which are headed by Kings and Emirs. Historically, women have not been kings or Emirs in these countries, and this tradition continues to be upheld to date. These countries are highly paternalistic and women are not expected to attain leadership, particularly in politics. This view of political leadership persists in this part of the world.   

Thirdly, the Qatari law and Islamic culture undermine women by considering their opinion and testimony to be half that of men and perpetuating the tradition of women being subservient to men in all spheres of life. However, the subjugation of women in Islamic countries should be considered more as a cultural practice rather than a religious tenet. Indeed, Alotaibi, Cutting and Morgan (2017) have explained that Islam supports gender equality but its conservative interpretation highlights the verses that advocate the home as the woman’s primary location of operations. This perception has been used to propagate the widely accepted narrative that women should be confined to the home and away from public space so that they can take nurture their husbands and children while men provide the means of survival and security. Nonetheless, they explain that the Arabic culture observed in Saudi Arabia is anchored on Bedouin traditions in which female segregation was advocated for maintaining the moral wellbeing of society.  Over time, this tradition has been used to justify the discouraging of women to venture into male-dominated spheres, such as business and leadership, to avoid the proverbial moral decay observed supposedly in western countries (Alotaibi, Cutting & Morgan 2017).  

What obstacles do Qatari women face in their attempts to scale government leadership positions?

This study unearthed several obstacles encountered by Qatari women in their bid to rise through the ranks and take up leadership positions in government institutions. The barriers included social responsibility, male-defined career paths, masculinity worldviews, typecasting, sexual harassment, and lack of support from family, government, and society.

Qatari women were expected to meet their familial and domestic duties even when they were in leadership positions.  They did not have the benefit of flexible working conditions that would allow them to meet their maternal and career obligations concurrently. Therefore, while single or unmarried women could climb the leadership and corporate ladder, their progression up these ladders became curtailed significantly when they entered motherhood. In other cases, young women of childbearing age were denied leadership opportunities because the organization management felt that such women would underperform or abscond their leadership roles once they entered motherhood. Vogelstein and Bro (2021) noted that even when women ascended to leadership positions, they had to navigate through cultural, political and institutional barriers before they could influence policy substantially. This means that many Qatari women often lost their leadership ambitions due to cultural, political and institutional reasons that erected barriers to maintain traditional Qatari norms.

In this regard, a plausible explanation of the obstacles experienced by Qatar women in public offices is religion and traditional Bedouin culture. Qatar is an Islamic nation that has a monarchical political system that has been traditionally headed by males. Therefore, the association of leadership with being male and masculinity is deeply entrenched the Qatari society to such as extend that even most the highly the educated Qatari women felt that their leadership qualities should be displayed at home rather than in public spaces. Islamic leaders are highly respected in the Islamic world, Qatar included, and their interpretation of the Qur’an and Hadith is traditional, which promotes women subjugation to men, and therefore does not promote the notion that women should be equals to their male counterparts, particularly in public places (Bagley, Abubaker & Shahnaz, 2018).  In turn, this interpretation is widely accepted in the Qatari society and many women still believe that aspiring for leadership positions in male dominated spheres, such as politics and public offices, is not for them, but rather for their fathers and brothers.

The Qatari society has a culture that is highly influenced by Bedouin traditions, which is prevalent in the Arab world. This culture still upholds some traditional views regarding the role of women in society. According to the Bedouin culture, the role of women is to serve their husbands and care for children and the home. In olden times, Bedouin women were expected to herd livestock and participate in agricultural activities, while men traded and participated in economic activities (Abu-Rabia-Queder 2017). This culture has persisted in the contemporary Qatari society, and it continues to disenfranchise women in many public spheres. In this regard, while many Qatari women have become education to high levels, with a significant number of the younger generation attaining tertiary education credentials, they often end up working in the education and social services sectors in government. However, these sectors continue to be headed by men, thus imposing a leadership glass ceiling to women. Abu-Rabia-Queder (2017) explains this reality by arguing that Arab-Bedouin women suffered professional marginality, when their professional capital confluences with tribalism, religious norms, ethnicity and gender.  She noted that the female professional capital was not conferred validity, acknowledgement and appreciation publicly by the male professionals. Also, Abu-Rabia-Queder (2017) maintains that the binary distinction of women roles that are dictated by the Arab-Bedouin culture played out in public spaces, perpetuating the social power patters that produced inequalities against women. Therefore, women suffered a tribal penalty, which perpetuated their discrimination in leadership because the professional norms and codes conflicted with the tribal and traditional ones.       

What frameworks should the Qatari administration incorporate to strengthen the existing policies and realize gender equality?

This study revealed that although the Qatari government has made several attempts to level the playing field for women to ascend to leadership positions, gender disparities prevailed, with women still being underrepresented. Existing policies have encouraged women to access education to high levels, with women’s academic attendance and performance outweighing that of their male counterparts. However, these policies had not translated into increased numbers of Qatari women in government leadership positions, and gender parity in higher echelons of management and leadership remained unrealized and elusive. However, Qatar can learn from other countries across the world, especially Scandinavian ones, which are stellar examples of gender parity in leadership and management positions.

One suggested intervention is the adoption of a quota system, in which a number of leadership positions are reserved for the womenfolk. Such a quota system can be adopted as a policy in government institutions. For instance, Rwanda, which is acclaimed to be the world’s most women-inclusive country in leadership, has a mandated gender quota policy that requires at least 30% of leadership seats in political and organizational institutions to be taken up by women. In turn, Rwanda has 62% of its national legislature composed of women, which is the highest women representation in the world (Elliot 2019). However, Christiansen, Elklit and Nedergaard (2020) have argued that it was possible to increase women leadership mobilization, representation and participation without using gender quotas, as has been demonstrated by Denmark, which is unique compared to neighboring Sweden and Norway, which have used gender quota policies to increase women leaders.

Another approach would be to the defamilialization of responsibilities for provided care, which would liberate the Qatari women allowing them to participate fully in economic and managerial roles without being tied down by familial responsibilities. This approach has been adopted by the Nordic countries, which are renowned for having the most women in leadership positions worldwide across public and private organizations (Christiansen, Elklit & Nedergaard 2020). Christiansen, Elklit and Nedergaard (2020) noted that Nordic countries has welfare and gender equality regime that promoted women leadership because it was characterized public responsibility for care services and the dual breadwinner model.

The other approach would be the reinterpretation of the Islamic tenets, which supposedly discourage women leadership and instead pursue a more holistic consideration of Islamic teachings according to Al-Hadith, Sunna and the Qur’an. Supriyadi, Julia and Firdaus (2019) has explained that Islam does not prohibit women leadership in any sphere of life, and that such prohibition is rooted in historical, traditional and conservative interpretation of the Qur’an. They note that the Islamic holy book has numerous examples of women leaders, including the prophet’s first wife, who was an accomplished and shrewd business leader. They go on to explain that Muslim women have enjoyed better rights than their western counterparts, like inheritance, spouse selection, and instituting divorce, which can be used to encourage the pursuit of women to leadership positions in society.   

In this regard, women-friendly policies that promote the ascension of Qatari women to leadership positions are desirable because would benefit the Qataris in the long-term. Vogelstein and Bro (2021) argued that gender parity and women inclusion in leadership was beneficial to societies because the women participation in decision-making positions promoted bipartisanship in policy formulation, which enhances stability. They noted that female political leaders were more likely to seek consensus across political party divisions and deliver mutually agreeable decisions. Similarly, women legislators were more likely to promote policies advancing health and education which are beneficial to the societal wellbeing and prosperity. Likewise, The World Bank (2021) noted that women leaders could impact social norms beneficially by influencing social change that would make societies more accommodative of women as decision-makers. Women leaders were likely to make decisions that spurred equality is social and economic development by seeking to progress all members of a society rather than a section of it.

Similarly, promoting women entrepreneurial leadership would help chart a path towards political and public leadership for women in Qatar. Businesswomen in Qatar have thrived since time immemorial and their success in this sphere has been accepted by their male counterparts and supported by tradition and religion. Therefore, government policies that promote entrepreneurial leadership among Qatari women would help them navigate the existing structural inequality. Tlaiss and Kauser (2019) argues that women entrepreneurial leadership would help women expand their leadership boundaries in what is already considered to be socially permissible in the Arab world. In turn, this would reconstruct the women’s identity in society normalizing their participation in leadership spaces across nontraditional spheres, like politics and public office.

Therefore, formulating and promoting women-friendly policies and laws would deconstruct the existing inequality structures in the Qatari society. Alzuabi, A. Z. (2016) suggested a legal approach in which the Qatari government should abolish all hurdles and constraints imposed on women, which prevents them from holding similar leadership positions with their male counterparts.

Summary

Qatari women experienced many hurdles similar to those experienced in the Arab world, which hindered women’s ascension to leadership in public offices. From a global perspective, structural, religious, and traditional barriers persisted in contemporary society and placed a glass ceiling on women leadership aspirations and possibilities. However, the Qatari government had a critical role in deconstructing the social norms and structures that disenfranchise women. Possible solutions included leadership quotas, reinterpretation of religious traditions, and legal restructuring. These interventions have worked elsewhere across the world and have helped increase the number of women leaders in all public offices.  

References

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Alotaibi, F, Cutting, R & Morgan, J 2017, ‘A critical analysis of the literature in women’s leadership in Saudi Arabia’, International Journal of Business Administration and Management Research, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 29-36.

Alzuabi, A Z 2016, ‘Sociopolitical participation of Kuwaiti women in the development process: Current state and challenges ahead’, Journal of Social Service Research, vol. 42, no.5, pp. 689-702.

Bagley, C, Abubaker, M & Shahnaz, A 2018, ‘Woman and management: A conceptual review, with a focus on Muslim women in management roles in Western and in Muslim-majority countries’, Open Journal of Business and Management, vol. 6, pp.498-517.

Christiansen, PM, Elklit, J & Nedergaard, P 2020, The Oxford Handbook of Danish Politics, oxford University Press.

Elliot, K 2019, ‘Rwanda’s legislature is majority female. Here’s how it happened’, National Geographic, viewed 31 July 2021, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/graphics/graphic-shows-women-representation-in-government-around-the-world-feature

McGann, JG 2019. Think tanks, foreign policy and the emerging powers. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Muhibbu-Din, MO 2019, ‘Feminism and modern Islamic politics: The fact and the fallacy’, International Journal of Islamic Thought, vol. 15, pp.44-59.

Supriyadi, T, Julia, J & Firdaus, E  2019, ‘The Problems of Gender Equality: A Reconstruction of Islamic Doctrine’, Journal of Social Studies Education Research, vol. 10, no.2, pp.91-110.

The World Bank 2021, ‘gender equality for development’, The World Bank Group, viewed 30 July 2021, https://www.worldbank.org/en/research/dime/brief/dime-gender-program.

Tlaiss, HA & Kauser, S 2019, ‘Entrepreneurial leadership, patriarchy, gender, and identity in the Arab world: Lebanon in focus’, Journal of Small Business Management, vol. 57, no.2, pp.517-537.

Vogelstein, RB & Bro, A 2021, ‘Women’s power index’, Council on Foreign Relations, viewed 30 July 2021, https://www.cfr.org/article/womens-power-index.

Wang, AC, Chen, Y, Hsu, MS, Lin, YC & Tsai, CY 2020, ‘Role-based paternalistic exchange: explaining the joint effect of leader authoritarianism and benevolence on culture-specific follower outcomes’, Asia Pacific Journal of Management, pp.1-23.