A step towards narrowing the gap for women

Forming the Gender Balance Council is a step forward for UAE women. Photo: Reem Mohammed / The National

Sheikh Zayed’s vision of empowering women has been demonstrated at all levels of government. Nowadays, women have the chance to hold key positions in public institutions and play an important role in the decision-making process. The UAE has four female cabinet ministers, seven female Federal National Council members and many other women in various leadership positions.

But corporate boardrooms have not kept pace. There are still very few women CEOs, directors and general managers outside of family-owned businesses. Many competent women still struggle to break down the cultural barriers that prevent them getting the recognition – and the position – that they deserve. This is why the new Gender Balance Council is so welcome.

As The National reported yesterday, the government has announced that the new Council would ensure that women play a leading role in the country's development. Sheikha Manal, president of the Dubai Women's Establishment, will be its chair. She has already spoken of the need to recognise that women play a key role in economic development. Clearly then, women must lead companies and boardrooms. How should this change be induced?

A tried and tested way is to introduce quotas for women's participation in corporations and government agencies, as the UAE Cabinet announced at the end of 2012. This is affirmative action, of course, but sometimes it is positive discrimination that forces change. The need to fill the women's quota will force companies to change. Once some women are in, at senior positions, their very visibility illustrates that they are as good as men. They can then rise up the ladder and reach the level warranted by their talent and ability. The quotas are handy because, as we report in our business section today, women face barriers on their way to the top that never arise for their male counterparts.

Having a good mix of men and women is surely as important for a commercial enterprise as for a government one. Women make up half the population, they are consumers (some say incorrigible spenders) and often make many of the crucial buying choices for the family. It makes good business sense to have them on board.