Female labour participation and pay equity in Arab countries: commonalities and differences

Abstract

While there is a common belief that female labour indicators in Arab countries demonstrate a problematic situation, little is understood about the varieties within countries in that region. This paper attempts to draw a segmentation of the Arab world to show how different countries differ in this regard. It looks at two specific measures: the level of female participation as a percentage of male participation (FPM), and the female earned income to male income (FIM). Statistics from 20 Arab countries generated four clusters in which those countries are classified. Female labour indicators in most countries in the Arab world show similar patterns found in other countries in their stage of development. This confirms earlier research that indicates that women's labour participation decreases as societies move away from agriculture into manufacturing, services and industry. Only four countries are identified as outliers whose labour indicators can be understood within the context of the cultural values that dominate. The implications are discussed and individual research on female labour within each Arab country is invited.

The Gender Gap in Senior Management: What Is Holding Saudi Women Back?

“…Income has increased, which improves in turn education for both males and females and their lifestyle. On the other hand, in non-oil producing Arab countries, it was not enough to replace the workforce and shift from the agriculture sector into industry-based economies (Sidani, Feghali, 2014). On the whole, factory mechanisation and computerisation may negatively affect employment for both genders' men and women (Sidani, Feghali, 2014).…”

“…Although women were working outside the home to gain relatively low wages often in poor families, this practice did have much social approval but their commitment to participate in the economy was very strong (Sidani, Feghali, 2014).…”

Guest editorial

“…In addition, parallels could be drawn in relation to the socio-cultural institutions that underpin work within the region and affect the lives of everyone, especially women, when it comes to work and management. For example, Sidani and Feghali (2014) argue for the need to understand varieties within countries in this region; in their work, they drew on indicators about female labour force participation and female income levels to cluster different Arab countries to identify similarities and differences that shape the roles of and opportunities for women. Their findings suggest that both differences and similarities can be found based on social characteristics (e.g.…”

“…According to UN Women (2017), the region is noted for having some of the lowest levels of women's labour participation in the world. However, Sidani and Feghali (2014) have argued that over-generalisation of the commonalities between countries in the Middle East, alongside understatement of inter-country varieties has led to a lack of recognition in the literature about the ways women are becoming more aware of how their societal roles are changing, as well as their increased labour market participation. For instance, Tlaiss and Dirani (2015) note how women in Lebanon overcome social barriers and challenge the status quo by capitalising on their agency and individual capabilities to increase access to training and learning.…”

Barriers to Arab female academics’ career development

“…Others investigated gender and management (Kemp and Madsen, 2014; Metcalfe, 2007). Also, the Arab cultural role in hindering women’s participation in public positions was investigated (Sarkis et al , 2009; Al Barak, 2005) and few other studies dealt with some aspects of HR-like employment and pay (Sidani and Feghali, 2014; Metcalfe, 2007; Metle, 2002). However, none of which considered both culture and HR.…”