Influences of cultural orientations on Emirati women’s careers

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how cultural orientations influence Emirati women’s career development. Drawing on the cultural theories of Hofstede (1980, 2001) and House et al. (2004), the authors investigated the cultural orientations of a sample of 19 women in the United Arab Emirates. Design/methodology/approach In-depth interviews were conducted to collect life history data about women’s early lives, education and employment. Findings The findings identify three themes that influenced the participant’s careers: family influence on careers, individual-level attitudes toward education for careers, and workplace career development. Research limitations/implications Limited by the small sample of 19 female national participants that implies further international study is required to extend this research. Practical implications The business application is that social values, beliefs and norms can be leveraged for women’s career success. Social implications Policymakers are guided on key factors that influence Emirati women’s careers from a cultural perspective. Originality/value The study makes a unique theoretical contribution in a model that shows: cultural dimensions are interrelated, cultural values and practices are interdependent, and cultural orientations vary between women and men

The lived experiences of foreign women: Influences on their international working lives

“…That is because foreigners in the UAE are denied citizenship or permanent residency (migrant/expatriate status), as only a temporary right to remain in the country is granted for work purposes through Emirati sponsorship via renewable two‐ or three‐year self‐employed or employment visas (Zeffane & Kemp, ). Foreign workers are in somewhat of a precarious situation in the UAE because the political and economic drive is towards Emiratization , that is, full employment of the national population (Al‐Ali, ; Kemp & Xhao, ).…”

Investments in the public sector of economy and shortage of certainty on the way of Russia’s mastering of modern economic mechanisms

“…Due to the fact that women usually face more obstacles than men in leader positions, the support of external environment is identified as an extremely significant factor of successful women's leadership. The support of family members and friends could be comprehensive and could be provided in different ways, such as helping to do housework, to take care of children or moral support by giving advice and sharing experiences (Cimirotić et al, 2017;Kemp & Zhao, 2016;McGowan et al, 2015;Zhou & Chang, 2015). In addition, the support of colleagues is also very significant (Barnes, 2017;Cimirotić et al, 2017;Hurley & Choudhary, 2016) because the establishment and development of business inevitably depend on formal and informal communities.…”

“…Visible and present at meetings (Kelly, Ammons, Chermack, & Moen, 2010), international working experience (Evans, 2014;Javidan et al, 2016;Stefanco, 2017), working experience (Cimirotić et al, 2017;Eagly, 2007), power (personal choice) (Kinsaul et al, 2014), living abroad (Stefanco, 2017), skills (Mahmud et al, 2012, long working hours (Coffman & Neuenfeldt, 2014), education (Setyaningsih et al, 2012;Subramaniam et al, 2013), competence (Evans, 2014;Raudeliūnienė, 2017), having a mentor (Bierema, 2016;McGowan et al, 2015), trainings (Setyaningsih et al, 2012), continual learning (Kemp & Zhao, 2016), orientation to results (Bullough et al, 2017), 24/7 availability (Coffman & Neuenfeldt, 2014), recognition of achievements (Setyaningsih et al, 2012), professional knowledge (Cimirotić et al, 2017;Javidan et al, 2016), specific knowledge (Cimirotić et al, 2017), freedom of decision-making (Subramaniam et al, 2013), hard work (Cimirotić et al, 2017), international internship (Stefanco, 2017), international business studies (Stefanco, 2017), technologysavvy (Stefanco, 2017), foreign languages (Stefanco, 2017), business savvy (Javidan et al, 2016).…”

“…Proactive in changing top leadership levels (from exclusive to inclusive) (Barnes, 2017;Evans, 2014), including others in democratic decision making and implementation (Bullough et al, 2017), team building for mutually agreed goals (Bullough et al, 2017), leadership in communities (Newberry, 2012), leadership style (Setyaningsih et al, 2012), empowering others to make decisions (Evans, 2014;Kimpah, Ibrahim, & Raudeliuniene, 2017), inspiring others (Bullough et al, 2017), listening to and energizing employees (Evans, 2014), ability to motivate (Bullough et al, 2017), recognizing achievements of other people (Evans, 2014), articulating vision and inspiring others to follow it (Evans, 2014). External factors Workplace mobility (Subramaniam et al, 2013), support of colleagues (Barnes, 2017;Cimirotić et al, 2017;Hurley & Choudhary, 2016), flexible working hours (Cimirotić et al, 2017;Hurley & Choudhary, 2016), gender inequality (Acker, 2009), luck (Cimirotić et al, 2017), family and friends support (Cimirotić et al, 2017;Kemp & Zhao, 2016;McGowan et al, 2015;Zhou & Chang, 2015), number of children (Hurley & Choudhary, 2016). Zhong et al (2011) claim that the "luck" factor does not play a vital role in climbing career ladders (Zhong, Couch, & Blum, 2011).…”

Social Norms, Percieved Business Opportunity And Working Women Entrepreneurial Intention In Nigeria

“…The existing literature has shown some studies on the factors that influence working women entrepreneurial intention. Such studies include education and competency (Bastian & Zali, 2016) confidence and relational support (Gelaidan & Abdullateef, 2017), cultural orientation, family support and individual attitude (Kemp & Zhao, 2016;Tlaiss, 2014). Also, the use of information communication technology (Ameen & Willis, 2016).…”