mark61
04-08-05, 10:26
By Heather Sharp
BBC News, Dubai
As part of a series about young people in the Middle East, the BBC News website explores how young women in Dubai are overturning a traditionally patriarchal culture to find their feet in the workplace.
CASE STUDY: RADIOGRAPHER (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4719547.stm#fatma)
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41346000/jpg/_41346027_fatma_x203.jpg
Relatives, logic and a little luck helped Fatma convince her family
When Fatma Mohamed Haj, 21, decided she wanted to train as a radiologist, her family objected.
She would have to touch men she barely knew, which is forbidden in the traditional Islamic culture of the United Arab Emirates.
And she would have to work nights in a society where it is frowned upon for young women to be out after 10pm.
But she argued her case and is now seeking her first job.
A UAE national living in Dubai, she is one of a generation of young women at the forefront of fast-paced cultural change.
Opportunities
Dubai's nationals have become a minority in their own land as international expatriates have flocked to the hi-tech, high-rise city which has sprung up in the desert in little more than 30 years.
____________________
65% of UAE university students are female
15% of UAE workforce* is female
*Including expatriate workers, many of whom are male
____________________
With the job opportunities of a booming economy, a government drive to empower and educate women and exposure to other cultures, Dubai's women are moving in increasing numbers into a wide range of professions.
The newspapers proudly tout the achievements of women firefighters, police officers, business leaders and the much-vaunted Economics and Planning Minister, Sheika Lubna Qasimi, appointed in 2004.
Among UAE nationals it is generally considered inappropriate for women to speak to men they are neither married nor related to in public. All government universities are single-sex.
But contact with male work colleagues is increasingly seen as acceptable.
Amna Mazam, a UAE national, is a student counsellor at Dubai Women's College. She says 50-60% of their 2,300 students are likely to continue into employment.
The majority of the others do not work because of pressure from their parents or husbands, she says, although some choose to stay at home to raise children full time.
Husbands' views
However, among Dubai students I meet a stream of highly ambitious, determined young women with supportive families.
Several, like business marketing student Maria Hanif Qassimi, 20, say they would refuse to marry a man who would not allow them to work.
"I've worked very hard to have a career, and I don't want to just blow it off," she said.
CASE STUDY: TV PRESENTER (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4719547.stm#nariman)
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41346000/jpg/_41346029_nariman_mall203.jpg
Nariman, 19, sometimes gets abuse when she's out shopping, but her job has boosted her confidence
Few, like IT graduate Salama, would accept a future husband's demands to stay at home: "It's our religion - what he says, I must do," she says.
Others like Bushra Mohammed Roken, 19, the leader of the student council at Zayed University, would work around such views.
"If he doesn't want me to go out, it's not like I'm in prison, because I could set up my own business from home."
Some young women face painful conflicts, Ms Mazam says, and her role is to help them develop the negotiating skills they need to resolve them.
"I think it is new in the culture," she says. In many families the father is prime decision-maker. "If he says yes it means yes, if he says no it means no - there is no negotiation."
Working wives
The professions that prove most problematic are those involving a mixed-gender environment, or a lot of contact with the public or those from other cultures.
CASE STUDY: COMPANY CEO (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4719547.stm#fatima)
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41346000/jpg/_41346021_alattar_hat203.jpg
Fatima, 26, likes making decisions and says she gets treated with respect when visiting building sites
But sometimes a girl simply arranging for her father or husband to visit a potential workplace can be enough to ease his concerns, Ms Mazam explains.
Views among unmarried young men vary. Some, like IT student Fahad Qahtani, 25, stipulate that they want a working wife.
"I want her to know something about life," he says, joking that if she comes home tired she will not annoy him by chattering about domestic trivia.
He is willing to help with the housework and childcare: "It's the man's house as well. If she has work and she's doing well, she's helping in other aspects and she has the right to get some help from the man."
Many UAE households have a maid, however, and it is not unusual for married couples to stay with the husband's family. "We could always live with Mum," adds Fahad.
Female bosses
In contrast to Fahad, Salim Alakraf, 25, would prefer a future wife to be "a queen" presiding over the home, rather than "a worker".
"If she wants to work, I don't have any problem, but she will be tired. She cannot look after me, the children and the house. After a while, she will lose everything," he says.
And Mohammed Fahim, 24, says he would prefer a future wife to work in a more "closed" environment like a bank, where she would have less contact with the public than in a shop or hotel.
With UAE national women rising to ever-higher professional positions, their male counterparts are increasingly finding themselves under female authority - traditionally a no-no.
Virtually everyone I speak to points out that attitudes are changing.
"At the beginning, it could be something I wouldn't feel very comfortable with. But after some time, when the lady has proved herself in her position, it becomes normal," says Mohammed Fahim.
And while it will take a while for such attitudes to filter through to the less developed, more traditional parts of the UAE, for men in Dubai the transition is well under way.
"For an Emerati man it can get scary, because women are working so hard to prove themselves. They're doing a very good job and they're giving us big competition," says Fahad Qahtani.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4719639.stm
Nou Deli, make your pick. Oei, was je niet al getrouwd?
BBC News, Dubai
As part of a series about young people in the Middle East, the BBC News website explores how young women in Dubai are overturning a traditionally patriarchal culture to find their feet in the workplace.
CASE STUDY: RADIOGRAPHER (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4719547.stm#fatma)
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41346000/jpg/_41346027_fatma_x203.jpg
Relatives, logic and a little luck helped Fatma convince her family
When Fatma Mohamed Haj, 21, decided she wanted to train as a radiologist, her family objected.
She would have to touch men she barely knew, which is forbidden in the traditional Islamic culture of the United Arab Emirates.
And she would have to work nights in a society where it is frowned upon for young women to be out after 10pm.
But she argued her case and is now seeking her first job.
A UAE national living in Dubai, she is one of a generation of young women at the forefront of fast-paced cultural change.
Opportunities
Dubai's nationals have become a minority in their own land as international expatriates have flocked to the hi-tech, high-rise city which has sprung up in the desert in little more than 30 years.
____________________
65% of UAE university students are female
15% of UAE workforce* is female
*Including expatriate workers, many of whom are male
____________________
With the job opportunities of a booming economy, a government drive to empower and educate women and exposure to other cultures, Dubai's women are moving in increasing numbers into a wide range of professions.
The newspapers proudly tout the achievements of women firefighters, police officers, business leaders and the much-vaunted Economics and Planning Minister, Sheika Lubna Qasimi, appointed in 2004.
Among UAE nationals it is generally considered inappropriate for women to speak to men they are neither married nor related to in public. All government universities are single-sex.
But contact with male work colleagues is increasingly seen as acceptable.
Amna Mazam, a UAE national, is a student counsellor at Dubai Women's College. She says 50-60% of their 2,300 students are likely to continue into employment.
The majority of the others do not work because of pressure from their parents or husbands, she says, although some choose to stay at home to raise children full time.
Husbands' views
However, among Dubai students I meet a stream of highly ambitious, determined young women with supportive families.
Several, like business marketing student Maria Hanif Qassimi, 20, say they would refuse to marry a man who would not allow them to work.
"I've worked very hard to have a career, and I don't want to just blow it off," she said.
CASE STUDY: TV PRESENTER (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4719547.stm#nariman)
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41346000/jpg/_41346029_nariman_mall203.jpg
Nariman, 19, sometimes gets abuse when she's out shopping, but her job has boosted her confidence
Few, like IT graduate Salama, would accept a future husband's demands to stay at home: "It's our religion - what he says, I must do," she says.
Others like Bushra Mohammed Roken, 19, the leader of the student council at Zayed University, would work around such views.
"If he doesn't want me to go out, it's not like I'm in prison, because I could set up my own business from home."
Some young women face painful conflicts, Ms Mazam says, and her role is to help them develop the negotiating skills they need to resolve them.
"I think it is new in the culture," she says. In many families the father is prime decision-maker. "If he says yes it means yes, if he says no it means no - there is no negotiation."
Working wives
The professions that prove most problematic are those involving a mixed-gender environment, or a lot of contact with the public or those from other cultures.
CASE STUDY: COMPANY CEO (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4719547.stm#fatima)
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41346000/jpg/_41346021_alattar_hat203.jpg
Fatima, 26, likes making decisions and says she gets treated with respect when visiting building sites
But sometimes a girl simply arranging for her father or husband to visit a potential workplace can be enough to ease his concerns, Ms Mazam explains.
Views among unmarried young men vary. Some, like IT student Fahad Qahtani, 25, stipulate that they want a working wife.
"I want her to know something about life," he says, joking that if she comes home tired she will not annoy him by chattering about domestic trivia.
He is willing to help with the housework and childcare: "It's the man's house as well. If she has work and she's doing well, she's helping in other aspects and she has the right to get some help from the man."
Many UAE households have a maid, however, and it is not unusual for married couples to stay with the husband's family. "We could always live with Mum," adds Fahad.
Female bosses
In contrast to Fahad, Salim Alakraf, 25, would prefer a future wife to be "a queen" presiding over the home, rather than "a worker".
"If she wants to work, I don't have any problem, but she will be tired. She cannot look after me, the children and the house. After a while, she will lose everything," he says.
And Mohammed Fahim, 24, says he would prefer a future wife to work in a more "closed" environment like a bank, where she would have less contact with the public than in a shop or hotel.
With UAE national women rising to ever-higher professional positions, their male counterparts are increasingly finding themselves under female authority - traditionally a no-no.
Virtually everyone I speak to points out that attitudes are changing.
"At the beginning, it could be something I wouldn't feel very comfortable with. But after some time, when the lady has proved herself in her position, it becomes normal," says Mohammed Fahim.
And while it will take a while for such attitudes to filter through to the less developed, more traditional parts of the UAE, for men in Dubai the transition is well under way.
"For an Emerati man it can get scary, because women are working so hard to prove themselves. They're doing a very good job and they're giving us big competition," says Fahad Qahtani.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4719639.stm
Nou Deli, make your pick. Oei, was je niet al getrouwd?