Qatari women's share in job market limited to govt sector: Academic
Date
5/30/2016 9:50:25 PM
(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The First Annual Family Policy Forum on “Rethinking the Work-Family Reconciliation Policies in GCC” at the Qatar National Convention Centre in Doha yesterday. Picture: Salim M / The Peninsula
By Mohammed Osman
DOHA: Despite legal, institutional and governmental support to Qatari working women, their share in the job market is mostly limited to the government sector, says a noted Qatari woman academic. Citing a 2016 report on the GCC job market, Hind Al Muftah, Vice President of Administration and Finance at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies said that the Qatari women represent 50 per cent of national labour market.
Despite government, legal and institutional support and high involvement of women in the job market, their share is still limited to government sector and even in this sector they are mostly in education and health, Al Muftah told The Peninsula. She was speaking on the sidelines of the first annual Family Policy Forum at the Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC) yesterday.
Al Mufath said that women in Qatar still do not have access to top and quality positions despite their qualification and high involvement in the labour market, compared to other GCC states. This is mainly because of social and cultural reasons and lack of proper implementation of the supporting rules and regulations developed by the government to encourage women to work, she added. Asked why Qatari women prefer to work in the government sector, Al Muftah said that it is because of secure work environment, less working hours, better salaries, flexible management and less work pressure.
Qatari working women face many challenges
The two-day forum is being organized by Doha International Family Institute (DIFI), a member of Qatar Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs, and the Executive Bureau of the GCC Council of Ministers for Social Affairs under the theme of “Rethinking the Work-Family Reconciliation Policies in the GCC”.
The government’s significant support to Qatari women during the nineties have enabled them to obtain good level of education and take part in the comprehensive development of the country, speakers at the forum observed.
Noor Al Malki Al Jehani , Executive Director of the DIFI, told this daily, that the aim of the forum is to enhance the knowledge base in family related issues in the Arab world, exchange views and experiences and to make family issues a priority for policy-makers. However, setting up policies is the responsibility of governments in the respective countries.
There are many challenges facing Qatari working women including long working hours and short maternity leave, said Al Jehani. The situation is worse for those working in the private sector which is discouraging them to join private companies, Al Jehani added.
Dr Said Al Masri, a sociologist from Cairo University drew a comparison between the societies of GCC states and European countries. Both face the challenges related to demography because of foreign work force and migration and low number of national work force.
The Peninsula