Neither ghettoed nor cosmopolitan a study of Western women's perceptions of gender and cultural stereotyping in the UAE.
| Verfasser | Hutchings, Kate |
| Posten | RESEARCH ARTICLE - United Arab Emirates |
Abstract:
* This research examined Western women in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and whether they perceived there to have been gender and cultural stereotyping towards them, and if they exemplified a new breed of cosmopolitan expatriates or the more traditional experience of living within expatriate bubbles.
* The study was based on semi-structured interviews with 27 expatriate females from Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States working in the UAE.
* The female expatriates studied did not perceive gender and cultural stereotyping at work, but identified stereotyping as occurring in the non-work context; some of which resulted from the women engaging in auto-stereotyping. Additionally, the women neither lived within ghettoes in the UAE but nor could they be viewed as truly cosmopolitan; suggesting that expatriates' working and living experiences need to be understood as operating on a continuum.
Keywords: Expatriates * Women * Cosmopolitan expatriates * Expatriate ghettos * Cultural stereotyping * Gender stereotyping * United Arab Emirates
Introduction
Historically, expatriate managers were assigned to work in other countries usually towards the end of their career, having previously had no or little international experience and many were posted from the company headquarters, which was often also in their own country of origin. Over the past decade the typical expatriate has more likely been early in his/her career, with a strong disposition towards learning about other cultures and also maybe having had prior international experience from personal or professional travel. Moreover, there is an increasing propensity for international employees to constitute not just the traditional assigned expatriates but also self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) who voluntarily choose to relocate to another country/ies for fixed or indefinite periods. Coupled with the changing profile of expatriates is the propensity for boundaryless careers, whereby professionals seek opportunities beyond a single organisation, a characteristic more often associated with SIEs (Stahl et al. 2002; Tung 1998). It has been suggested that there is a new generation of expatriates with a cosmopolitan identity, which is characterised by nomadic mobility and often reflects having lived and been educated internationally as children, being multilingual, or having travelled and worked internationally as adults; and thus, reflecting an affinity for other cultures (Howe-Walsh and Schyns 2010).
While the overall expatriate population is increasing globally, however, women remain underrepresented. They comprise only 18% of international expatriate managers (BGRS 2011). This is despite the fact that women's participation rates may be higher in female-friendly sectors such as non-profit and charitable organisations (30%) and media and publishing (25 %) (Shortland 2009); and that, at least as many female as male professionals self-initiate expatriation (Tharenou 2009). Research has explored various reasons for women's under-representation, such as encountering organisational policies which limit women's opportunities, women's own motivation to undertake international assignments, or women suffering from lack of acceptance in host environments (for a discussion, see Altman and Shortland 2008). Research has suggested that women do have a disposition towards international assignments, but that they continue to be affected by selection bias towards men for international assignments. This may be associated with perceptions of women's ability to manage in countries which have a bias against women in management and do not have sufficient support mechanisms (see Altman and Shortland 2008). The view on whether women are stereotyped (or are perceived to be) in foreign countries is mixed. In seminal research on Western women managers in Asia, Adler (1987) suggested that Western women are often viewed as foreigners first and women second and are not judged by the same expectations as local women. Yet, we question whether the opposite might be expected in some regions of the world, such as the Arab Middle East, where relations between men and women, the role of women in society, and women's workforce participation are markedly different from the West (Metcalfe 2011) or Asia. Our research examines whether Western women perceive there to be gender and cultural stereotyping towards them in the UAE, and what implications these have for whether they have integrated with locals as cosmopolitan expatriates or live within expatriate ghettos. Specifically, our central research question explores whether and how Western female expatriates in the UAE perceive gender and cultural stereotyping.
Our findings are based on 27 semi-structured interviews conducted between October 2009 and February 2010 with Western women from Australia, New Zealand (NZ), the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US) working in the UAE. The research extends extant literature in that we explore whether Western women in the UAE experience stereotyping at work or in the non-work realm. Our research revisits the idea of whether Western women do experience challenges as expatriates which are presented by the host country environment. Further, we consider the implications of any perceived stereotyping for women's interaction with locals and develop an understanding of how they live and work, and how they may be characterised as expatriates, and suggest that expatriates' living and working experiences need to be understood on a continuum from ghettoed to cosmopolitan.
The paper begins with a review of the contextual background of the UAE and then moves into a discussion of the theoretical underpinnings of the research including recent research on expatriation, female expatriates, and stereotypes/stereotyping. This is followed by a review of the research methods and presentation of the results in relation to four key themes and distinctions along demographic lines. The discussion then compares and contrasts the current research with extant literature. Finally, the conclusions are presented with respect to major theoretical contributions, management implications, and limitations and issues for future research.
Contextual Background
Islam is the official religion across most countries in the Arab Middle East and emphasises the importance of family honour and obligations. Fundamental to understanding the role of women in the Middle East is the Islamic Gender Order and the Qur'anic view of men and women as 'equal but different' with women viewed as wives and mothers first (Metcalfe 2008). Balancing women's traditional roles with careers is an ongoing issue across the region. Many Middle Eastern governments have invested heavily in educating their female population and there has also been growth in women's work in private businesses, professional women's associations, and in the non-government sector (Hutchings et al. 2010; Metcalfe 2006). Yet, these developments in Arab women's opportunities in the public sphere and their visibility in organisations do need to be considered in contrast to the issue highlighted by Metcalfe (2011) that work and education segregation of the genders is commonplace through the Arabian Gulf states. Metcalfe (2011) refers to work being 'gendered' in that men and women are viewed as having different societal roles and responsibilities which presents as having different work opportunities. Metcalfe (2011) suggests that gendered work relations result from such factors as a code of modesty to protect women and a man's role to support and protect his wife and family, which can also result in limited travel mobility for women and restricting women from engaging in many professional roles which may have mixed gender environments (for a discussion of gender limitations in the labour market, see Al-Hassan Golley et al. 2011). The dynamic of gender segregation may have implications for Western women working in the Arab Middle East in that they might be limited in the interactions they have with male colleagues or clients. In contrast, it might be expected that Western women would engage more with local women since that would be culturally acceptable.
Within the political, economic and social diversity of the Middle East, the UAE is substantively more integrated into the international economy than many of its neighbours due to their significant investments in financial services, tourism and promoting themselves as a "bridge between the East and West" (UAE Interact 2010). This is reflected in its population and status as a prominent destination for expatriates. In 2010 the UAE's population was approximately five million with less than 20% being Emiratis. About 25% of the population come from other Arab states and Iran and almost 50% are from South Asia, primarily Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh, although many of these are temporary residents. The remaining 5 % are comprised of people from the remainder of the world, including Western expatriates (CIA 2010). Such diversity in the population suggests that the culture of the UAE has experienced strong external pressures to evolve in a short period of time given major population increases since the late 1980s. Yet, despite such ethnic diversity, the UAE shares much in common with other Arab states in respect to the role of women, for example, despite a relatively large female work participation rate (59 %), Emirati women are not well-represented in all areas of the workforce as most are employed by the government (Al Munajjed 2010). That said, Emirati women have been granted are able to drive and travel overseas without seeking the permission of a husband or guardian. Additionally, he UAE was the first Arab state to appoint a female Minister of the Economy and many Emirati women from prominent families hold senior positions in large Arab private corporations and family-owned businesses.
Theoretical...
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