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[marianne.fay]

A recent research report released by the Middle East’s No 1 job site Bayt.com states that out of 1,515 working women in the region, more than 43% felt gender had not affected their career. This frankly stuns me, as a Western working woman, who assumed women in the Middle East were mostly not allowed to work in the first place! Bayt.com’s report states that prospects for working women in the Middle East have been widely progressing over the past few years (out of 1,515 working women in the region, 67% believe they have better employment opportunities than before), whereas 76% of women interviewed actually work in companies where senior executive positions are already occupied by women!
So much for glass ceilings! Bayt.com has me considering to may be start to planning my move to that part of the world. . . If anyone else is interested, take a look at their jobsite.

[starlagurl]

This stuns me too. What do you think Rani? Has gender affected your career?

[raniroo]

Definately not!... I believe that Western perceptions of the Middle East is due to negative media coverage and portrays MENA women to be held back and live in a very male dominated society ....I can certainly vouch that is not the case. In Dubai, there are thousands of women working in all fields (from both Middle Eastern and Western countries) and many in high powered positions....there are many woman entering universities......striving to make something of themselves......there are so many local women entering the work place that some expats (ie phillipinos/indians) are finding it hard to find work....

The region is definately progressing and woman are definately becoming more independent, but hundreds of years of culture and customs cannot be changed over night.

On the otherhand there are number of males who work as legal secretaries, office assistants, receptions etc that are traditionally a female role in the West, so good to see that too!

[marianne.fay]

Raniroo,
You are right! Women in the Middle East region are widely progressing, especially working GCC Nationals. The same report from Bayt.com actually shows that out of over 1,500 interviewed working women in the region, 75% GCC Nationals are working for a sense of achievement against 72% who are working towards monetary independence. These women have obviously become an integral component for the country’s continuous progress and well being.

[juddahnorman]

Rabea Ataya from bayt.com is a scam artist. Fraud and cheating people out of their ideas his one of the traits of this Jordanian/Palestinian national. He has swindled many innocent job seekers through is scam ventures and created enmity with everyone that he worked with. Before you invest in his ideas, watch out for your wallet. I have worked very closely with him. Bayt.com is in the process of shutting down because of the losses incurred by Rabea Ataya and his fraudster partners. Many investors have lost their money in this company only because of the way he ran it.