Cultural hurdles are keeping many Emirati women out of the workforce or limiting their choice of careers, despite the great progress being made.
That is the opinion of women who have taken up careers - and some who have been prevented from doing so by male relatives.
Sheikha Eisa Ghanem, a member of the FNC from Umm Al Quwain and a school principal, said some Emirati families followed a tradition that prevented women from mixing with men or working in the same environment.
"Most women in the UAE are allowed to work anywhere, even in a mixed environment," Ms Ghanem said. "Some fathers and husbands even help them to find a job.
"However, some tribes are still conservative in terms of norms and traditions."
Sara Humaid, 22, a recent graduate of Zayed University, said she had a friend at university who wanted to study international relations but her brothers opposed the idea.
"She had taken the introduction course to the international relations [degree] and she was good at it," Ms Humaid said. "She had the background that she needed to study it.
"But suddenly she pulled out her papers and joined the College of Education to become a teacher. She told us later that her brothers don't want her to work in a mixed environment.
"I don't feel like she is into education and she often seemed depressed when we saw her."
Aisha Al Hammadi, 24, graduated from The National Institute for Vocational Education in Dubai with a diploma in business administration. But Ms Al Hammadi said her husband would not allow her to work in a mixed environment.
"I got a job offer from a government authority but because it's a mixed environment my husband asked me to refuse it," she said.
Men have varying opinions on whether their wives should work.
Mansoor Al Mansoori, 23, a government employee from Abu Dhabi, said married women should not work outside the home.
"If a married woman went to work, who would take care of her children?" Mr Al Mansoori asked.
"Who would do the housework? Who would look after her husband when he comes back from work?"
He said a woman could not successfully combine work and home life.
"Where would her children be in the morning while she is at work? Would they stay in her parents' house?" Mr Al Mansoori asked.
"She can't reconcile between those two unless her children are grown up."
This sort of conflict in a marriage can lead to divorce, said Ibrahim Al Tamimi, an Emirati lawyer.
"Those who hold on to the old norms and traditions don't want to see their women working," said Mr Al Tamimi, adding that many women come to him for a divorce because of this reason.
"This leads to many problems between them."
AbdulAziz Mohammed, 29, a government employee, said he had no problem with the women in his life working, be it a wife, sister or daughter.
"They know well what's allowed and not allowed in religion," Mr Mohammed said.
But there are certain jobs of which he would not approve, such as working in a non-Islamic bank or for a party organiser.
"There is a great trust between me and my family members in general that if they were uncomfortable or something strange happened, we talk to each other and identify our issues," Mr Mohammed said.
Ms Ghanem said women could help to solve this problem by speaking to family members, gaining their trust and using a role model to support their point of view.
Mariam OS, 21, a graduate of Zayed University, said her parents restricted her career options, allowing her only to choose a women-only environment. She said she took this as a challenge and used it to motivate herself.
"It actually made me aim higher and have higher expectations of myself as to where I'm heading, or what sort of job I'm taking," Mariam said.
Now she works as a leadership and social-media officer at Zayed University's women's campus in Abu Dhabi. Her goal is to become the provost of the university.
"For now, I'm happy working at a place that I want to run one day," Mariam said.
Jane Bristol-Rhys, an associate professor at Zayed University and the author of Emirati Women: Generations of Change, said the issue was more prominent a decade ago and things have since changed.
"Many interns were concerned about this issue," Ms Bristol-Rhys said. "They wanted to work in a female-only environment.
"But now more people realise that a women-only environment is from the past."
newsdesk@thenational.ae
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
Test facts box
Release date: Oct 16
Stars: Pitt, Clooney
Length: 1 hr, 45 mins
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Test
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The Penguin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
At a glance
- 20,000 new jobs for Emiratis over three years
- Dh300 million set aside to train 18,000 jobseekers in new skills
- Managerial jobs in government restricted to Emiratis
- Emiratis to get priority for 160 types of job in private sector
- Portion of VAT revenues will fund more graduate programmes
- 8,000 Emirati graduates to do 6-12 month replacements in public or private sector on a Dh10,000 monthly wage - 40 per cent of which will be paid by government
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The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
THE SPECS – Honda CR-V Touring AWD
Engine: 2.4-litre 4-cylinder
Power: 184hp at 6,400rpm
Torque: 244Nm at 3,900rpm
Transmission: Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT)
0-100kmh in 9.4 seconds
Top speed: 202kmh
Fuel consumption: 6.8L/100km
Price: From Dh122,900
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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
MATCH INFO
What: Brazil v South Korea
When: Tonight, 5.30pm
Where: Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ae
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
The specs: 2018 GMC Terrain
Price, base / as tested: Dh94,600 / Dh159,700
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Power: 252hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 353Nm @ 2,500rpm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.4L / 100km
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