In the Middle East, only 7.6% of women are early-stage entrepreneurs compared with 11.8% of men. Although there has been a gradual increase in the number of women running businesses, women entrepreneurs still face considerable barriers on their path to success. For example, many women still struggle to access financing sources, coaching opportunities and networks.
On a recent entrepreneurship survey conducted between the two genders worldwide, 87% women entrepreneurs were adamant financial risk takers compared to 73% of men. Similarly, 80% of women voted on seeing risks as opportunities against men 67% of men. This global survey provides a realistic assessment of female participation in embracing dangers ahead and calculating risks when venturing into business start-ups.
With the growing diversity in UAE’s business landscape, gender disparity in UAE has significantly diminished, making room for socioeconomic stabilization and further improving administrative quality of businesses practices. The stereotypes that were keeping women away from businesses have been washed away in a great percentage by increasing numbers of executive roles filled by females.
Women make up 70% of the region’s university graduates and 44% of the workforce so this is a clear sign that they can be the key to the UAE’s economic future. A recent analysis of US start-ups showed that those led by women produce over twice as much money as male-led start-ups for every dollar of funding received.
According to Entrepreneur Middle East, four things are necessary to empower women in UAE:
- Beneficial visa changes to come for female expats. Practical obstacles, such as limited residency options, can also deter women from outside the UAE from considering the country as the ideal place to launch a business.
- More female-led entrepreneur groups, advisories and workshops. In March 2018, Dubai-based female-focused angel investment group Womena announced Womentum, its early-stage accelerator program for female-founded start-ups.
- More help for women to return to work after childbirth. Companies in the UAE are developing technology-based solutions to ease the return-to-work process for women.
- The argument for female entrepreneurship. US research suggests that female-led businesses are not just ‘nice to have’ but essential for the UAE in order to enjoy a strong, oil-independent economy in the future.
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/320548
http://www.cherieblairfoundation.org/uae-women-entrepreneurs/
https://theculturetrip.com/middle-east/united-arab-emirates/articles/uaes-most-successful-female-entrepreneurs/
https://www.zu.ac.ae/infoasis/modules/mod8/Business/documents/SmallEnterpriseReport.pdf
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This article has been written by Melina Meldonyan about the project Workpetence which is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union. The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.