Exploring Arab Middle Eastern women's perceptions of barriers to,and facilitators of, international management opportunities

摘要

Extant research has suggested that there are four key barriers to women undertakinginternational assignments: corporate resistance; foreigner prejudice; women's owndisinterest; and lack of family and other support mechanisms. While there has beensubstantive research investigating the existence of barriers to women undertakinginternational assignments, the vast majority of research has focused on Western womenand Western multinational corporations (MNCs). This study sought to examine thedisposition which Arab Middle Eastern women have towards undertaking internationalassignments. This research is significant because of the growing international strategicpolitical and economic importance of many Arab Middle Eastern nations and that manyArab Middle Eastern women are highly educated and would prove a valuable humanresource for international organizations. This paper reports the findings of a survey of97 middle- and senior-level female managers in Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia,Oman, Qatar and the UAE, seeking to elucidate the factors which Arab Middle Easternview as barriers to, or facilitators of, international management opportunities. The studyis significant in: a) extending research on women and international work to an ArabMiddle Eastern context; b) expands understanding of what is international workby highlighting that the majority of Arab Middle Eastern women's managerial,international employment, and skills development opportunities come via non-govern-ment organizations and women's organizations. This makes their opportunities forinternational engagement very different from those of Western women whooverwhelmingly receive international experience via MNCs; and c) extendsunderstanding of international work barriers to include an assessment of nationalcultural and institutional issues.