This paper is about Society's thoughts on Emirati females occupying male-dominated jobs. According to the Global Gender Report that was released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in 2017, gender equality gap in various sectors such as education, health, politics is widening globally. The report also indicated that the Middle East and North Africa regions are still leading in the gender gap, even though they have made some progress. Fortunately, United Arab Emirate (UAE) has recorded significant improvement in narrowing gender gap, especially in education and political sectors. At the same time, UAE has a significant number of women in the ministerial positions in the country. However, it is still not clear whether Emiratis' perception of female joining male-dominated occupations has changed with the new trend of many women joining the workforce Stanley (2018).
This topic was chosen because one of my female friends was considering joining the military and told me how her family was against the idea, especially her mother who considers the job to be “not feminine at all.” This prompted me to wonder whether Emiratis are embracing the notion that both men and women can equally do the same job. Therefore, the hypothesis this paper started with was that the perception of Emiratis on female joining male-dominated job is yet to change, as they still believe that women cannot get some men's work.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Methodology
The research method chosen is an interview. An interview is a type of qualitative research method that is aimed at collecting in-depth data and information from the participants. It involves the researcher directly asking questions to seek answers from respondents. Interview method was chosen because I wanted to get a better understanding of the matter, and with interviews, you get sufficient information and get to witness emotions as opposed to surveys. At the same time, I chose interview method because it could give me the opportunity to ask probing questions to get detailed responses. I interviewed five respondents who included three women and two men. Participants were categorized into three age groups that included those in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. All the participants who were interviewed came from UAE.
Theoretical Background
This paper uses the following concepts or theories from the course materials: gender roles and women in the workforce. Little & McGivern (2012) define gender role as a concept on how male and female members of a society are expected to act and behave. Gender role is mainly based on the societal norms, values, and standards. According to Little & McGivern (2012), masculine roles are linked to aggression, strength, and dominance. On the contrary, feminine roles are associated with subordination, nurture, and passivity. Therefore, men and women are expected to play different roles in the society. Little & McGivern (2012) also explains in chapter 18 of their book that many women are increasingly entering the formal workforce. Women continue to earn a higher degree at a rate more than men, which has given them the opportunity to get higher positions in the workplaces compared to the male counterparts. However, according to US Census Bureau 2010, women continue to earn 77% of what men earn in the same positions Little & McGivern (2012)
The paper also uses outside sources “Women are at Work across the Nation” by Stanley Iona and “UAE Ranked Highest in the Gulf for Gender Equality” by Burgess Sanya. For instance, Stanley (2018) explains that, in the Bedouin society, women were expected to cook, raise children, make clothes, and herd animals. Nevertheless, currently, many UAE women are performing previously male-dominated jobs. Also, the article by Burgess (2017) explains how the gender gap is widening in many parts of the world. Burgess (2017), however, notes that gender gap is narrowing in UAE, especially based on the Global Gender Gap Report that was released by the World Economic Forum in 2017. The sources are important for my paper because they discuss the issues that I am trying to address.
Argument
Based on the responses from 5 interviews, this paper argues that the perception of females joining male-dominated occupations in UAE has significantly changed. Both men and women who participated in the study strongly agreed that female should join male-dominated occupations. However, it is clear that many people still believe that there are a male job and female jobs. Technical and jobs that require a lot of physical activities are associated more with men. On the contrary, less technical and physical jobs are linked to women. The responses from 5 respondents indicate that the perception of women joining men dominate occupations is slowly but steadily changing.
The Evidence
Emirati men still dominate technical and physical jobs, even though women are entering such occupation. From the five interviewees, both men and women, mention either physical or technical jobs or both as male-dominated. Based on the responses, the technical jobs that are dominated by men include engineering, auto mechanics, and pilot. The physical occupations that are dominated by men include miners, police, soldier, carpenter, constructors, and firefighting. Besides, risky jobs like law enforcement are believed to be male-dominated. Therefore, five interviewees agree that there are some occupations that are still dominated by men and most of these jobs are either technical or physical.
The findings from the responses reveal that more men than women support the idea that female should join the male-dominated jobs that are mentioned above. Both the two men who were interviewed agreed that women should join the male-dominated jobs that they mentioned. On the contrary, only 1 out of 3 women who were interviewed agreed that female should join male-dominated jobs that they mentioned. The remaining two female interviewees remained indifferent on the issue, as they believed that some jobs could be done better by men than women. They were also hesitant on whether women can do risky or physically demanding jobs that are dominated by men.
All the five interviewees supported the new trend where many Emirati women are increasingly joining female-dominated occupations. Both male and female interviewees strongly supported the new trend of Emirati women entering occupations that have been traditionally dominated by men. However, one of the female interviewees emphasized that women should not be allowed to occupations that are violent and risky as that of police officers. At the same time, 2 of the three women interviewed did not support the idea of their daughters joining male-dominated jobs. They said that they would not allow their daughters to risky and physically demanding jobs. Nonetheless, all the two men that were interviewed agreed that they would support their daughters if they wanted to join male-dominated jobs.
Also, 3 out of 5 participants who were interviewed agreed that there are some jobs to be done by men and others to be done by women. Construction and building featured prominently on the types of jobs that should not be done by women in the society. One of the respondents also mentioned carpentry as another job that should only be done by men. It seems that the three respondents believed that men and not women should only do jobs that are physically demanding. Conversely, the two respondents who disagreed that there are male and female jobs argued that human beings can do any job regardless of their gender so long as they are physically and mentally fit to do it. Hence, opinion is divided on whether some jobs are for men while others are for women.
Conclusion
The number of Emiratis supporting females who are joining male-dominated occupations has significantly increased, especially based on the findings of the interview. Both men and women support females who are joining male-dominated occupations. However, there are still jobs that are believed to be male-dominated, particularly physically demanding jobs. The nature of the job also determines whether women should be allowed to join it or not. Women, in particular, are hesitant to join jobs that are risky and involve a lot of physical activities. The research followed functionalist perspective that helps in explaining gender roles in the society. Also, I encountered some challenges, even though my research was successful. The interview was time-consuming, and I also encountered a lot of things that upset me. Nonetheless, but I learned how to control myself and be open-minded to all ideas. This study is significant because it helps in exploring and explaining the perception of Emiratis on female joining male-dominated jobs. Findings can be used to formulate strategies aimed at encouraging women to join male-dominated jobs.
References
Burgess, S. (2017, November 2). Global gender gap widens for the first time in a decade — but UAE women see improvement. The National . Retrieved from https://www.thenational.ae/uae/global-gender-gap-widens-for-the-first-time-in-a-decade-but-uae-women-see-improvement-1.672639
Little, W & McGivern, R. (2012). Gender, Sex, and Sexuality. In L. William & W. Little. Introduction to Sociology. (pp. 255-271). Open Book Publishing.
Little, W & McGivern, R. (2012). Work and the Economy. In L. William & W. Little. Introduction to Sociology. (pp. 397-418). Open Book Publishing.
Stanley, I. (2018, April 24). Women are at work across the nation. Gulf News . Retrieved from https://gulfnews.com/culture/heritage/women-are-at-work-across-the-nation-1.2191566
