Seminar - Women in Middle-Eastern organisations: Career experiences, opportunities and work-life balance

You are cordially invited to attend a research seminar by Nicolina Kamenou, Zayed University, Dubai . Follow the link in your calendar email invitations(Join Microsoft Teams Meeting) to join the seminar on Wednesday, 17th February at 13.00.

Abstract:

The presentation will focus on women’s career experiences and work-life balance in the Middle Eastern context and more specifically in the Gulf (GCC) region. The research on which this paper is based aims to shed light on an under-researched area by examining career experiences and perceptions of work-life balance for women in the Gulf region. It will attempt to demonstrate the complexity of the ‘life’ component of the work-life balance equation for women in this context. This work will question the narrow emphasis of discussions on negotiating work and life, which typically only focus on time management and childcare (Kamenou, 2008) and ignore broader areas such as the effects of work on the family structure, family dynamics, home and work identity and, cultural and religious factors.
For the purposes of this presentation, the majority of the discussion will focus on the conceptual framework adopted for this study and it will engage with existing literature and research on women in the Arab world. In doing so, I will argue that a theoretical framework which acknowledges structure, culture and agency in investigating women’s careers and work-life balance experiences is appropriate and relevant for the Middle-Eastern context. Some preliminary empirical data of the first study on female academics in UAE academic institutions will be presented (this is currently work-in-progress).