Emirati Women: Conceptions of Education and Employment

Abstract

Using a combined quantitative, quantitative approach this study explores the incongruence between educational attainment and labor force participation for Emirati women by posing several questions that revolve around the issue of their motivations and aspirations with regard to higher education and labor force participation. In interpreting the survey and interview responses, a conceptual framework that interweaved constructs taken from three different bodies of research was used. The three areas of research are: the expectations of women in higher education, family in the Arab world, and the importance of social networks in employment.The findings of the study showed that Emirati women have high educational and occupational aspirations but they are also ambiguous about the role of women in Emirati society. This ambiguity arose from the conflict between what the young women in the study believed they ought to achieve as a result of their education and what they perceived their society expected of them as daughters, wives and mothers. The link between education and employment for Emirati women was also found to be influenced by the close nature of the social networks to which Emirati women belong. Emirati's women's use of family or strong ties deprives them of information from distant parts of the social system and places them at in a disadvantaged position in the labor market.