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Centre for Cross Cultural Comparisons Working paper Series: Women_Islam&UN_Millienium Development_Goals_CCCC_2102_5 Reference: Littrell, Romie Frederick & Bertsch, Andy. (2012). U.N. Millennium Development Goals and gender equality in employment in the Middle East. Centre for Cross Cultural Comparisons Working Paper CCCC_2012_5, http://crossculturalcentre.homestead.com/WorkingPapers.html. Formatted U.S. Letter size:
U.N. Millennium Development Goals and gender equality in employment in the Middle East
Romie Frederick Littrell
Associate Professor of International Business Department of International Business Auckland University of Technology
Auckland New Zealand
Email: [email protected]
Andy Bertsch Associate Professor
Department of Business Administration College of Business
Minot State University Minot, North Dakota
USA Email: [email protected]
Submitted for journal review: 06-Apr-2012
Purpose: We address issues relating to the United National Millennium Development Goals (UNMDG) in the Middle East, analysing socio-cultural issues having direct relevance to the region's progress toward “Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women”. Methodology: We employ meta-analyses with data from the United Nations, the Arab Human Development Report, and various sources of measurement of national means for Hofstede’s five-dimensional model of cultural value.
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Findings: We find percent of women in employment, excluding the agricultural sector in our sample of Middle East countries has declined since 2000, while in the samples of other Muslim-majority and all other countries the percent employed has increased. Research limitations/implications: The limitations of our research are that complete sets of data for women in employment are not available for all years for all countries in our samples. Practical implications (if applicable): Implications for practice for governments and businesses in Middle East countries are that women are a valuable economic resource who are being excluded from contribution and for the past decade the change in the Middle East has been in a negative direction. Social implications (if applicable): The economic contributions and rights of women in the Middle East lag behind most of the developed and developing nations, including other Muslim-majority nations. Originality/value: This study provides empirical evidence from publically available data concerning the employment status of women in Middle Eastern nations. We found no similar empirical studies in the literature. The study is of value to planners and policy-makers in business, government, and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Category: Research Paper Keywords: Middle East, Islamic values, tribal values, gender, employment, U.N. Millennium Development Goals Article Classification: Review and meta-analysis
Introduction
In this article for the Foresight special issue, “Is the Middle East the land of the future?”, we will
address issues relating to the United National Millennium Development Goals (UNMDG, United
Nations, 2000) in the Middle East. We will limit our discussion to the third goal, “Promote
Gender Equality and Empower Women”, with specific reference to women’s participation in
business activities. We aspire to shed light on the Middle East and its collective recognition in
3
the world scene. Aspects included in this paper will be socio-cultural features which have direct
relevance to the region's progress toward the UNMDG Goal 3.
To guide the development of this paper, the authors reviewed a myriad of lists and have
compiled a broad definition of the Middle East. This was no easy task as the literature has not
included, with consistent specificity, a finite list of countries to be exhaustively defined as the
“Middle East”. To start, we eliminated what the Middle East is not. For the purposes of this
paper, we suggest that the Middle East does not include Maghreb or European nations. We also
suggest that societies of non-Arabic racial descent be excluded. In order to define the overall
focus of this paper, we offer the following societies as our exhaustive list encompassing the
“Middle East”, with generic super-categories.
1. Bahrain (Arabian Peninsula)
2. Egypt
3. Kuwait (Arabian Peninsula)
4. Iraq (Mashriq)
5. Jordan (Mashriq)
6. Lebanon (Mashriq)
7. Oman (Arabian Peninsula)
8. Qatar (Arabian Peninsula)
9. Palestinian Territories
10. Saudi Arabia (Arabian Peninsula)
11. Syria (Mashriq)
4
12. United Arab Emirates (Arabian Peninsula)
13. Yemen (Arabian Peninsula)
Note that this includes Arab nations bound by the Arabian Peninsula, Mashriq, and the Sinai
Peninsula. We have chosen to not include Iran (Persian decent), Turkey (Turkish decent), and
the Maghreb region. Also excluded from this list of “Middle East” nations is Israel. Certainly,
Israel is a nation included in the geography bound by the Arabian Peninsula and Mashriq;
however, we suggest that our list be limited to Arab ethnicity, Arab language, and the use of
Arab script.
From the above list of thirteen nations, we were forced to eliminate the Palestinian Territories
due to the fact that comprehensive data was not available. For the purposes of this paper, we will
use the twelve remaining nations as our representative definition of the Middle East.
Thomas, Cuervo-Cazurra & Brannen (2011) suggest that manuscript authors pay particular
attention to properly and thoroughly describe the relationships between constructs. Specifically,
Thomas et al. offer that “…authors cannot assume that readers will somehow automatically
understand how the constructs are related to or build on each other” (p. 1074). With this in mind,
we endeavour to provide insight into the relationships between societal cultural values and
observable environmental indices of gender equality. This article is a survey and review article,
and is exploratory in nature; hence we are seeking to identify and define relationships rather than
test hypotheses. We are exploring the relationships, if any, between the UN’s Millennium
Development Goal 3, Target 11 (sometimes labelled as Goal 3.2), and cultural value dimension
5
scores from Hofstede’s five-dimensional (5D) framework with specific emphasis on Middle
Eastern countries.
U.N. Millennium Development Goals
The United Nations Millennium Development Goals (UNMDG) initiative has brought the long-
existing issue of women's rights in the Middle East to increased prominence, in tandem with
research studies, policy debates, and feminist activism. The UNMDG goal and target we are
specifically concerned with is Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women; Target
11: Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector.
As an adjunct, we carried out an extensive literature review concerning gender equity in
education and found that nearing parity or exceeding female/male parity in education and
literacy outcomes did not appear to be significantly positively related to share of employment for
women; so we will focus on the latter, as the very low participation of women in the labour force
and low employment levels are widely considered a missed opportunity for economic growth
and development (Chamlou et al., 2008). The World Economic Forum and the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (WEF & OECD) (2011) report significant progress in
the region to increase women’s educational attainment rates, and over the past decade, almost all
Middle East & North Africa (MENA) countries have closed 90 percent or more of the gender
gap in education. However, these improvements in education have not been matched with
comparable increases in female labour force participation rates: approximately 33 percent of
working-age women join the labour force, compared with 56 percent in global low- and middle-
6
income countries and 61 percent in OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development) member countries. Furthermore, in all countries of the MENA region (with the
exception of the Palestinian Authority) women who join the labour force have consistently
higher involuntary unemployment rates than their male counterparts. The gender gap in
unemployment is largest in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen, and Egypt,
where the female involuntary unemployment rate is nearly four times the male unemployment
rate. The Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) in 2006, OECD data
(O’Sullivan, Rey & Galvez Mendez, 2011), and the United Nations Development Programme
(Chaaban, 2010) indicate the labour market outcomes for women in the MENA region could be
attributed to prevailing cultural attitudes, gendered laws, and weak support services (see also
World Bank, 2011).
Timmer & McClelland (2004, p. 3) point out that the status of women in Muslim countries, as
measured by employment, education, health, and political participation varies by region. For
example, women’s participation in the labour force in Muslim-majority countries in Europe,
Eurasia, and East Asia is close to that of developed countries. However, women’s participation is
much lower in the MENA region and South Asia than in developed countries, and lower than in
other Muslim-majority countries. Political participation measured by the proportion of female
seats in parliament in Muslim-majority countries is higher than in OECD countries, except in the
MENA region. In the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia negative discrimination
concerning women is institutionalised in laws and societal practices that prohibit women from
fully participating in public life or fully competing in the labour market.
7
Korinek (2005) provides a review of evidence of micro- and macro-level studies that indicates
that gender inequality inhibits long-term national economic growth. Korinek suggests two
reasons. First, better-educated women with more control over household resources have been
shown to bring an increase in spending on children’s education, health, and nutrition; thereby
investing in future generations and the future labour force. This is particularly true in developing
countries where household resources are relatively scarce. Second, unused female potential in
terms of lower levels of education, employment, remuneration, and access to productive
resources implies that the allocation of economy-wide resources is sub-optimal. Timmer &
McClelland (2004, pp. 7-8) believe a significant contributor to the lack of significant economic
progress in the Muslim world is due in large part to the relegation of women to an inferior
position in society whereby the Islamic world reduces the contributions from the talents and
energies of half its people.
Moghadam (2008) summarises commentary from area experts who contend that for women to
play a larger role in the economy and society is vital to the Middle East region's progress. Our
literature review indicates women in the region still face gender discrimination that prevents
them from reaching their potential, despite impressive gains in education and health. To varying
degrees across the countries, discrimination against women is built into cultural attitudes,
government policies, and legal frameworks. The region's family laws codify discrimination
against women and girls, placing them in a position subordinate to men in the family, a practice
that is then replicated in the economy and society. For example, Korinek (2005) finds evidence
that women are constrained from moving into more skilled, higher-paying jobs when trade
8
liberalisation occurs because they have less access to resources, advanced and developmental
education, and time.
The World Values Surveys (Inglehart & Welzel, 2005 & 2010) are designed to measure all major
areas of human concern, from religion to politics to economic and social life. Two dimensions
dominate the picture: (1) Traditional vs. Secular-rational values and (2) Survival vs. Self-
expression values. These two dimensions explain more than 70 percent of the cross-cultural
variance on scores of more specific values. The traditional vs. secular-rational values dimension
reflects the contrast between societies in which religion is very important and those in which it is
not. Also, societies near the traditional pole emphasize the importance of parent-child ties and
deference to authority, along with absolute standards and traditional family values. Such
societies also reject divorce, abortion, euthanasia, and suicide. Societies with secular-rational
values have the opposite preferences on all of these topics.
The second major dimension of cross-cultural variation, Survival vs. Self-expression values, is
linked with the transition from an industrial society to a post-industrial society. The
unprecedented wealth that has accumulated in advanced societies during the past generation
means that an unprecedented share of the population has grown up taking survival for granted.
Thus, priorities have shifted from an emphasis on economic and physical security above all,
toward increasing emphasis on subjective well-being, self-expression, and the quality of life.
Societies with low secular-rational values have the opposite preferences on all of these topics.
Middle Eastern Islamic countries are amongst the highest globally in traditional and survival
9
values. These values are generally associated with lower economic development.
Historical perspective on women’s economic activity in the Middle East
Summarising Ahmed (1992), Chamlou et al. (2008), Johnson-Odim & Strobel (1999), and
Tucker & Nashat (1999) and Meriwether & Tucker (1999): In pre-Islamic, medieval-Islamic, and
contemporary-Islamic societies in the Middle East women engaged in a variety of economic
activities in agriculture, craft and textile production, the tending of livestock, trade, and other
areas. In fact, many women engaged in economic activity that not only supplied subsistence but
also generated wealth, especially in agricultural and trade sectors of the economy. In some cases,
women were engaged in large scale buying and selling of commodities. Khadija, the first wife of
the Prophet Mohammed, was a renowned and wealthy businesswoman, one of many of her time,
and an important female role model in Islam. Even where women engaged in local, small-scale
trade, they could be very important to the growth and development of long-distance trade and of
port towns and urban centres. Original Islamic law permits women to inherit and independently
own property; women of the middle class often had property and engaged in various business
activities such as selling and buying real estate, renting out shops, and lending money. The
absence of male heirs or widowhood could also create economic opportunity for women. Under
such circumstances women ran businesses and participated in trades. In Syria the gedik, a license
that allowed one to practice a trade, was normally inherited by sons from their fathers. In the
absence of a male heir, women could inherit the gedik, and although prevented from practicing
the trade, they could sell, rent, or bequeath the license. Hence we see that the original rules of
Islam do not prevent women from participating in business activities.
10
Hofstede’s Five-Dimensional Model1 in the Middle East
There are many theoretical models of societal and national culture, see Taras, Rowney & Steel
(2009) for a review of the predominant ones. We select Hofstede’s 5D model of national cultural
value dimensions, operationalised by his Values Survey Module – 94 (Hofstede & Hofstede,
n.d.). There is much literature supporting the use of Hofstede’s models; recent reviews are
provided in Taras et al. (2009) and Minkov & Hofstede (2011). One justification for choosing
Hofstede’s 5D model is that studies based upon this model provided the largest array of scores
for our selected countries in our final 12-nation definition of the “Middle East”. The lack of
available data from the Middle East eliminated other models such as the GLOBE 9-dimension
model.
From research relating to Hofstede’s 5D model in the Middle East, we find generally high
national means for the Power Distance Index (PDI) and Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) as
characteristic for the region. This grouping of scores indicates that it is expected and accepted
that leaders separate themselves from followers, and followers expect complete and specific
directives rather than empowerment. High PDI societies accept high levels of inequality of
power and wealth within the society. These populations have an expectation and acceptance that
leaders will isolate themselves from followers, and this condition is accepted by the society as
their cultural heritage. Findings show that people in high PDI societies tend to be less responsive
to unfair treatment and less likely to voice concerns over inequality, thereby preferring more
1 The dimensions are Individualism/Collectivism, Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Masculinity/Femininty, and Long-term / Short-term Orientation. The most recent definitions, descriptions, and discussions are in Hofstede, Hofstede & Minkov (2010). The indices normally have a value between 0 (a low tendency to exhibit the behaviours defined by a dimension, and 100 (a strong tendency), but values below 0 and above 100 are technically possible, and often observed.
11
cooperative indirect modes of communication (Brockner et al., 2001; Merkin, 2006). Therefore,
if communication opportunities are restricted, as may occur for women in the Middle East, the
voice is silenced. The high UAI implies tendencies to minimize or reduce uncertainty through
strict rules, laws, policies, and regulations being implemented, with the ultimate goal to minimise
the unexpected. As a result of this high UAI characteristic, the society does not readily accept
change and tends to be very risk adverse.
When combined, high PDI and high UAI mean scores result in societies that are more likely to
follow a caste system that retards significant upward mobility of its citizens, whilst inequalities
of power and wealth are allowed to grow within the society. In societies where these two
dimensions are both high, a situation is created where leaders have virtually ultimate power and
authority, and the rules, laws and regulations developed by those in power reinforce their own
leadership and control. It is not unusual for new leadership to arise only from armed insurrection
as the ultimate power, rather than from diplomatic or democratic change. This is seen from the
history and current events in the region.
We often find low Masculinity means for Middle East societies. According to Hofstede,
Hofstede & Minkov (2010), high Masculinity implies a society in which emotional gender roles
are clearly distinct: men are supposed to be assertive, tough, and focused on material success;
women are supposed to be more modest, tender, and concerned with the quality of life, and High
Femininity means indicate a society in which emotional gender roles overlap: both men and
women are supposed to be modest, tender, and concerned with the quality of life. However, the
index formula from the VMS 94 Users’ Manual is:
12
MAS = +60m(05) –20m(07) +20m(15) –70m(20) +100
in which m(05) is the mean score for question 05, etc. The items are:
Please think of an ideal job, disregarding your present job, if you have one. In choosing
an ideal job, how important would it be to you to:
o Item 5. work with people who cooperate well with one another
o Item 7. have an opportunity for advancement to higher level jobs
To what extent do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements?
o Item 15.Most people can be trusted
o Item 20. When people have failed in life it is often their own fault
The region’s Masculinity index (about at the global average, see Table 1) would appear to be
influenced by the heavily weighted relationship-orientated (item 5) and Fatalism-orientated (item
20) statements, rather than any acceptance of equality of gender roles. Reflecting on the fact that
the original theory-defining sample came from IBM employees in the 1970s, we can speculate
that the typical female IBM employee was not representative of the general population of
females in countries, particularly in Middle Eastern countries, which could possibly affect the
generalizability of the1980 national mean scores.
Recent studies (to be further discussed herein) indicate evolution of scores for
Individualism/Collectivism since Hofstede’s (1980) original studies. The lowest Hofstede
dimension relative to the rest of the world for the Middle East countries is usually the
13
Individualism ranking (high Collectivism) indicating a close, generally life-time commitment to
specific in-groups, beginning from immediate family, extended family, and other extended
relationships. Loyalty, favouritism, and nepotism are expected in return for support and
protection and override most other societal rules.
Measuring Culture
Hofstede (2001) aggregated his Arabic-speaking countries into a region. At one point individual
country data existed; however, when Hofstede started to analyze the Arab countries, he found
that the computer magnetic tape with the data had been erased and the paper copy showing a per-
country basis had been lost. Only a region-level paper copy remained. Because of this, Hofstede
was forced to group Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Kuwait, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia together as the
“Arab World” score. This lost some fidelity of the cultural dimension scores. For example,
Hofstede (2001, p. 53) believes that there would have been significantly different indexes for
Egypt and for Lebanon. We will not use nor replicate this summary average of scores.
Unfortunately we still find studies in the 21st century that continue to combine country scores
into an Arab World average, despite Hofstede’s admonition not to do this.
Hofstede (2001) indicates that both the United Arab Republic and Egypt were included in the
data set. This appears to be a typo in the 2nd edition of Hofstede’s book (2001). The United Arab
Republic originally consisted of present-day Syria and Egypt, and was formed in 1958. However,
Syria succeeded from the union in 1961. In 1971, Egypt stopped using the name United Arab
Republic and switched back to its prior and current name. It appears that the use of the United
14
Arab Republic is a mistake and should be considered to be Egypt where found, as Syria is not
referenced anywhere in the 2001 book or the cultural dimension lists.
Most of business and culture research has been based on severely narrow, ahistorical, and
linguistically naïve concepts frequently driven by flawed, incomplete literature reviews
(Yeganeh, Su & Chrysotome, 2004;Yeganeh & Su, 2006; Yeganeh, Su & Sauers, 2009; Vaara,
2000; Earley & Singh, 1995). In an important and apparently not sufficiently widely read article
Schaffer & Riordan (2003) supported, for example, by Jenner, MacNab, Briley, Brislin &
Worthley (2008), provide evidence that current research efforts should directly measure culture
dimensions and not use Hofstede’s published rankings as an automatic proxy for contemporary
societies. Comparing original Hofstede rankings for the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, Jenner et al.
find mixed results compared to the 1980 and 2001 scores. These findings support Schaffer &
Riordan's (2003) position that researchers should not assume distal or sample equivalence to the
Hofstede (1980) rankings. Hofstede has published updated scores (Hofstede, n.d.; Hofstede,
Hofstde & Minkov, 2010), but the admonition still holds. However, Hofstede and Peterson
(2000) contend that existing research results on cultural values can be used as representative of
nations as long as there is a close match between the characteristics of (i) the sample upon which
the previous research was conducted and (ii) the current sample. The scores we are seeking are
of the general population of businesspeople in a country, a close match to the samples of our
sources. Operationalisation of values using scores for Hofstede’s dimensions are not absolute
measures, but relative positions by which nations can be compared (Hofstede, 2001, p. 73) in a
single study. A score for Power Distance, measured from questions in Hofstede’s instrument,
gives only an indication of the rich cultural variety by which values concerning social
15
distribution of power in society tend to vary. “Cultural dimensions were never intended to
provide a complete basis for analyzing a culture” (Hofstede & Peterson, 2000, p. 404). If these
dimensions are seen as approximations for constructs of cultural values, and if these cultural
values affected IBM staff in their survey responses per Hofstede (1980), the issue is not whether
the samples are representative of national populations, but whether differences between their
responses are representative of differences in cultural values. This point seems to be lost on
many cross-cultural researchers.
There have been many criticisms of Hofstede’s processes, model, and sample that have been
sufficiently deflected and dealt with by Williamson (2002). As advice for future researchers, the
Values Survey Module 08 is not excessively long and can easily be included in survey research
instruments to obtain valid data for comparisons.
As this is a survey, review, and summary analyses article, we endeavoured to locate academic,
practitioner, and consultant studies in the past ten to fifteen years that have generated more
recent estimates of national culture means for Hofstede’s 5D model. We carried out an extensive
review of studies using Hofstede’s 4D and 5D theories that employed the VSM 94 in Middle
Eastern countries (Abdulram, 2011; Al Dulaimi & Bin Sailan, 2011; Alkailani, 2009; Al-
Nashmi, Rahman & Zin, 2011; At-Twaijri & Al-Muhaiza,1996; Cairns, Oshlyansky &
Thimbleby, 2006; Chaitani, 2010; El Said, 2005; Hadizadeh-Moghadam & Assar, 2008; Merkin
& Ramadan, 2010; Ribiere & Zhang, 2010; Sharifian & Moaydi,2010; Taras, Steele & Kirkman,
2011; Tolba, 2003; Isa, Nor & Mehad, 2009). We found extreme dispersion of scores that
appears to result from sample variation. We were unable to come up with a satisfactory set of 5D
16
scores from meta-analyses of the studies. We contacted ITIM International (itim.org) who
produce and maintain a set of Hofstede’s 5D scores at geert-hofstede.com under license from
Hofstede, based upon the Hofstede, Hofstede & Minkov (2010) published scores and ITIM’s
own research. ITIM was very helpful and co-operative in providing the scores and discussing
their processes for calculating scores. We are convinced their scores are reliable and valid
estimates of national means. For consistency we have used that data set which provides the most
complete data for the chosen twelve “Middle East” nations. Some Long-Term Orientation scores
were missing, so we employed our literature review results to determine best estimates for
national means for that dimension.
Insert Table 1 about here
Method
To summarise our approach in support of our methods, this article is a survey and review article,
and is exploratory, hence we are seeking to define relationships rather than test hypotheses. We
are exploring the relationships, if any, amongst the UN’s Millennium Development Goal 3,
Target 11, and cultural value dimension scores from Hofstede’s five-dimensional framework
with specific emphasis on Middle Eastern countries. Our literature review leads us to believe that
these relationships are heretofore unresolved and unexplored. Further, we seek to discover new
information and new relationships (Zikmund & Babin, 2007); therefore, we have selected a
sample based on convenience, an important aspect of exploratory research, with the convenience
being those countries and years for which usable data is available. This is a reasonable and
17
acceptable process, see, e.g. Hair, Babin, Money, & Samouel (2003); Malhotra (2007); and
Zikmund & Babin (2007). Our methodology is to explore relationships between observable
gender equality variables and national mean scores from Hofstede’s 5D model; exploring the
relationship between culture and specific behaviours.
Data sources
The Statistics Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations, collects
and publishes data tracking the “Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural
sector” across the world (180+ societies). The UNSD has been collecting this data, amongst
other elements, since 1990. This particular data set is the percentage of all the women in each
respective society who are employed in non-agricultural sectors. We cross list it against the
available Hofstede 5D scores for the societies where published data from reliable and valid
sources are available.
In our meta-analysis, we were unable to come up with a consistent set of Hofstede 5D scores
from myriad published studies. Based upon our past experience with the company, we contacted
ITIM International (www.itim.org) who produce and maintain a set of Hofstede’s 5D scores at
geert-hofstede.com under license from Hofstede, based upon the Hofstede, Hofstede & Minkov
(2010) published scores and ITIM’s own research. ITIM was very helpful and cooperative in
providing the scores and discussing their processes for calculating scores. We are convinced their
scores are reliable and valid estimates of national means. For consistency we have used the ITIM
data set which provides the most complete data. Through personal contact with Michael Minkov
18
(also see Hofstede & Minkov, 2010) we have provided what we believe are valid estimates of the
Long-Term/Short-Term Orientation scores where they were missing.
Trifurcating the Data
We split the world data into three mutually exclusive categories.
Set 1 contains the “Middle East”; typically defined by researchers and practitioners as the
Gulf States, Mashriq, and Egypt including Arab ethnicity, Arab language, and the use of
Arab script.
Set 2 contains all those nations, for which there was data available that had a majority
Muslim population, excluding those nations that were in Set 1 ( “Set 2: Majority
Muslim”).
Set 3 contained all of the remaining nations for which data was available, excluding Set 1
and Set 2 (“Set 3: All Others”).
Analysis
For the purposes of this Foresight special issue, our analysis was limited to those years that
correspond to the period since the UN’s Millennium Development Goals were established. Our
analysis included tracking the changes in the share of women who are employed in the non-
agricultural sector since the year 2000. Using the Statistics Division, Department of Economic
and Social Affairs, United Nations, data for “Share of women in wage employment in the non-
agricultural sector”, a line was fit between the x and y axis (x=year from 2000 to 2009; y=’share
19
of women…’) for each society. The slope of that line was calculated using the Least Squares
method. The standard error of the slope was also calculated. Some societies had a positive trend
line (increasing share of women employed), and some negative (decreasing share of women
employed) during the period of 2000 to 2009. As may be seen in Table 2, the average slope of
“Set 1: Middle East” was negative, indicating an average decrease in the share of women
employed in non-agricultural sectors since the proposing of the UNMDG. The average slope was
positive for the other two sets. Two-sample t-tests with unequal sample sizes and non-
homogenous variances were run. As illustrated in Table 2, two of the three means were found to
be significantly different at p<0.05.
Insert Table 2 about here
“Gulf States+Mashriq+Egypt” (our definition of the “Middle East” for the purposes of this
paper) had a lower change in female participation in non-agricultural sectors compared to “Set 2:
Majority Muslim” nations and “Set 3: All Others” for the period of 2000 to 2009. Set 2: Muslim
Majority and Set 3: All Others shows no significant differences in the slopes. The data and
analyses indicate that the change in employment rate of women in Set 1: Middle East is
significantly lower than for the other two samples.
We turn our attention to the Hofstede 5D scores to determine if any of the cultural dimension
scores would be significantly different across our three datasets. Means and standard errors for
each of the five dimensions of PDI, IDV, MAS, UAI, and LTO were calculated for each of the
20
three societal groups. Table 3 indicates the summary scores while Table 4 illustrates the results
of the two-sample t-tests for each explored relationship.
Insert Table 3 about here
Insert Table 4 about here
We find:
Set 1: Middle East had a significantly lower IDV score than Set 2: Majority Muslim at
p<0.05,
Set 1: Middle East had a significantly higher UAI score than Set 2: Majority Muslim at
p<0.05;
and,
Set 1: Middle East had a significantly higher PDI score than Set 3: All Others at p<0.05,
Set 1: Middle East had a significantly higher UAI score than Set 3: All Others at p<0.05,
Set 1: Middle East had a significantly lower LTO score than Set 3: All Others at p<0.05;
and,
Set 2: Majority Muslim had a significantly higher PDI score than Set 3: All Others at p <
0.05,
Set 2: Majority Muslim had a significantly lower IDV score than Set 3: All others at p <
0.01.
Discussion and Conclusions
21
This study found two significant differences in the slope coefficients of the share of women’s
participation in non-agricultural employment opportunities:
The employment rate of women in the non-agricultural sectors during the period since
announcement of the U.N. Millennium Development Goals has decreased in Middle East
(Set 1) countries compared to rate increases in Set 2: Muslim-majority countries and Set
3: non-Muslim-majority countries. This indicates that the countries in the Middle East
sample will likely not achieve the UNMDG by the end of the period.
Considering the Muslim-majority sample outside the Middle East (Set 2), the rates for
women are not significantly different when compared to Set 3: All Others. This outcome
implies that there are factors other than the acceptance of Islam influencing the
employment of women.
Concerning differences in Hofstede’s dimensions for the three country lists in Tables 5 and 6, Set
1: Middle East and Set 2: Muslim-Majority sample means were significantly higher than the
“rest of the world” along the PDI continuum.
Insert Table 5 about here
Insert Table 6 about here
We would expect both men and women in Set 1 and Set 2 countries to accept the unequal
distribution of power. Metcalfe (2006, 2007, 2008) and Hutchings, Lirio & Metcalf (2011) refer
22
to the Islamic Gender Order which is based on sexual differences and specifies that men and
women have different economic and social roles. They find gender hierarchies are firmly
embedded in cultural and organisational practices. Interpretations of the Qur’an2 in various
fatawa3 make explicit many cultural and social practices that discriminate against and
disadvantage women in the workplace, although these are differently interpreted and
implemented across Middle Eastern Islamic states depending on the nature of Islamic
jurisprudence that is followed. Al-Lamky (2007) suggests that in the Arabian Gulf societies it is
widely believed that women’s place is primarily at home, and if professionally inclined their
participation is expected to be in the areas of education, health (mainly nurses) and other support
or clerical jobs, largely at the lower end of organisational hierarchies. Leadership positions are
typically reserved for men. Yet it is also essential to avoid generalisations which ignore vast
social, economic and political diversity throughout the region. As an example of one extreme,
Human Rights Watch (2008, p. 2) states the Saudi Arabian government essentially treats adult
women like legal minors compared to developed countries. However, Human Rights Watch
(2010) report that in Saudi Arabia some progress is being made in lifting some restrictions on
women since 2005 by King Abdullah bin Abd al-‘Aziz Al Saud. It appears that our findings
support the unequal treatment of women in the Set 1: Middle East countries where the mean
slope measuring the rate of change of the share of women in non-agricultural sectors was
significantly lower than Set 2 and Set 3.
2 We find various spellings, Koran, Quran, Qu’ran, and Qur’an in publications. We will employ Qur’an. 3 A fatwā, plural fatāwā, in Islamic practice is a ruling capable of having a legal effect concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar. In Sunni Islam a fatwā is generally non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be considered by an individual as binding, depending on his or her relation to the scholar. Some Muslims argue that anyone trained in Islamic law may give an opinion (fatwā) on teachings (MacFarquhar, 2009).
23
Along the UAI continuum, we found Set 1 to be significantly higher than both Set 2 and Set 3.
Hofstede (1985, p. 348) suggests that higher UAI scores indicates support of beliefs promising
certainty and institutions that protect societal conformity. Al-Ahmadi (2011) and Alajmi (2001)
find the cultures and customs of the tribal community prevailing and continuing in the Middle
East and the Arabian Peninsula from prior to the establishment of Islam. These have contributed
to the conservative orientation towards women in the region. Effendi (2003, cited in Al-Ahmadi,
2011) further argues that as most Arab cultures are patriarchal they place women in a passive
role at work and in the family. Therefore, Effendi maintains that it is not Islam as such that
places women in these roles, but rather the way that patriarchal societies interpret Islam to
support their positions regarding what is and is not acceptable behaviour for women. Abdulla
(1996) studied attitudes towards women in the Arabian Gulf region and found men were not
willing to share public responsibilities with women. Similarly, Ibrahim (1997, cited in Al-
Ahmadi, 2011) points out that there is a major contradiction in the views in the Arab world
towards women, which reflects a deep rift in the fabric of Arab culture. Ibrahim found that social
institutions such as the family, school and the media play a critical role in perpetuating negative
values and attitudes towards women’s work and role in society. Although these attitudes towards
women are not unique to the Arab world, there they are ingrained in day-to-day opinions,
attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours. In high Power Distance, high Uncertainty Avoidance regimes
these behaviours will be difficult to change.
For Set 1, the combination of a high PDI score (relative to Set 3) and a high UAI score (relative
to both Set 2 and Set 3) seems to retard the rate of change for the share of women in non-
24
agricultural employment opportunities, and likely explains the negative slope of Set 1: Middle
Eastern societies.
Along the IDV continuum, we found both Set 1 and Set 2 to be significantly lower than Set 3.
The lowest Hofstede dimension relative to the rest of the world for the Middle East countries is
usually the Individualism ranking (high Collectivism), with loyalty to close in-groups,
favouritism in business and government, and nepotism expected in return for support and
protection and override most other societal rules.
Along the LTO continuum, there was only one statistically significant difference where Set 1:
Middle East had a significantly lower LTO score than Set 3: All Others, at p<0.05. This is in
line with the Hofstede and Minkov (2010) conclusions that Muslim nations are found to be at the
short-term-oriented end of the LTO continuum. They further suggest that economic
development of Muslim nations will be a slow process and may even have episodes of disaster.
We can easily relate this to Korinek (2005) who suggests that unused female potential in terms of
lower levels of education, employment, remuneration and access to productive resources implies
that the allocation of economy-wide resources is sub-optimal.
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Table 1. Relative Positions of Means for Hofstede’s Five Dimensional Model for Middle East Nations
Country Power Distance
Individualism Masculinity Uncertainty Avoidance
Long-Term Orientation
Bahrain 46 38 53 77 39 Egypt 70 25 45 80 20 Iraq 95 30 70 85 30 Jordan 70 30 45 65 35 Kuwait 90 25 40 80 0 Lebanon 75 40 65 50 34 Oman 60 52 12 72 Not available Qatar 41 78 32 55 41 Saudi Arabia 95 25 60 80 36 Syria 80 35 52 60 30 UAE 90 25 50 80 10 Yemen 56 48 40 92 52 Average 72.3 37.6 47.0 73.0 29.7 SD 18.6 15.7 15.5 12.8 14.70 Maximum 95.0 78.0 70.0 92.0 52.0 Minimum 41.0 25.0 12.0 55.0 0.0 Global descriptives* Mean 59.3 45.2 49.5 67.6 45.5 SD 21.3 24.0 19.3 23.0 24.2 Maximum 104.0 91.0 110.0 112.0 100.0 Minimum 11.0 6.0 5.0 8.0 0.0
Power Distance
Individualism Masculinity Uncertainty Avoidance
Long-Term Orientation
*From http://www.geerthofstede.nl/
36
Table 2. Two-sample t-tests of ‘Share of women employed in non-agricultural sector’ Two Sample t-test Unequal sample size Unequal variance
t-test Results
Set 1: Middle East and Set 2: Majority Muslim
t = - 3.34 p < 0.05
The slope of the fitted line for Set 1 is significantly lower than Set 2 at p<0.05.
Set 1: Middle East and Set 3: All Others
t = - 3.86 p < 0.01
The slope of the fitted line for Set 1 is significantly lower than Set 3 at p<0.01.
Set 2: Majority Muslim and Set 3: All Others
t = 1.21 p < 0.29
Not Significant
37
Table 3. Summary Scores for Cultural Dimensions for Sample Sets Mean SE N Set 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 PDI 72.3 74.6 61.0 5.4 5.2 2.3 12 9 81 IDV 37.6 27.0 40.5 4.5 3.9 2.5 12 9 81 MAS 47.0 51.9 47.8 4.5 3.8 2.0 12 9 81 UAI 73.0 61.2 64.1 3.7 4.7 2.6 12 9 81 LTO 29.7 21.7 42.8 4.4 11.7 4.3 11 3 35
38
Table 4: Two-sample t-tests of Hofstede’s 5D model across three societal groups Set 1 & Set 2 PDI IDV MAS UAI LTO SE of Sets 1 & 2 1.01 0.90 0.89 0.91 2.07 t -2.20 11.75 -5.50 12.89 3.89 probability 0.384 0.046 (1) 0.207 0.034 (1) 0.285 Set 1 & Set 3 PDI IDV MAS UAI LTO SE of Sets 1 & 2 0.69 0.64 0.63 0.58 0.72 t 16.34 -4.51 -1.21 15.27 -18.01 probability 0.036 (1) 0.292 0.439 0.030 (1) 0.021 (1) Set 2 & Set 3 PDI IDV MAS UAI LTO SE of Sets 2 & 3 0.78 0.68 0.67 0.75 2.00 t 17.41 -19.75 6.20 -3.85 -10.54 probability 0.018 (1) 0.005 (2) 0.175 0.301 0.102
(1) p < 0.05; (2) p < 0.01
39
Table 5: Two-sample t-tests of ‘Share of women employed in non-agricultural sector’ Two Sample t-test Unequal sample size Unequal variance
t-test Results
Set 1: Middle East and Set 2: Majority Muslim
t = - 3.34 p < 0.05
The slope of the fitted line is for Set 1 is significantly lower than Set 2
Set 1: Middle East and Set 3: All Others
t = - 3.86 p < 0.01
The slope of the fitted line is for Set 1 is significantly lower than Set 3
Set 2: Majority Muslim And Set 3: All Others
t = 1.21 p < 0.29
Not Significant
40
Table 6: Two-sample t-tests of Hofstede’s 5D model across three societal groups Set 1 & Set 2 PDI IDV MAS UAI LTO SE of Sets 1 & 2 1.01 0.90 0.89 0.91 2.07 t -2.20 11.75 -5.50 12.89 3.89 probability 0.384 0.046 (1) 0.207 0.034 (1) 0.285 Set 1 & Set 3 PDI IDV MAS UAI LTO SE of Sets 1 & 2 0.69 0.64 0.63 0.58 0.72 t 16.34 -4.51 -1.21 15.27 -18.01 probability 0.036 (1) 0.292 0.439 0.030 (1) 0.021 (1) Set 2 & Set 3 PDI IDV MAS UAI LTO SE of Sets 2 & 3 0.78 0.68 0.67 0.75 2.00 t 17.41 -19.75 6.20 -3.85 -10.54 probability 0.018 (1) 0.005 (2) 0.175 0.301 0.102
(1) p < 0.05; (2) p < 0.01