Research Paper on Women Leadership in Kuwait

Executive Summary

The following paper presents a discussion of women leadership in Kuwait. Culture holds a major influence on gender and leadership. Leadership behaviours vary depending on experience, gender as well as knowledge. Again, these behaviours may be subjective of the cultural expectations for both men and women. In the past women were viewed as lesser beings in the sense that they could not be allowed to hold certain positions in the society. In Kuwait, the role of women was looking after their families while the men held positions in business and the government. Again, Kuwait females did not have the right to vote or to vie for any positions during elections (Kemp, Madsen, & Davis, 2015). However, the narrative has changed as women in Kuwait can access same posts like those of men. The changes came after a series of debates in parliament and conversations in social gatherings.

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Introduction

The primary goal of this paper is to show how women in Kuwait are holding various senior positions. Again, the paper will also outline events that pushed women to demonstrate their leadership skills. The first section is the background that is how women were perceived before and what triggered the changes. The next part is the analysis of the view of both women and men regarding women who hold senior positions. In addition, this section also outlines hindrances that are making difficult for women in their attempt to secure high positions similar to those of men.

Background

Since the late 1900s, there have been changes as women in Kuwait have been actively participating in various job responsibilities in different organization. Their work is commendable as they have demonstrated their leadership skills while working beside men, for instance, those doing the ambassadorial jobs. There was an establishment of various agreements with government bodies by the Emir of Kuwait in 1999. Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah played a significant role in making women access the same rights with men (Al-Kazi, 2009). Women were given a chance to vote for the first time in 2006, unlike men who had been voting since 1963. Again, more job opportunities for women both at local and national levels have been created following the advancements in social development as well as democratization (Kemp, Madsen, & Davis, 2015). However, the achievement of these changes has been faced with controversies that have led to numerous discussions by the government officials as well as Kuwait citizens.

The manner in which one is brought up plays a critical role in shaping future behaviours, and this is evident in Kuwait females. They grow in supportive families where the parents impart them with morals and social knowledge that build their self-confidence as well as enhancing their interpersonal and communication skills (Ali, 2019). As such, these women portray boldness and decisiveness in the way they tackle their job responsibilities. Men whose wives are in leadership have resulted in providing support to them and also their male counterpart at work. In addition, growing up in hardships has tamed them as they can overcome any arising challenges as well as making informed decisions that are not discriminative based on gender.

Analysis

Although the cultural aspects have greatly contributed to the embracing of women leadership in Kuwait, some men still believe that it should be a patriarchal society and that females should not be allowed to be in high positions. Again, there are also women who still hold on to traditional ideologies that do not allow women to lead. Instead, they advise their daughters to go for careers that are considered less significant, like teaching leaving men to be in senior positions in both governmental and non-governmental organizations (Ali, 2019).

Moreover, the government is also a contributing factor in hindering women from acquiring equal opportunities to men. For instance, the government attempted to encourage women's participation in 2012 when it promised to make sure that females were hired in the justice department. Unfortunately, the government did not act as stated despite having many female district attorneys graduating in 2015 (Al-Salem, & Speece, 2017). Again, the laws in Kuwait also bars females from pursuing their leadership dreams. Guardianship over women is also guided by patriarchal based policies that hinder the independence of women. Most of these laws portray women as legal property to their custodians who are males. As such, women are therefore required to ask for permission before making even personal moves like getting married. For instance, in 1998, Kuwait university implemented policies that were in support of women isolation. The segregation limits their chance to take up senior positions, leaving them with the option of doing domestic responsibilities (Al-Salem, & Speece, 2017).

Conclusions and Recommendations

Kuwait women should, therefore, be aware of their legal rights and the way they are denied their leadership roles. With this knowledge, they will be able to collectively fight for gender equality in the job market, thus pushing for changes in Kuwait. Despite the many obstacles that women are still facing in the efforts to get into leadership positions, there is hope for them in future. Some programs have already been put in place to train women for these jobs. One of them is Ibtkar's Empowering Kuwait Women in Politics Program.

In conclusion, Kuwait's cultural aspects have greatly impacted women in leadership. These women have constantly received support from their family members and especially the males as well as male colleagues at work who strongly believe that females have what it takes to manage senior positions and that there should be gender equality in job opportunities. Despite having such positive influence, Kuwait's culture has also brought about negative influence as some people both male and females still believe in the traditional perspectives of not offering high positions to women. As much as this may be termed as the influence of Kuwait's culture on females' leadership, the vice versa is also true. As such, the rise of women in leadership roles has changed the way people have been viewing senior positions and are gradually embracing the changes. Lastly, job opportunities should be offered based on one's academic qualification and not on gender as Kuwait females prove that women can perform the same with men if given a chance.

References

Al-Kazi, Lubna. (2009). A decades-long struggle for women's rights. Vital Voices. Retrieved from http://www.vitalvoices.org/desktopdefault.aspx?page_id=685

Al-Salem, A., & Speece, M. (2017). Women in leadership in Kuwait: a research agenda. Gender in Management: An International Journal, 32(2), 141-162. doi:10.1108/gm-02-2016-0025

Ali, S. T. (2019). Perspectives of Five Kuwaiti Women in Leadership Roles: Feminism, Islam, and Politics. Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Kemp, L. J., Madsen, S. R., & Davis, J. (2015). Women in business leadership: A comparative study of countries in the Gulf Arab states. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 15(2), 215-233. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470595815594819