Through courses and workshops, universities are preparing women to succeed in the region's workforce.
Across the Middle East and North Africa, there are more women attending universities than men, according to the World Bank. But the workplace tells a different story: Arab women still lag behind in employment.
To address this gender disparity, many Arab region universities, programs and organizations are working to empower Arab women to succeed by preparing them for the workplace.
One such success story is Egyptian national Marian Nasr Hanna. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in business with concentrations in banking, finance and economics from Lebanese American University, Hanna found employment in Egypt. Hanna works as an export team leader for UnipakNile Ltd., which manufactures corrugated carton containers and exports part of what is produced. In her role, she supervises a team of two and manages the company's Ireland account.
After she graduated in 2012, she joined the company as a cost analyst. She worked on projects to reduce the company's expenses in both Egypt and Lebanon and moved up the ranks. The company is part of Indevco Group, which Hanna was introduced to in her first year at university. The corporation held a workshop as part of a program organized by the Middle East Partnership Initiative Tomorrow's Leaders Scholarship Program, in which Hanna was a scholarship recipient.
The initiative's collaboration with the university supports future leaders, particularly women – most of the scholarship recipients are young Arab women. Hanna says the activities, workshops, community service and leadership classes she had at LAU "opened new opportunities for me and gave me a sense of what I want to do."
But finding employment isn't always easy for grads. While gender equality in education has advanced, fewer than one in three women is in the MENA region's labor force, according to a 2015 report.
When Iraqi national Ola Fathallah graduated with a bachelor's degree in architecture from German Jordanian University in 2014, it took a while for her to find a job, she says, mainly because she was not a Jordanian citizen. But eventually, things turned around.
"A previous professor of mine, who taught me design classes at university, hired me in his office, and I've been working there for 10 months now," says Fathallah, who works at architecture firm OMB as a junior architect.
Fathallah is helping design a residential compound in Amman, producing computer drawings of plans, sections, elevations and architectural details for the project.
Universities and civil society institutions can play a big role in helping female Arab international students understand their local labor market, says Jamie McAuliffe, president and CEO of Education for Employment, which provides professional and technical training to job seekers in the MENA region.
For example, he cites mentorship programs that connect students with experienced professionals and their networks, and orientation sessions on the local labor market. McAuliffe says equipping women with "skills for tapping their personal networks, negotiating salaries and inquiring about workplace benefits can address key barriers that young women often face," like lack of flexible working hours and transportation to work.
McAuliffe says prospective students should evaluate a school's career support services, as "universities that track the employment rate of their graduates are more accountable than those that do not." He says these types of schools are more likely to offer hands-on training in CV writing, interviewing and job search skills.
For students planning to remain abroad, he says to consider if that country's economy is growing and offers job opportunities that match their strengths. Finally, he says students should remember that "your first position out of university may not be your dream job, but it's the crucial first step to getting there."
Employment not only offers Arab women financial independence, but has the potential to boost the economy of the region. The report on female employment, which was co-produced by McAuliffe's organization, notes that if women's participation in the region's workforce equaled men's, the regional gross domestic product could rise some 47 percent, resulting in the Middle East and North African economy reaching $600 billion annually, or $2.7 trillion by 2025.
Many schools have sought to empower their female Arab students, like Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates, originally founded to educate Emirati women. Fatima AlDarmaki, the university's assistant provost for student affairs, says the school provides services to all students ranging from career counseling to soft skills training to job placement of seniors and interns.
The university's College of Communication and Media Sciences, for example, has an internship program orientation for women that includes a workshop that prepares them to work in a coed environment. "Those who graduated from the university are also provided with training programs to increase their employability," wrote AlDarmaki, in an email.
Lina Abirafeh, director of LAU's Institute for Women's Studies in the Arab World, says the institute provides support and access to internships, informal mentoring and support and career-building skills for female students seeking assistance. She says these and other services provided by the institute can help "prepare women to enter the workforce and advance gender equality and human rights in the Arab world and beyond."
Fathallah says in the architecture firm where she works, women and men are treated equally. She says her boss is "open-minded and very intellectual." And, the female-to-male ratio in the firm is already challenging the norm.
"The number of women who are working in my office is higher than the number of men. Seven women and four men," says Fathallah, also proudly noting female architects outnumber male architects 3-2 at the firm./usnews.com/
Across the Middle East and North Africa, there are more women attending universities than men, according to the World Bank. But the workplace tells a different story: Arab women still lag behind in employment.
To address this gender disparity, many Arab region universities, programs and organizations are working to empower Arab women to succeed by preparing them for the workplace.
One such success story is Egyptian national Marian Nasr Hanna. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in business with concentrations in banking, finance and economics from Lebanese American University, Hanna found employment in Egypt. Hanna works as an export team leader for UnipakNile Ltd., which manufactures corrugated carton containers and exports part of what is produced. In her role, she supervises a team of two and manages the company's Ireland account.
The initiative's collaboration with the university supports future leaders, particularly women – most of the scholarship recipients are young Arab women. Hanna says the activities, workshops, community service and leadership classes she had at LAU "opened new opportunities for me and gave me a sense of what I want to do."
But finding employment isn't always easy for grads. While gender equality in education has advanced, fewer than one in three women is in the MENA region's labor force, according to a 2015 report.
When Iraqi national Ola Fathallah graduated with a bachelor's degree in architecture from German Jordanian University in 2014, it took a while for her to find a job, she says, mainly because she was not a Jordanian citizen. But eventually, things turned around.
"A previous professor of mine, who taught me design classes at university, hired me in his office, and I've been working there for 10 months now," says Fathallah, who works at architecture firm OMB as a junior architect.
Fathallah is helping design a residential compound in Amman, producing computer drawings of plans, sections, elevations and architectural details for the project.
Universities and civil society institutions can play a big role in helping female Arab international students understand their local labor market, says Jamie McAuliffe, president and CEO of Education for Employment, which provides professional and technical training to job seekers in the MENA region.
For example, he cites mentorship programs that connect students with experienced professionals and their networks, and orientation sessions on the local labor market. McAuliffe says equipping women with "skills for tapping their personal networks, negotiating salaries and inquiring about workplace benefits can address key barriers that young women often face," like lack of flexible working hours and transportation to work.
McAuliffe says prospective students should evaluate a school's career support services, as "universities that track the employment rate of their graduates are more accountable than those that do not." He says these types of schools are more likely to offer hands-on training in CV writing, interviewing and job search skills.
For students planning to remain abroad, he says to consider if that country's economy is growing and offers job opportunities that match their strengths. Finally, he says students should remember that "your first position out of university may not be your dream job, but it's the crucial first step to getting there."
Employment not only offers Arab women financial independence, but has the potential to boost the economy of the region. The report on female employment, which was co-produced by McAuliffe's organization, notes that if women's participation in the region's workforce equaled men's, the regional gross domestic product could rise some 47 percent, resulting in the Middle East and North African economy reaching $600 billion annually, or $2.7 trillion by 2025.
Many schools have sought to empower their female Arab students, like Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates, originally founded to educate Emirati women. Fatima AlDarmaki, the university's assistant provost for student affairs, says the school provides services to all students ranging from career counseling to soft skills training to job placement of seniors and interns.
The university's College of Communication and Media Sciences, for example, has an internship program orientation for women that includes a workshop that prepares them to work in a coed environment. "Those who graduated from the university are also provided with training programs to increase their employability," wrote AlDarmaki, in an email.
Lina Abirafeh, director of LAU's Institute for Women's Studies in the Arab World, says the institute provides support and access to internships, informal mentoring and support and career-building skills for female students seeking assistance. She says these and other services provided by the institute can help "prepare women to enter the workforce and advance gender equality and human rights in the Arab world and beyond."
"The number of women who are working in my office is higher than the number of men. Seven women and four men," says Fathallah, also proudly noting female architects outnumber male architects 3-2 at the firm./usnews.com/
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