The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has historically had the lowest rates of female labor participation in the world, leaving a key economic resource untapped. Women’s labor participation rate is 28 percent in Morocco and Oman, compared to 82 percent for men. An IMF study titled “Women, Work, and the Economy: Macroeconomic Gains From Gender Equity,” estimates that if male and female labor participation rates were equal, Egypt could increase its GDP by 34 percent and the United Arab Emirates’ GDP would grow by 12 percent. According to social and cultural norms in the region, a woman’s primary role is caring for the family. This is a social framework that is supported by both men and women. In the workforce, women face a shortage of pro-family policies that make it difficult to juggle both work and their home lives. However, the rise of technology is circumventing the social barriers that once kept women from entering the labor force. Providing the perfect compromise, tech startups and e-commerce are allowing women in the MENA region to bring their talents to the business world.
Due to the accessibility of local and global marketplaces via social media and the Internet, there has been a rapid growth in the number of women leading the tech-business world. Some tech companies are encouraging this growth in an effort to advance female entrepreneurship. For example, Google’s “#40Forward” program is giving $1 million to 40 startup organizations to increase female representation in high tech. About 25 percent of the companies Google chose to be participants are in the Middle East. At the 2013-14 MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Startup Competition, 48 percent of the 4,500 teams included women, and at a recent Microsoft-sponsored competition for technology entrepreneurs, two of the three all-female teams were from the MENA region.
When interviewed by Christopher Schroeder for his book “Startup Rising,” Dana Al Taji, owner of Layal, a line of fashionable abayas, said, “[The Arab woman] is not oppressed. She’s not sitting at home just raising the kids. She has ambition. There’s nothing wrong with raising kids, sitting at home, but we can do more than that. We can juggle.” A 2007 survey by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a financial institution that encourages private sector development, showed that 61 percent of businesswomen in Jordan were married, compared to 65 percent in Bahrain and the UAE, and the majority of these women had children. According to the same study, businesswomen in Jordan have an average of three to four kids. An entrepreneur from Wamda, a #40Forward company in the MENA region, stated in an interview with Google, “Women in Saudi Arabia want to work, but their families often object. Running an Internet startup from home is the perfect compromise.”
According to the IFC, only 10 percent of Internet entrepreneurs worldwide are women; however, experts estimate that the percentage of women Internet entrepreneurs in the MENA region is 23 percent, while in the Gulf it reaches to about 35 percent. The high representation in the Gulf is in part due to countries such as Qatar and Oman pushing for girls’ education in STEM fields. In addition, networking with powerful female role models such as the UAE’s Noura Al Kaabi, a regional leader in digital business development, through social media has encouraged women to pursue careers with tech businesses.
Women-run tech businesses operate in a wide range of sectors. Dubbed the “Uber of Gaza,” Mariam Abultewi’s business, Wasselni, connects passengers and drivers via their website and mobile app, making it easier to carpool in Palestine. Many online businesses led by women are in the retail/fashion sector, where women are also the key demographic, such as Al-Taji’s line of abayas, Layal; Mona Ataya’s Dubai-based Mumzworld, a retailer of children’s clothes; and Mona Tavassoli’s Mom Souq, an online store and community for moms.
For the MENA region, the Internet has created an exciting and easy way to develop businesses while also allowing women to balance their family responsibilities. Technology has helped women overcome the challenge of social norms and family expectations, promoted collaborative innovation and the international exchange of ideas, and brought women to the forefront of the tech-business world. Governments in the MENA region should implement programs with a focus on technology and Internet literacy that aim to empower women in entrepreneurship through leadership and overcoming social norms in order to enhance their economic potential and bridge the labor force participation gap. An example of such a program is the Arab Women’s Entrepreneurship Project, which aims to eliminate this disparity by providing training, mentorship, and other skill-building programs to women. With the help of programs such as this, women entrepreneurs could improve not only the local economy, but also the global economy. Women in tech-business will pave the way for future economic growth in the MENA region, as well as the rest of the world.
Yasmine Rahmat is an intern for the Baker Institute Women’s Rights in the Middle East Program. A Rice University freshman majoring in computer science and policy studies, Rahmat’s interests include international relations and women’s education in the Middle East.