As a career woman in the UK, entrepreneur Emma Burdett has been bullied, fired and left out of the ‘boys club’. Once, she was even thrown out of a client’s office for being “just a silly girl”, getting comments like “what do women know about business”. She is one of the hundreds of female business leaders in the UAE who has welcomed a move by the Ministry of Economy to mandate that at least one seat must be allocated for women on private joint-stock companies’ board of directors.
Emma established her initiative Women in leadership Deliver (WILD) to channel her passion for supporting women in leadership and helping them climb the ranks
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“Women are underrepresented at board level on a global scale,” she said. “With a mere 11 per cent in the UAE currently, and 2 per cent in Saudi Arabia, a shift needs to take place. Statistically, more females in leadership means more profit for the business. Factually, companies who are gender diverse are 26 per cent more likely to outperform their competitors when it comes to profitability.”
In a WhatsApp poll conducted by Khaleej Times, more than 2,500 people voted against the move, saying that positions should be based on merit and not on gender.
Vasudha Khandeparkar, artificial intelligence director at Grant Thomson, explained her position. “I’m not saying I don’t want to be evaluated on the basis of my merit,” she said. “I’m asking to be invited to the table so I can prove my merit. Unfortunately, the invite never comes.”
The mother of two said that during her tenure at one of UK’s top banks, she was passed over for a promotion because she had been on a ‘break’.
“The break was an 8-month-long maternity leave during which I was studying for my MBA at one of the best schools in the world, upskilling myself for the workplace” she said.
Biases
Entrepreneur Erika Blazeviciute Doyle, who founded the brand Drink Dry in the UAE, said she has often experienced bias in various shapes and forms.
“I have faced many challenges in my field,” she said. “Not only because of my gender, also because of my age and the way I look. I am 6ft 2in tall and blonde. Men and women have often assumed that I am not as capable, or as smart or as prepared as other people in the room because of the already-mentioned societal bias.”
Mariska Stoffel, an architect and a project management professional, said women often face scrutiny that men don’t.
“Whenever a woman gets a senior role, there is a discussion about who she knows, who her father is, and whether she is a diversity hire,” she said. “Why are women absent from board rooms? I refuse to believe that there are not enough talented, intelligent, educated women that can do the job. Mandating representation addresses systemic barriers that can prevent qualified women from advancing. It’s not about replacing more deserving individuals but ensuring that all capable candidates get equal opportunities.”
She said that she had been overlooked for a leadership role in favour of a man, despite having more experience and qualifications. Her ideas were often dismissed in meetings, too.
“These experiences highlight the subtle biases that can exist in professional environments,” she said.
According to Vasudha, in the day and age of technology, addressing such biases has become increasingly important.
“The Amazon hiring tool was a prime example for this,” she said. “The company built a system to hire people like their best performers. It auto screened and rejected CVs which didn’t reflect the attributes of their best performers. It didn’t accept a single female resume. It was a system made by men, screened for men, and accepted men.”
Tokenism
These business leaders who spoke to Khaleej Times unanimously said that it was important that these positions were filled with deserving people and not just a tick in the box.
“There needs to be an understanding that this doesn’t mean simply adding more women,” said Emma. “This causes women to feel that they are being added because balance is needed rather than being employed for their skills. Tokenism is at play, which impacts women’s psychological well-being.”
She said she was also launching a new initiative titled ‘Women on Boards’ for companies to be able to source talent and upskill women to be “board ready”.
Mariska said the quotas have to be regulated properly. “Let’s implement them properly,” she said. “Not because it is a magic wand that will cure sexism, but because it will add more diverse voices at the table where decisions are being taken. I genuinely believe that one conversation at a time, that is how we will change the world.”
Erika said she believed it was not just important but a “crucial” step to having lasting changes that will bring about “tangible” results in policies.