‘Most Jordanian working women believe they have same workplace equality as Western women’

AMMAN — Nearly three quarters of working women in Jordan (75.9 per cent) believe that women in the Kingdom have reached the same level of workplace equality as women in Western countries, according to a survey by Bayt.com and YouGov.

Three quarters of respondent (74 per cent) also believe that the labour laws in the Kingdom are fair to women, at least to some extent, while only 13 per cent believe they are not fair.

Titled “Working Women in the Middle East and North Africa”, the study aimed at exploring the status of working women in the MENA region by analysing their perceptions towards equality at work, looking into women’s motivations for employment, challenges faced at work, as well as career and life ambitions. 

In Jordan, 70 per cent of respondents say that there is a mix of men and women working in the same workplace, with a majority (65 per cent) of women in Jordan saying they are comfortable working in a mixed gender environment, the study showed.

While almost three-quarters (74 per cent) of respondents working in a mixed-gender environment report having a male manager at their current organisation, nearly the same proportion (73 per cent) has no gender-based preference for a manager.

Almost seven in 10 (68 per cent) working women report that they work almost an equal number of hours as their male colleagues, while 15 per cent believe they work more hours, according to the study. 

As for women-specific benefits in the workplace, the top five benefits MENA respondents receive from their organisations are personal health insurance (47 per cent), paid maternity leave (40 per cent), company transport/transport allowance (34 per cent), job-related training (32 per cent) and family health insurance (23 per cent). 

Challenges for 

working women 

The top three challenges cited by MENA women in their workplace are less opportunity for job promotions (44 per cent), a stressful and demanding work environment (37 per cent), and a lack of or insufficient job training and coaching (30 per cent), the study indicated.

Outside of the workplace, when asked about the key challenges in their life, finding good job opportunities (57 per cent) lack of opportunities to improve their professional skills (41 per cent) and not having enough opportunities to relax or socialise (36 per cent) emerged as top three challenges for women in the region. 

Despite these challenges, a majority of female respondents believe women and men are treated equally in the workplace across a variety of areas, including working hours (68 per cent), training and development (68 per cent), advice and support (60 per cent), recruitment and selection (56 per cent) and benefits (55 per cent). 

“It is given that women play a vital role in the workplace today, and we are glad to see that in the MENA region, organisations are doing much more to accommodate women and promote workplace equality. The results from this year’s survey indicate that organisations in the region are making excellent strides towards achieving total gender balance, even since last year,” said Rania Nseir, director of Business Development at Bayt.com. 

Career outlooks 

for women 

Women’s happiness in the region is largely career-oriented, with having a successful career (49 per cent) emerging as the top driver of happiness. This was followed by good health (42 per cent), travelling and visiting other countries (36 per cent), spending time with their families (34 per cent), and making money (29 per cent). 

Moreover, women in the MENA cite financial independence (59 per cent), the ability to support/financially contribute to their households (50 per cent), the opportunity to broaden their perspectives on life (46 per cent), making use of their education (42 per cent), and securing their family and children’s futures (40 per cent) as their top five reasons for seeking employment, the study showed.

At the same time, women around the world understand the importance of finding balance between their responsibilities at home and at work. In the MENA, more than half (54 per cent) of respondents with children stated that their decision to have children has affected their career, at least to some extent, while 41 per cent said it didn’t affect it at all.

“As the world progresses to bring gender equality to the workplace on a greater scale, perceptions and opinions like those found in this survey provide valuable insight into what is working well and where organisations may need to improve. This survey seeks to better inform organisations in the MENA region and around the world on how they can facilitate workplace equality for their employees — and particularly those that balance their careers with a family and other personal responsibilities,” said Anjali Chhabra, YouGov associate research director.

Data for the survey were collected online from October 26 to November 26, with 4,053 female respondents living in Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia and the UAE.