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Barriers to Arab female academics’ career development

Author

Listed:
  • Waed Ensour
  • Hadeel Al Maaitah
  • Radwan Kharabsheh

Abstract

Purpose - Arab female academics struggle to advance within their universities in both academic and managerial ranks. Accordingly, this study aims to investigate the factors hindering Arab women’s academic career development through studying the case of Jordanian academic women. Design/methodology/approach - Data were gathered through document analysis (Jordan constitution, Jordanian Labour Law and its amendments, higher education and scientific research law, Jordanian universities’ law and universities’ HR policies and regulations), interviews with 20 female academics and a focus group with 13 female academics (members of the Association of Jordanian Female Academics). Findings - The results indicate female academics as tokens facing many interconnected and interrelated barriers embodied in cultural, social, economic and legal factors. The findings support the general argument proposed in human resource management (HRM) literature regarding the influence of culture on HRM practices and also propose that the influence of culture extends to having an impact on HR policies’ formulation as well as the formal legal system. Originality/value - The influence of culture on women’s career development and various HR practices is well established in HR literature. But the findings of this study present a further pressure of culture. HR policies and other regulations were found to be formulated in the crucible of national culture. Legalizing discriminatory issues deepens the stereotypical pictures of women, emphasizing the domestic role of women and making it harder to break the glass ceiling and old-boy network.

Suggested Citation

  • Waed Ensour & Hadeel Al Maaitah & Radwan Kharabsheh, 2017. "Barriers to Arab female academics’ career development," Management Research Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 40(10), pages 1058-1080, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:eme:mrrpps:mrr-08-2016-0186
    DOI: 10.1108/MRR-08-2016-0186
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Arar, Khalid, 2018. "Female Arab faculty staff in the Israeli academy: Challenges and coping strategies," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 313-321.
    2. Helen McLaren & Cassandra Star & Ida Widianingsih, 2019. "Indonesian Women in Public Service Leadership: A Rapid Review," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-16, November.

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