Sisters Doing it for Themselves in the Middle East: Emirati Women Navigating Their Career Paths

The purpose of this study is to explore Emirati women’s career experiences, their perspective on the forces that have shaped them and the barriers they encounter in the workplace. Emirati women’s participation in the public sphere is steadily increasing, having been previously confined to the private sphere of the home. With a greater range of career options now open to them, these women are focusing more on the choices they make to be successful in the workplace rather than on the constraints that hinder them. They are navigating their chosen career paths against the backdrop of a traditional society, although, as the results in this study illustrate, the cultural milieu is changing fast, in no small part due to these women creating new traditions, hoping to be role models for future generations.