Representative bureaucracy in the Arab Gulf states
International Journal of Public Sector Management
ISSN: 0951-3558
Article publication date: 8 October 2018
Issue publication date: 23 April 2019
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to apply the lens of representative bureaucracy (RB) to women’s representation at management level in governments and government-owned companies in Arab Gulf states (AGS), and to consider the implications for government stability, legitimacy and performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were analysed of the numbers of men and women in management positions (8,936), of government and government-owned companies (846), for the six countries of the AGS. Analyses were conducted on the presence/absence of women in management for ten industry types.
Findings
Governments and government-owned companies in the AGS were identified as hybrid (public/private) institutions. Women were found to be underrepresented at management levels in public sector bureaucracy; women clustered in a narrow range of industries; all countries returned a high result of zero female managers in these industries.
Research limitations/implications
This research is limited by data collected from a single source, “Eikon”, which is a commercial database. The implication of these results is a benchmark for future studies on women’s representation at management level in governments and government-owned companies of Arab Gulf countries.
Practical implications
The practical implication of this study is for concerted government intervention to address gender inequality in management of governments and government-owned companies across the AGS.
Originality/value
This is the first study of RB in AGS and extends the theory of RB to a new geographical and cultural context. There is value in application of RB to government and government-owned companies as a regional form of hybrid public–private organisation.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the American University of Sharjah [FRG 14-2-29].
Citation
Kemp, L.J., Mathias, M. and Raji, M. (2019), "Representative bureaucracy in the Arab Gulf states", International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 32 No. 3, pp. 230-246. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPSM-07-2017-0198
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited