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The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that influence the innovation decisions of Emirati women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

This study uses a two-phased approach. In the first phase, empirical research on 50 Emirati female entrepreneurs is conducted to discover the extent of innovation in their ventures. In the second phase, the study uses an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) to prioritize factors considered important in facilitating business innovation among SMEs. The AHP model is developed with 9 criteria and 25 sub-criteria based on the previous literature. Face-to-face interviews are conducted with Emirati female entrepreneurs operating nascent (n = 10), start-up (n = 10) and established innovative (n = 10) businesses to collect data for the AHP study. The data collected are interpreted and a priority vector is assigned to each criterion and sub-criterion.

Female SME owners prioritize government policies, research and development, innovation strategy and skill development as the main criteria that influence their innovation decisions. Family support, access to external financing, social networks and the allocation of funds are the main sub-criteria affecting their decisions to be innovative. Furthermore, respondents who are in the nascent business stage consider family motivation as the greatest influence on initiating new ideas through financial and moral support. Among all respondents, the nascent business owners rank skill development the highest because they are still in the initial stages of their business journeys, and thus, obtaining these skills could help them increase innovation and success in their ventures. However, respondents in the established stage rank innovation strategy the highest.

The study results can help policymakers and women’s associations, such as businesswomen councils, identify the specific inhibitors and facilitators linked to innovation and, thereby, help develop various effective policies to promote innovation among Emirati women-owned SMEs.

The study is one attempt to facilitate innovation among Emirati women-owned SMEs through its efforts to discover the determinants of innovation efforts at nascent, start-up and established business stages as defined by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (2012). The study can help Emirati women-owned SMEs understand the critical factors influencing innovation and can encourage them to incorporate innovative characteristics for business growth and resilience. Furthermore, the study can provide insights for policymakers, financial institutions and non-governmental organizations on factors hindering innovation among Emirati women-owned SMEs, which may serve as a tool for creating resilience among female entrepreneurs.

This paper aims to form an empirical study, stemming from a Middle-Eastern context, on eliminating gender discrimination and achieving women’s empowerment. It aims to develop a conceptual model on the principal social and cultural factors inducing the success of Emirati women in attaining senior leadership roles and shaping their leadership style to be transformational. Moreover, it examines the comparability and divergence of the accumulated data on the empowerment of Emirati women in an international context from existing international literature.

The design of the study was based on data gathered from face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with four Emirati women occupying the highest leadership positions in various fields, followed by thematic analysis.

Data analysis confirmed the significant influence of the study’s key factors, namely, the role of the national government, Islamic work ethic and family, on the subjects’ empowerment and their adherence to transformational leadership style. However, two new k ey factors impacting empowerment emerged, namely, the influence of rulers’ leadership and the efforts in balancing work/life commitments. The findings led to the development of a study model on Emirati women empowerment and leadership style, reflecting the appropriateness of international literature on the Emirati context. Particularly, it is the social and economic circumstances of the nation supported by policies form the major source of empowerment, in addition to the important role that family capital and business ethics play. Remarkably, the challenges facing Emirati working women ought to be different than the rest of the Middle East.

A dearth of literature pertaining to women’s leadership exists; however, they were mostly carried out within Western contexts that may not be applicable to Arab societies because of cultural and religious differences. The study strives to portray an unambiguous picture to the significant impact of the parenting role and Islam work ethics in relating positively to their daughters and prompt them to develop crucial societal and professional skills, in a country as UAE where expatriates and Westerns dominate the population body. In addition, it shapes the UAE national government as a unique example and role model, to local governments in other Arab states, to learn from regarding supporting women, helping them to achieve excellence. Aiming for feminizing leadership, the Emirati women leadership styles are explored in an attempt to demonstrate the capacities and potentials of Emirati and Arab women in positions of power and influence. It is assumed that this study will help in bringing confidence in Emirati women capabilities, inducing a change in attitudes towards Arab women managers and encouraging employment in non-traditional feminine based jobs.

This study uses a Kaleidoscope Career (KC) approach to explore how UAE women managers experience their careers, the advancement in management and the career models they encounter.

This study employs an interpretative phenomenological approach to analyse in-depth face-to-face interviews with 22 Emirati women in middle and senior management positions across various industries in both the public and private sectors.

This research is significant in uncovering career advancement mechanisms and three career models: “my life is not elsewhere,” “seizing opportunities” and “wholehearted dedication to the country.” These models highlight women managers' pivotal role in UAE's economic development.

This study is confined to a convenience sample of women managers from Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. While not fully representative of all local women, the findings on career advancement mechanisms and Emirati women managers' non-traditional career paths hold theoretical significance. The results challenge the uncritical adoption of Western career models, highlighting the need to consider alternative career models and advancement mechanisms.

This research expands the authors' knowledge of career advancement mechanisms and models experienced by Emirati women, offering insights for enhancing gender equality in Arab world managerial roles.

These findings open new research avenues to explore Emirati women's careers beyond the largest Emirates and assess their broader economic and societal contributions.

The purpose of this study is to utilize social cognitive theory to investigate how social comparison orientations, individual cognitive, and environmental factors influence females' decisions to pursue self-employment in the United Arab Emirates In doing so, the authors explore how the entrepreneurial self-efficacy of Emirati women also influences individuals towards entrepreneurship.

Using a survey instrument administered in both English and Arabic, data were collected from one hundred and three (103) employed Emirati women and eighty-four (84) self-employed Emirati women who were taking part in workshops conducted by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce.

The results from the study suggest that the social environment is a contributing factor toward self-employment, with higher levels of social comparison orientation increasing the likelihood of Emirati women being self-employed. Consistent with prior research, the authors also find that internal cognitive factors also play a significant role, with Emirati women possessing higher levels of entrepreneurial self-efficacy and having a higher likelihood of being self-employed.

This is one of the few studies aimed at exploring the role of social comparison orientation as a factor in motivating females towards entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region.

Encouraging innovation in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is one of the government's main policy initiatives at the local, regional, and national levels in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This study's primary purpose is to explore the innovation characteristics, challenges, and factors influencing innovation in the Emirati female-owned nascent, start-up, and established SMEs. A semi-structured interview method was used to explore ten Emirati female entrepreneurs' experiences on innovation and adoption intent, and the data were analyzed using NVIVO software. The analysis reveals that respondents believed in a strong vision, education, and risk-taking attitude as an innovative entrepreneur's essential characteristics. Furthermore, new technology adoption, networking, implementation of new or improved products, processes, marketing, and organizational innovation are considered essential to help entrepreneurs commercialize their innovative business idea. This study's findings will help policymakers and business women's councils identify the specific inhibitors and facilitators linked to innovation. The results will help develop various effective policies to promote innovation among Emirati women-owned SMEs.

This study aims to develop a push–pull factors theory of women entrepreneurship, to identify and prioritize the factors influencing Emirati women entrepreneurs, and also aims to implement the proposed theory in two cases: Emirati women entrepreneurs with business family and non-business family backgrounds.

The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) model was developed with 6 criteria and 19 sub-criteria, based upon the findings of previous studies. Data were collected using a questionnaire survey given to 20 Emirati women entrepreneurs in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The respondents were selected on the basis of their family backgrounds. The data collected were interpreted and a priority vector was assigned to the criteria and sub-criteria.

A well-researched methodology was used for the synthesis of priorities and the measurement of consistencies. The findings show that education, skills and training are the three main criteria considered to be the most important factors that influence the growth and success of Emirati women entrepreneurs.

The model can be used by authors for future academic and entrepreneurial studies. The findings interpreted can help policymakers and related associations develop various policies based on the specific factors found to empower Emirati women entrepreneurs in an effective manner. This process will increase the participation of Emirati women in the entrepreneurial field. The research model had limited dimensions and the findings cannot be generalized. Hence, it would be valuable to conduct future study in other countries to generalize the findings. The model can be enhanced by including other factors, and alternatives could be based on types of sectors.

This study is the first of its kind to present an AHP model that contains most dimensions influencing the success and growth of Emirati women entrepreneurs and prioritizes the dimensions based on their importance.

The purpose of the paper is to examine the quality of work life (QoWL) and its influence on job satisfaction and turnover (job-leaving) intention of Emirati women employed in various public sector organizations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Data were collected through a structured questionnaire gleaned from literature, and were analyzed through partial least squares structural equation modeling.

QoWL was found to have a significant relationship with all variables in the model, and was found, as hypothesized, to have a positive effect on job satisfaction and a negative effect on turnover intention.

One of the main limitations of this study is that the sample is drawn from only Emirati female employees who were working in public organizations based in the Abu Dhabi region, the capital of UAE, and hence, cannot be generalized.

This study helps policy makers by identifying crucial points that can improve Emirati female employees’ QoWL with a commensurate reduction in turnover intention in a collectivistic society. Public sector organizations should address the factors that directly affect Emirati women’s QoWL and job satisfaction, as it will ultimately result in less staff turnover, greater productivity, and will also support the localization strategy.

The study is one of the first enquiries which stresses the importance of understanding how Emirati female employees perceive and categorize themselves as a valuable element of the workplace alongside the significance of augmenting their sense of belongingness to their organization.

The purpose of this paper is to conduct a meta-analysis of existing research on gender discrimination/gender gap and women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in the UAE, specifically, and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in general because of very limited number of articles published on the subject. It will give future researchers insights into the topics, methodologies and findings of such research from 1999–2019.

This study conducts a meta-analysis of 72 articles using the Wildcard operator search method and the Boolean operator to perform an integrative literature search related to gender discrimination studies done in relationship to or specific to the UAE.

In total, 88 papers related to the UAE and gender gap and women were identified. The articles were narrowed down to the ones published in high-ranked or Scopus journals (72). The findings suggest a decreasing trend in gender discrimination, but the issue still persists, requiring efforts from policy-makers, society and government to ensure gender parity is achieved. Academic research on women in STEM/SET workplace, specific to the UAE and the region, continue to slowly advance, with very few articles published in the same.

The study provides insights into gender gap research done in the past ten years specific to the UAE national women and gender gap in general and their career choices and prospects in the STEM/SET domain.

There is a need to focus research on Emirati women in STEM careers to develop more insights into gender gap perceptions of Emirati women and identify challenges and methods to close the gender gap in STEM careers.

This paper brings a holistic perspective to the meta-analysis of research on the gender gap and women in the UAE’s STEM domain.

The purpose of this paper is to make a cross‐cultural comparison of team harmony and participation of a collectivistic Middle Eastern sample of women and an individualistic Anglo sample of women.

Two independent female samples are compared – Anglos and Arabs. Respondents completed a self‐report survey regarding their perceptions of recent team experiences as well as their own participation within those teams.

The findings revealed greater sensitivity to inter‐member conflict on the part of the Arabic sample, coupled with increased incidence of behaviors to promote team harmony through the suppression of individual opinions and ideas.

Further research should be conducted to differentiate the interaction between role and gender. From a practical standpoint, quasi‐experimental research on interventions to reduce the participation problem would be important.

Team performance and retention of Emirati employees within the United Arab Emirates context can be enhanced to the extent that managers understand the perceptions and participation of local employees. The findings of the current study aid managers in understanding the key role of team harmony sensitivity among Emiratis and its subsequent impact on their participation in team processes.

The paper addresses a significant issue, team member participation, in an understudied but increasingly relevant setting, Middle Eastern teams.

This paper aims to investigate the potential effectiveness of using corporate social marketing (CSM) as part of an advertising campaign targeting local Muslim consumers in Dubai. It aims to assess whether Dubai’s local Muslim community’s construal of corporate commitment has evolved beyond philanthropy toward receptiveness to a more embedded corporate societal engagement.

The examination is based on the framework of corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication that postulates a relationship between internal outcomes, such as the awareness of a cause, and external outcomes, such as the likelihood that a consumer will purchase a product. The authors designed a questionnaire using authentic advertisements for the same product, one with a CSM message and one without, and queried respondents’ opinions of the advertisements, their willingness to purchase the product and their perceptions of the company. Complete responses were collected from 245 Emirati women.

Significant differences in response to the CSM versus the non-CSM advertisement emerged. The product advertised via the CSM strategy engendered enhanced perceptions of the company among respondents, coupled with a heightened willingness on their part to purchase the product. This indicates that Emirati consumers have gone beyond the simple expectation of philanthropy, which is frequently associated with Muslim consumer loyalty, and value more evolved corporate social commitment.

While Muslim groups have been investigated extensively from various marketing perspectives, the present study is the first to investigate the impact of incorporating CSR into an authentic advertising campaign targeted at Muslim consumers.