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This paper aims to explore the crucial role of socio-cultural factors in the entrepreneurial experiences of women in the Gulf region.

A focused qualitative systematic analysis of 65 published articles was conducted to present existing approaches to studying women's entrepreneurship in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and identify the key socio-cultural factors impacting women's entrepreneurial realities.

It was found that gender roles, family influence, social networking and religion are among the most significant factors influencing the entrepreneurial experiences of women in the GCC.

It was found that the region's prevalent social norms, vis-à-vis how gender roles are defined and practiced, greatly influence the lived experiences of women entrepreneurs. The role of family support (or lack thereof) and the access to networking opportunities to start and grow ventures significantly affect women's entrepreneurial successes. The findings also point to the overarching ideological and practical guidance, Islam is believed to offer, on how life in general and businesses, in particular, should be conducted.

The paper contributes to the burgeoning literature on women's entrepreneurship in the Gulf by promoting context-dependent knowledge. In particular, the findings highlight the importance of critical and nuanced evaluation of existing theories of gender and entrepreneurship. The examination can help policymakers develop more effective and inclusive entrepreneurship policies in the region.

In Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, entrepreneurship is not a very popular option among women. The low rate of entrepreneurship as a career choice among females is attributed to factors that are specific to females in GCC region. The purpose of this paper is to understand these variables and their interrelationships that lead to low rate of adoption of entrepreneurship as a career choice among females in GCC region.

The research followed a two-stage process; first, a comprehensive literature review was conducted to identify barriers to female entrepreneurship in GCC region. In the second stage, the identified barriers were modeled using fuzzy interpretive structural modeling technique to construct a hierarchical structure and the impact matrix cross-reference multiplication applied to a classification approach to analyze the control power and dependence among these barriers.

The research shows that there exists a group of barriers having a high driving power and low dependence requiring maximum attention and of strategic importance, while another group consists of those variables that have high dependence and are the resultant actions.

This research will help policy makers to focus on variables that are most important and requires immediate attention for the development and empowerment of female entrepreneurship in the GCC region. The paper suggests future course of action to provide an impetus to efforts aimed at improving female entrepreneurship in the GCC region.

The policy makers in the GCC region have accorded high priority to entrepreneurship to reduce the dependence of population on government jobs. This research is one of the few studies on female entrepreneurship conducted in GCC region to understand the impediments that limit the adoption of entrepreneurship as a career choice by women.

This research aims to develop and validate a framework for eradicating women’s discrimination in architectural design firms (ADFs) in Egypt and propose strategies for prospective adoption in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries to increase the transformational impact of women on the architectural and urban developments of the Gulf region.

A combined qualitative and quantitative research approach was designed to accomplish four objectives. Firstly, to investigate the nature of business in ADFs, women’s discrimination and policies for gender equity (PGE) in architecture. Secondly, to analyse three case studies to validate the identified causes and impacts of women’s discrimination and examine the role of PGE towards eradicating women’s discrimination in ADFs. Thirdly, to conduct a survey questionnaire with a representative sample of ADFs to investigate their perception of women’s discrimination and the correlation between PGE towards eradicating women’s discrimination in ADFs. Based on the above, the research developed and validated a framework to eradicate women’s discrimination in ADFs in Egypt and suggested strategies for potential application in the GCC countries to increase the transformational role of women in the architectural and urban developments of the Gulf region.

Through literature review and case studies, the research identified and validated the causes and impacts of women’s discrimination as well as PGE in Architecture. The findings of data analysis showed that the highest-ranked causes of women discrimination in ADFs were “customs and beliefs” followed by “Underestimating women’s work” and “Recruiting males more than females”. Moreover, the highest-ranked impacts of women’s discrimination were “career shift and leaving the profession” followed by “decrease in creativity and innovation” and “decrease in economic growth”. Furthermore, the Spearman correlation test showed that while some PGE were correlated, others were not. These findings helped in the development of the proposed framework and proposed strategies.

This research presents a practical framework to eliminate women’s discrimination in ADFs in Egypt based on the findings of literature review, case studies and survey questionnaire. The framework explained in a workable way the objectives of the framework functions; activities; tools and techniques; involved personnel and needed resources as well as enforcing mechanisms. It was validated by a representative sample of ADFs in Egypt to ensure its practicability and viability and suggested strategies for implementation in the GCC countries to increase women’s role in architectural and urban development.

The research identified and validated the causes and impacts of women’s discrimination as well as PGE in Architecture. Moreover, the research investigated the perception of women’s discrimination and the correlation between PGE through conducting a survey questionnaire with a representative of ADFs in Egypt. The research tackled a topic that received scant attention in construction literature, especially in Egypt and the GCC countries. The research developed and validated a framework to eradicate women’s discrimination in ADFs in Egypt. It represents a synthesis that is novel and creative in thought and adds value to the knowledge in a manner that has not previously occurred. The research suggested several strategies for the prospective implementation of the framework in the GCC countries as an approach to enhancing the transformational role of women in the architectural and urban developments of the Gulf region.

This study aims to advance practice and research on workforce nationalization in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries through identifying relevant policy and practical implications needed to implement nationalization initiatives effectively.

The author followed a two-stage approach. Stage 1 reviewed the literature to identify relevant papers on workforce nationalization in the GCC region. Stage 2 used a thematic analysis to propose relevant implications for both policy makers and employers.

Through the lens of four perspectives at different levels, i.e. legal, organizational, human development and socio-cultural perspectives, the author has identified ten policy and practical implications. Both governments and employers need to consider these when developing holistic strategies for effective workforce nationalization.

Over several decades, the GCC countries have been implementing several nationalization initiatives to increase the percentage and qualifications of their national employees. The significance of these initiatives stems from the fact that the GCC countries lack adequately trained citizens. Moreover, regardless of political attitudes toward foreigners, development plans for modernization, industrialization or urbanization heavily relies on foreign employees. This is because nationals represent the minority of employees and are largely employed in the public sector. This phenomenon needs the attention of scholars to discuss different aspects of nationalization and how to effectively implement it.

Bahrain is a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). It is the third smallest country in Asia. Like its neighbours’, Bahrain’s economy is developing fast and the place of women in the work landscape is evolving. But few papers discuss the situation of women entrepreneurs in this country. The purpose of this paper is to study the evolution of women entrepreneurship in Bahrain, a country in the midst of high transition. The research question is: How do Bahraini women cope with the evolution of their environment? And how far are they keen to develop their own businesses?

After a literature review, a qualitative research was conducted among 12 women entrepreneurs of 19 to 51 years of age.

The results show a new kind of female entrepreneurship in the Arab region based on the support of the sociocultural environment, which is in contradiction with the literature. Also, it seems that Bahrain women are more in pull, not push situation to entrepreneurship. However, they need a role model to achieve their goals, which is new to the literature about women entrepreneurship in general and that in the developing countries in particular. As regards the obstacles, some Bahraini women seem to suffer from a lack of experience and knowledge in setting a business online. However, the results show that the companies of these women are mostly small and evolving in the service sector, with a trend in online businesses.

This study is limited by the number of persons interviewed, which does not allow the generalization of the results. Also, generalization to the whole region is not possible because each country of the GCC has its own rules and practices towards women. Also, this study has not investigated the attitude towards the risk and the balance between family and profession.

This paper is one of the few research studies on female entrepreneurship in Bahrain. The findings are in contradiction with the literature on women entrepreneurship in developing countries and more specifically in the GCC. This study offers many research perspectives and could help governmental and non-governmental institutions to empower and support women in their actions.

This chapter provides insight into the professionalisation of women football in the Arab region. In a traditionally conservative geographic area where men's football has only recently turned professional or remains semi-professional, the chances for the professionalisation of women football appear dim; yet some countries are already taking progressive strides. This chapter explores the practical and cultural barriers to women football professionalisation and provides examples of success stories, current efforts in the wake of global trends and the resilience of female footballers in the region. In doing so, the chapter challenges misconceptions and critically examines assumptions around what professionalisation ‘looks like’ within the context presented. The research takes a multi-sited approach, presenting evidence of the women footballing environment from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. It utilises an intersectional and transnational lens for analysing women football experiences as shaped by a culmination of the athletes' gender, religion and cultural expectations and as situated within the international women footballing context. The author uses her professional field experience with over 18 years of involvement in elite Arab women football, connecting personal experiences to the study and providing richer interpretive opportunities to the data provided. Her professional participation as a local expert and researcher uniquely positions this study for engagement on the field and sense-making reflective practices and analysis. The study aims to further understandings on women football experiences from an area where there is a great dearth of scholarship on the matter and even less so from local researchers.

This study aimed to contribute to the field of Human Resource Management (HRM) by providing a critical review of existing scholarly research and a thematic analysis of the workforce nationalization domain in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. To strengthen the literature on this topic, it seeks to identify key gaps and areas for further exploration.

A two-step systematic research methodology (qualitative and quantitative) and a thematic analysis of empirical and theoretical studies were used in this study. The quantitative review was conducted using a predesigned coding framework.

The study identified and discussed four perspectives of workforce nationalization in the GCC countries. These were (1) the conceptualization of workforce nationalization; (2) the role of institutional policies in achieving it; (3) the practices and outcomes of nationalization efforts and (4) the impact of gender and women in the nationalization process.

This study has several limitations, which the authors have addressed by proposing several future research avenues. For example, the reviewed studies are skewed toward certain countries (e.g. UAE and Saudi Arabia), which limits the generalizability of their findings.

A more comprehensive definition of nationalization, development of qualitative and quantitative measures to enhance HRM practices and outcomes, and the identification of alternative approaches to improve the employment of locals are emphasized as needs. Additionally, revised measures and mechanisms to rectify negative perceptions about entitlement and the revision of policies to integrate females in the national labor force are suggested.

Workforce nationalization initiatives in the GCC region offer a unique and rich research phenomenon replete with managerial, organizational, economic and political dilemmas. The investigation of this phenomenon would profoundly enlighten employers, policymakers and scholars.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the state of affairs in the Sultanate of Oman for the presence (or absence) of women in senior and managerial roles in private companies. The study also investigates where women are located within the organisations (e.g. as board members, chief officers, vice presidents, top management, division or unit heads).

This is a quantitative study that analysed gender in the largest 122 private and publicly listed organisations in Oman. The study is based on data available from the Zawya database that tracks information about companies in the Middle East and North Africa region.

Women are employed in Oman in small numbers when compared with the number of men. Women remain extremely underrepresented in senior roles in Omani organisations currently. Women are found slightly (but not significantly) more in departmental management roles (particularly in human resource management, marketing/communication, public relations, and project management) and in the transport and finance industries.

The Zawya database did not contain complete data on each company analysed. Hence, this is a descriptive study and lacked advanced statistical techniques for comparison and relationship analysis.

This study increases the academic knowledge on international issues in gender and management. The study also provides insights for government leaders, educators, and scholars who work to help prepare women for leadership in this region.

This is one of the first scholarly studies conducted on the presence of women in senior positions and management within Oman. It adds value as it is the first study to compare gender in management across roles, industrial classification, size of company, and ownership.