Women entering the workforce

Saudi Arabia’s plan to hire women as prosecutors points to an evolution that promises to remove barriers to women’s participation in government, the workplace and public life in the Middle East and North Africa. Attorney general Sheikh Saud Al Mojeb’s announcement last month came on the heels of better-publicised decisions to allow Saudi women to drive and attend soccer matches. Similar changes are underway across much of the Mena region. Amal Al Qubaisi has stood as president of the Federal National Council for more than two years and nine women currently hold ministerial posts in the UAE government. Women in the UAE hold senior management positions or run investments worth $15 billion and the government is pressing for women to make up 20 per cent of board seats at publicly traded companies. Egypt’s parliament voted in December to give women inheritance rights and Tunisia is considering a proposal to strengthen women’s rights in this area.

Although the battle is far from over, the momentum reflects a significant effort to provide women with opportunities that would have been unlikely a few years ago. Forward-looking leaders realise that acceptance of women into the workforce and public life is a vital component of economic growth. The McKinsey Global Institute estimates that advancing women's equality could add $600 billion annually to overall GDP in the Mena region. In addition to economic gains from the direct contribution of women, inclusion might encourage international investment to help create high-paying tech sector jobs. The more education and the better credentials women have, the more freedom they have to choose the extent to which they will work outside their homes. Female physicians, for example, see 38 percent fewer patients per hour and work fewer hours than male physicians; female professors write fewer books and research papers than male professors.

A study in 1979 by the Brookings Institution showed that women in their prime earning years were eleven times more likely to leave the work force voluntarily—if often temporarily—than men were. Current data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that women work only 70 percent as long for a given employer as men do. According to a study of census data done for the Civil Rights Commission by Solomon Polachek in 1984, the differences in the number of years of continuous service in the work force—and resulting differences in training and experience—explain "close to 100 percent of the wage gap" between men and women in the job market.

Regardless of the evidence of polls and of labor-force-participation rates that include part-time workers, women do not seem to be behaving like men in the labor market. While the government is pressuring private firms to employ and promote more women, the government itself fails to show employment patterns much different from those in the private sector. Even in November of 1980—the final year of a Democratic Administration that made equal rights for women a prime goal—only seven percent of the employees in the top five CS ratings were women, while more than three quarters in the bottom grades were.

In fact, the pattern of employment in the federal government would suffice to justify an anti-discrimination suit if the government were a private institution. Yet the government may not be discriminating against women, and private companies may not be either. Let us at least consider the possibility that many women, deliberately rejecting the values of male careerists, are discriminating against the job "rat race" and in favor of their families.

Our research suggests one more reason for opening doors to women: the increased participation of women in the workforce as a result of economic growth correlates to lower infant and maternal mortality rates and a healthier population, regardless of gender. One conclusion is that the most effective long-term solution to many health challenges in developing countries is not outside intervention but a sustained focus on economic growth and increasing workplace opportunities for women.

The writer is a health economist at the Milken Institute in California

Women entering the workforce

Saudi Arabias plan to hire women as prosecutors points to an evolution that promises to remove barriers to womens participation in government, the workplace and public life in the Middle East and North Africa. Attorney general Sheikh Saud Al Mojebs announcement last month came on the heels of better-publicised decisions to allow Saudi women to drive and attend soccer matches. Similar changes are underway across much of the Mena region. Amal Al Qubaisi has stood as president of the Federal National Council for more than two years and nine women currently hold ministerial posts in the UAE government. Women in the UAE hold senior management positions or run investments worth $15 billion and the government is pressing for women to make up 20 per cent of board seats at publicly traded companies. Egypts parliament voted in December to give women inheritance rights and Tunisia is considering a proposal to strengthen womens rights in this area. Although the battle is far from over, the momentum reflects a significant effort to provide women with opportunities that would have been unlikely a few years ago. Forward-looking leaders realise that acceptance of women into the workforce and public life is a vital component of economic growth. The McKinsey Global Institute estimates that advancing womens equality could add $600 billion annually to overall GDP in the Mena region. In addition to economic gains from the direct contribution of women, inclusion might encourage international investment to help create high-paying tech sector jobs. The more education and the better credentials women have, the more freedom they have to choose the extent to which they will work outside their homes. Female physicians, for example, see 38 percent fewer patients per hour and work fewer hours than male physicians; female professors write fewer books and research papers than male professors. A study in 1979 by the Brookings Institution showed that women in their prime earning years were eleven times more likely to leave the work force voluntarilyif often temporarilythan men were. Current data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that women work only 70 percent as long for a given employer as men do. According to a study of census data done for the Civil Rights Commission by Solomon Polachek in 1984, the differences in the number of years of continuous service in the work forceand resulting differences in training and experienceexplain close to 100 percent of the wage gap between men and women in the job market. Regardless of the evidence of polls and of labor-force-participation rates that include part-time workers, women do not seem to be behaving like men in the labor market. While the government is pressuring private firms to employ and promote more women, the government itself fails to show employment patterns much different from those in the private sector. Even in November of 1980the final year of a Democratic Administration that made equal rights for women a prime goalonly seven percent of the employees in the top five CS ratings were women, while more than three quarters in the bottom grades were. In fact, the pattern of employment in the federal government would suffice to justify an anti-discrimination suit if the government were a private institution. Yet the government may not be discriminating against women, and private companies may not be either. Let us at least consider the possibility that many women, deliberately rejecting the values of male careerists, are discriminating against the job rat race and in favor of their families. Our research suggests one more reason for opening doors to women: the increased participation of women in the workforce as a result of economic growth correlates to lower infant and maternal mortality rates and a healthier population, regardless of gender. One conclusion is that the most effective long-term solution to many health challenges in developing countries is not outside intervention but a sustained focus on economic growth and increasing workplace opportunities for women. The writer is a health economist at the Milken Institute in California