BUSINESS INSIGHTS
WOMEN CAN BALANCE FAMILY AND A PROFESSIONAL LIFE
Women can balance a family and a career ; it ’ s just knowing how . Cathy Mauzaize , Vice President , EMEA South , ServiceNow , draws on her own experiences as a high-power executive and mother of four , with tips for women looking to excel in the workplace .
For many years , gender parity was the elephant in too many rooms around the globe – a frustrating abundance of platitudes masquerading as progress . But even before COVID-19 , lockdowns unlocked our consciousnesses and forced us to talk about parity issues , the Middle East was taking some tentative steps beyond mere talk .
As a case in point , a survey from 2020 found 71 % of young , GCC-based Arab women believed they had the same access to education and employment opportunities as men . A year later , in the World Economic Forum ' s Global Gender
Gap Index 2021 rankings , the United Arab Emirates ( UAE ) was placed 72 out of 156 nations . While the UAE was the only Arab nation to find itself in the top half , it was a big mover among global peers , having leapt 48 positions from the previous year .
The work must continue
While moves on gender parity – even with respect to remuneration – are proceeding apace , for women who choose to have families , some challenges persist . While some are admittedly self-inflicted , many are societal and need to be addressed as such .
66 www . intelligentcxo . com