Women’s careers in the Arab Middle East Understanding institutional constraints to the...

Women’s careers in theArab Middle East

Understanding institutional constraints tothe boundaryless career view

Fida AfiouniOlayan School of Business, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how women academics from the Arab Middle Eastenact their careers with reference to double-bounded contexts: academia as an institution encodingorganizational career scripts and gender as another institution encoding specific gender roles. It is hopedthat this cross-cultural perspective would broaden the understanding of careers beyond the economicallyadvanced industrialized countries and better inform the current debate on the boundaryless career model.Design/methodology/approach – The study is qualitative and exploratory in nature. It draws onone-to-one interviews with 23 female academics in early, mid and late careers, working in researchuniversities in the Arab Middle East region.Findings – The choice of academia as a profession is mainly driven by the subjective perception of anacademic career as a calling, the lack of attractiveness of other career options in the region, and theappeal of the flexibility of academic work. Furthermore, the findings highlight both organizational(lack of mentoring and university support) and cultural factors (Islam, patriarchy, and familycentrality) that shape/bind women’s careers choices and patterns allowing thus for a betterunderstanding of local constraints to the boundaryless career view in the Arab Middle East context.Originality/value – The paper contributes to the boundaryless career theory development byaddressing one of its major shortcomings, namely the lack of attention to context. It provides freshinsights from the Arab Middle East to the ongoing debate whether careers are boundaryless andsubject to individual agency or whether careers are shaped by wider institutional factors and supportexisting calls in the literature to conceptualize careers at the intersection of several influencing factors.

Keywords Higher education, Gender, Women, Qualitative research, Careers,Cross-cultural management, Work, Flexible working hours, Arab Middle East, Academic career,Boundaryless career, Career enactment

Paper type Research paper

IntroductionThe career literature has traditionally focussed on the organizational level of analysisand considered careers as the process by which organizations renew themselves, with aview of careers as structures and routes (Evetts, 1992; Gunz, 1989). Recently, the shifttoward the contemporary career models has moved the level of analysis to individuals,and led to the conceptualization of careers in more subjective terms. The boundarylesscareer view (Arthur et al., 2005; Arthur and Rousseau, 1996; Sullivan and Arthur, 2006)has proved to be a remarkably popular contemporary career model (Pringle andMallon, 2003). It places emphasis on the individual’s agency whereby individuals lookfor career opportunities beyond the boundary of a single employer. The boundaryless

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available atwww.emeraldinsight.com/1362-0436.htm

Received 12 May 2013Revised 1 December 201317 February 2014Accepted 24 February 2014

Career Development InternationalVol. 19 No. 3, 2014pp. 314-336r Emerald Group Publishing Limited1362-0436DOI 10.1108/CDI-05-2013-0061

The author would like to thank the University Research Board at the American University ofBeirut for funding this research project (DDF-118010-288805). The author would also like tothank the Guest Editors and the anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback.Appreciation also goes to Miss Yasmeen Makarem for her support during the revision process.

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career thus depicts the blurring of career-related boundaries within organizations andbeyond (DeFillippi and Arthur, 1994).

The assumption that boundaryless careers could be constructed without theconsideration of contextual constraints and boundaries has been criticized by manyscholars (Dany et al., 2011; Gunz et al., 2000; Pringle and Mallon, 2003; Roper et al.,2010; Tams and Arthur, 2010). Increasingly, career researchers call for accounting forboth the individual’s agency as well as the influence of the wider socio-cultural contextand the work environment on individuals’ careers. For example, Mayrhofer et al. (2008)affirm that institutional forces, such as social class, gender, ethnicity, education andgovernment regulation, also constrain even the most agentic career actors. Similarly,the study of Ituma and Simpson (2009) on Nigerian ITworkers’ careers showed that theyare still constrained by institutional forces: ethnic allegiance, personal connections,gender discrimination, educational qualifications and work history. Thus, an ongoingdebate exists on whether careers are boundaryless and subject to individual agency orwhether careers are shaped by wider institutional factors (Roper et al., 2010).

Situating this debate within the academic career literature more specifically, one cannote a similar discussion around the boundaryless/bounded nature of academiccareers, highlighting the need to recognize both environmental constraints andindividual choices (Dany et al., 2011; Duberley et al., 2006) in order to understand howthe motivations and behaviors of academics are determined by the structuralfoundation of social systems that exist in different cultural contexts (Baruch and Hall,2004; Duberley et al., 2006; Kaulisch and Enders, 2005; Richardson, 2009).

In response to such calls, and in light of current trends to conceptualize careersat the intersection of several influencing contexts (Cappellen and Janssens, 2005;Mayrhofer et al., 2008), this paper situates the individual in reference to both theorganization and the wider socio-cultural context, and aims to shed light on howindividuals enact their careers in such double-bounded contexts. To that end, I leverageKarl Weickz’s (1996) concept of the enactment of careers. Enactment involves people’schoices, and their actions in pursuit of those choices. As workplace boundariesand rules weaken, individual enactment takes on enhanced importance (Arthur et al.,1999). More specifically, this paper examines how women academics from the ArabMiddle East enact their career with reference to double-bounded context: academia asan institution encoding organizational career scripts and gender as another institutionencoding specific gender roles.

This paper contributes to the boundarlyess career theory development by addressingone of its major shortcomings, namely the lack of attention that has historically beengiven to social structures such as national context and gender in boundaryless careertheory development (Pringle and Mallon, 2003). Through its empirical investigation ofwomen’s career choices and patterns in academia in the Arab Middle East, this paperallows for a greater understanding of institutional influences that shape how womenchoose an occupation and enact their careers. The paper thus provides new insights tounderstanding cross-cultural differences in describing and explaining career phenomenathat is being called for in the literature (Chudzikowski et al., 2009; Dany et al., 2011; Dries,2011; Gunz et al., 2011; Inkson et al., 2007; Pringle and Mallon, 2003; Tams and Arthur,2007; Thomas and Inkson, 2007). By shedding light on how women enact their careerswith reference to both the organization and the wider socio-cultural context, it is hopedthat this cross-cultural perspective would broaden our understanding of careers beyondthe economically advanced industrialized countries that career scholars have tended tostudy and better inform the current debate on contemporary career models.

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Women’s careersin the Arab

Middle East

The paper begins with a brief overview of socio-cultural outlook in the region inorder to identify prevalent gender scripts in the region. Then, the paper reviews theliterature on academic work flexibility and women’s careers in academia to identifyorganizational scripts and women’s career patterns. Finally, the paper describes themethodology used then presents and discusses the findings of an empiricalinvestigation with 23 academic women in the Arab Middle East region highlightinghow women enact their careers within this double-bounded context.

The socio-cultural outlook in the Arab Middle East: identifying gender scriptsThe Arab Middle East is an interesting context to study women’s careers as theconservative and patriarchal socio-cultural context in which they live and work hasbeen found to have profound implications on the unfolding of their careers (McElweeand Al-Riyami, 2003; Metle, 2002). Moreover, in collective cultures, career, as dened byboundaryless career researchers, does not necessarily take center stage (Pringle andMallon, 2003). An examination of the socio-cultural outlook of the region is useful todevelop an understanding of cultural realities that might be accountable for shaping/binding women’s careers by generating specific gender scripts that women referencewhen enacting their careers. The paper focusses on three institutional factors that havebeen evidenced in the literature to shape/bind women’s career choices and patternsin the region; these are Islam, patriarchy, and family centrality. These factors, asillustrated below, dictate scripts and specific gender roles that women factor in whenenacting their careers.

Scripts dictated by IslamIslam can have many implications on the relationships between employees, employers, andthe state (Syed and Ali, 2010) in most Muslim majority countries (MMCs). For example, astudy done by Sidani and Showail (2013) elucidates how a large organization in SaudiArabia translated its audience’s attachment to religion into a stakeholder perspectivewithin the firm. Furthermore, in a regional study on academic institutions in the MENAregion, Karam and Afiouni (2013) have evidenced the existence of indigenous HR policiesin universities across the MENA region, which appear to accommodate the Islamic dutiesof practicing Muslims such as Hajj leaves, long bereavement leaves, daily prayer brakesjust to name a few. Vidyasagar and Rea (2004) have examined the careers of Saudi womendoctors and have highlighted problems women doctors need to overcome, some beingshared with their counterparts elsewhere, and others peculiar to the Saudi society namely aconstitution and legal system that sanctions male superiority, and segregation of the sexesin all areas of life. Many of the interviewed women considered that Islam defines genderroles and responsibilities and these are taken very seriously (Vidyasagar and Rea, 2004).

It should be noted that Islamic guidelines are interpreted in various ways according tothe different social context and history of the countries with Muslim majorities (Syed andAli, 2010). In sum, many patriarchal interpretations of Islam generate specific scripts thatwomen need to reference when enacting their careers to maintain their legitimacy in thesociety. A Muslim female employee experiences or is expected to experience the feelingsof inhibition and humility. Her mobility outside her house is restricted on the pretext ofmodesty and the related notions of family honor and tribal traditions (Syed, 2010).

Scripts dictated by patriarchal structuresThe Arab Middle East region has been described as a highly patriarchal socio-culturalcontext favoring a traditional division of labor (Metcalfe, 2008) and prompting specific

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gender roles that affect women’s career choices, patterns, and conceptualizations ofsuccess (Afiouni and Karam, 2013). Metcalfe (2006), researching within the context of theArab Middle East, indicated that many working women from Jordan, Bahrain, and Omanwere expected to resolve conflict by quitting their job after marriage. For women whodecide to pursue a successful career, meeting the expectations of home and work become asalient challenge of day-to-day life (Hutchings et al., 2012; Mehdizadeh, 2011; Milkie et al.,2010) as the patriarchal interpretations of Islam (Metcalfe, 2007; Omair, 2008) influencesthe norms of conduct perceived to be most suitable for women. For example, many womenhave refused a promotion in order not to undermine their husbands (Marmenout, 2009)which suggests that women cannot enact their careers without accounting for specificgender scripts. For example Karam and Afiouni (2013) note that the prevailing genderideology present in the region poses a threat toward the advancement of women in theworkplace. Women mainly adhere to positions which are contextually acceptable, as theiremployment revolves around the health, education and social care sector (Metcalfe, 2008;Hutchings et al., 2012) with most women occupying lower levels roles (Metcalfe, 2008).Syed (2010) argues that the originally protective provisions for women in the principalsources of Islam were gradually transformed in the subsequent periods into strictpatriarchal institutions of female seclusion and gender segregation.

Scripts dictated by family centralityIn their exploration of women’s conceptualizations of career success in the region,Afiouni and Karam (2013) have evidenced how notions of family are present withinwomen’s definitions of career and highlighted, in line with Metcalfe (2008) and Omair(2008) that work and family domains in this region are interdependent as decisions inone sphere are directly related to the other. For instance, females in Lebanon andMiddle Eastern countries are culturally raised to adopt certain traits in their childhoodsocialization such as the importance of caring for their husbands and their husbands’families (Tlaiss and Kauser, 2011). Indeed, the privileged position of family and thedynamics of gender roles are enshrined in the constitutions of many Arab states andare intimately shaped by the complexities of patriarchy (Sonbol, 2003), and religion(Aycan, 2004; Ismail et al., 2005; Tlaiss and Kauser, 2011). The superiority of the familyover paid work, both from a social and an individual perspective, needs to beaccounted for when examining work-family relations for women in the Middle Easterncontext (Neal et al., 2005). Clearly, family centrality in the region will generate specificgender scripts that can shape/bind women’s career choices and patterns.

In sum, the paper suggests that the socio-cultural outlook in the region, namely theprevalence of Islam, patriarchy and family centrality represent the context in whichwomen in the region are embedded and generate specific gender scripts that shape/bind their occupational choices and the enactment of their careers. Thus, the firstresearch proposition is:

RP1. The institutional context in the Arab Middle East (e.g. Islam, patriarchy andfamily centrality) dictates specific gender scripts that women reference whenchoosing an occupation and enacting their careers.

The flexibility of academic work and women’s careers in academiaAcademic careers are seen as being the most progressive, since individuals are entirelyself-directed agents, relying solely on their output to manage, model and shift theircareers at will (Baruch, 2004; Baruch and Hall, 2004; Hall, 2004). Academics can easily

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make career moves within their academic disciplines (Baruch, 2013), reflecting thusthe features of the boundaryless career model. A great emphasis has been placed onthe academic’s agency and academic careers are seen as mostly self-initiated andself-managed (Baruch, 2013).

Of particular interest to this study is the notion of flexibility of academic work,examined within the institutional realities of the Arab Middle East depicted above.Flexibility clearly weakens organizational boundaries and provides more room forwomen’s agency when enacting their career. Nevertheless, academic work flexibility,I argue, exerts more pressure on women to enact gender scripts dictated by thesocio-cultural context. Due to the lack of studies that have studied the impact of workflexibility on women’s careers in the region, I will draw on research conducted in othercontexts to document this point of view.

Work flexibility has traditionally been investigated within the work-life balanceliterature. For example, Lu et al. (2008) found that organizational policies and practicessuch as work flexibility could alleviate feelings of work interfering with family, furtherenhancing job satisfaction and organizational commitment. In the same line, Richmanet al. (2008) found that workplace flexibility influences employee’s decisions to joinan organization, their satisfaction with their jobs, and their plans to stay with theiremployers (Richman et al., 2008).

In the academic career literature, a couple of studies have addressed geographicflexibility in academia (Richardson and Zikic, 2007; Richardson, 2009), and have foundevidence that both support and challenge the image of academia as a geographicallyflexible profession (Richardson, 2009). A career in higher education provides facultywith flexibility in terms of office presence and in the research process, which makesacademia a tempting career, namely for individuals with family responsibilities(Bailyn, 2003; Baruch, 2013; Santos and Cabral-Cardoso, 2008). If women do not seeinstitutional alternatives for childcare available to them and they wish to have a family,they may choose an occupation that allows for greater flexibility so they can meet thedemands of both roles (Powell and Mainiero, 1992).

The impact of academic work flexibility on women’s careers has been addressed inthe Australian context by Dever and Morrison (2009). The authors found, that womenwelcomed the flexibility that academia often affords to work from home. Nevertheless,they pointed that this flexibility had its flipside with broken home-work boundariesand intensifying working conditions (Barrett and Barrett, 2011). Similarly, Currieet al. (2000) caution that despite the flexibility and autonomy in academic timearrangements universities still demand complete dedication to work. Academic careersare defined by a long-hours culture, characterized by early meetings and workinglate, which creates conflict for women who have family obligations and renders theconciliation between work and family, and parenting in particular, a very difficultendeavor (Doherty and Manfredi, 2006; Gatta and Roos, 2004; Jacobs and Winslow,2004; Raddon, 2002). Moreover, the prevalent promotion scripts put pressure on facultyto publish in order to achieve tenure within the first seven years of their career (Bailyn,2003) and the biological clock for childbearing overlaps with the promotion clock,which renders both roles in the private and the public sphere highly demanding.The norms of a successful academic led several women to express doubts aboutsustaining academic careers (Wilson and Nutley, 2003). With flexible workloads andrelatively few hours to be spent at the university, women lose their power of absencefrom the household and are left to handle family responsibilities (Probert, 2005).Women also acknowledged that research was the only thing that could be put off when

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the combination of teaching, administration, children and research created overload(Probert, 2005).

The literature on women’s career in academia reviewed above clearly highlights theimportance of academic flexibility and the interface between the family and workdomains, thus the second research proposition:

RP2. The flexibility of academic work makes academia an attractive occupation forwomen in the region because it allows them to enact their career in reference totheir gender role.

Research designCross-cultural knowledge and meaning are local and culture specific (Segall et al.,1998). A qualitative methodology is therefore well suited to generate new insights froman understudied context (Patton, 2005).

The sampleThe sample included women academics from seven Arab Middle Eastern countries:Lebanon, Palestinian territories, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, Oman, and the Kingdom ofSaudi Arabia. Since the study is exploratory in nature, the sample choice was informedby the concern to select diverse countries from the region, relying on the Arab humandevelopment report to identify countries that score differently on gender and humandevelopment indices but that bared similar cultural outlooks to allow for a betterunderstanding of nuances across countries. This was particularly important for thelarger project investigating work-life balance and career issues among femaleacademics in the region from which this paper is derived.

The sample included 23 local academic women distributed as such: six fromLebanon, six from Qatar, seven from the Palestinian territories, and one from each ofOman, Jordan, Egypt and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Almost half of the women inthe sample were in their early career (11 women assistant professors), six in their mid-career (associate professors) and six have a well-established career (full professors). Ofthe 23 women interviewed, 19 were married, one was separated and three weredivorced. Most of them had one to two children (14 out of the 23 women in the sample),while eight women had three to five children. Only one divorced woman was childless.The sample characteristics are listed in Table I.

Data collectionSemi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted face to face or via skype andlasted from 45 minutes to an hour-and-a-half. The interviewees had the choice to beinterviewed in English or Arabic and all interviews were audiotaped and transcribedverbatim for analysis capturing the original language preference. When conducted inArabic, each transcript was then translated to English and the accuracy of thetranscripts was checked by the bilingual researcher by listening to the tapes.

The interview protocol tapped into a number of issues including biographicalinformation, and four guiding questions revolving around their academic careers: whydid you choose academia as a line of work, what influenced you? Please describe a typicalday for you. Are your working hours flexible? How does this impact your career? Whatare the support mechanisms available to you at your university and which ones do youuse? These questions are as a sub-set from a larger interview protocol designed toexamine work-life balance issues among female academics in the region.

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Data analysisThis paper adopted the conventional content analysis approach (Hsieh and Shannon,2005) and avoided using preconceived categories (Miles and Huberman, 1994), allowingthe categories to flow from the data. Many career researchers have adopted thismethod namely in understudied contexts where existing literature on a phenomenon islimited (Cappellen and Janssens, 2008; Claes and Heymans, 2008; Nazli, 2007). Themain advantage of this approach is gaining direct information from study participantswithout imposing preconceived categories or theoretical perspectives. Knowledgegenerated from the content analysis is based on the participants’ unique perspectivesand grounded in the actual data.

Two independent analyzers immersed themselves in the data to allow new insightsto develop. Both analyzers worked independently on reading and coding thetranscribed interviews by using the software package QSR Nvivo10. The codinginvolved reading and highlighting all the unique statements that addressed eachquestion being asked. After going through response transcripts (23 for each question),each of the analyzers reviewed their own set of statements and grouped them intomeaningful categories. Each category was reflected by a node in Nvivo. The processcontinued until all statements were placed in a category. In effect, the outcome was twolists of categories with their corresponding statements – one list for each analyzer.The analyzers then met and compared the categorized list of statements. Wheneverdiscrepancies arose, they discussed until they agreed on the rationale for groupingspecific statements under specific categories.

As a final step, the two analyzers met and carefully examined all categories andtheir respective content. They then discussed the similarities and differences between

Pseudonym(alphabetically) Country

Careerstage

Maritalstatus

Number ofchildren

Baria Qatar Middle Married 4Diala Palestinian territories Early Married 3Dima Qatar Early Married 2Farida Lebanon Early Married 2Inas Palestinian territories Middle Married 3Jamila Palestinian territories Early Married 2Khadija Lebanon Late Married 2Layal Egypt Late Married 1Malak Qatar Early Married 2Manal Lebanon Middle Married 2Mirna Oman Middle Married 3Mounia Palestinian territories Middle Married 1Nabila Lebanon Late Married 3Nawal Lebanon Middle Married 2Nour Qatar Early Married 1Ratiba Lebanon Late Divorced 2Rawan Jordan Early Married 4Rawia Qatar Early Married 2Reef Palestinian territories Early Married 4Reina Saudi Arabia Late Divorced 0Saniya Palestinian territories Late Separated 5Tala Qatar Early Divorced 1Yasma Palestinian territories Early Married 1

Table I.Sample characteristics

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all the categories and attempted to merge the existing categories into a smaller numberof categories. These categories were used to organize and group codes into meaningfulclusters (Coffey and Atkinson, 1996; Patton, 2005). The result of this exercise was theidentification of main “themes” that exemplify “perceptions and/or experiences that theresearchers saw as relevant to the research question” (Miles and Huberman, 1994).

ResultsTable II represents a thematic template that summarizes the main themes and categoriesidentified through the content analysis of the 23 interviews as well as the respondents’pseudonyms to allow the reader a better understanding of the demographic characteristicsof women whose answers fall within a specific category. The numbers in the “source”column reflect the number of respondents who mentioned a given category. The numbersin the “references” column reflect the number of instances a given category was mentioned,as one category could have been mentioned several times by one single respondent.

Reasons for choosing academiaThe analysis of the question “why did you choose academia as a line of work, whatinfluenced you?” led to the identification of eight categories of which four were salient:academia as a calling, lack of awareness/attractiveness of alternatives, allows time forthe family, and encouraged by others.

Academia as a calling. In total, 14 women in the sample expressed their choice ofacademia as a calling. They had developed an early passion for teaching andinteracting with students as well as a passion for science. Some expressed that Godhad chosen them to be teachers. Moreover, these women seem to be driven by theneed to positively influence the community and derive a sense of mission and purposefrom their work:

I like to interact with different generations and leave my mark; it’s more than finishing paperwork at an office or at a bank. Honestly, sometimes the students0 feedback brings tears to myeyes; I feel that God created me for this purpose to teach (Rawiya, Qatari).

I felt that God had chosen me to become a teacher (Reina, Saudi).

I care about two perspectives: one is research, and the second is what to contribute to thecountry. It is a mission” (Dima, Qatari).

Moreover, women expressed a passion for science and for teaching more specificallyand becoming an academic was something they longed for since their childhood:

I loved academia even before I graduated. I like research and teaching and scholarlyactivities. In teaching I feel like I’m telling students how to be good pharmacists. It isrewarding for me (Nour, Qatari).

I don’t know I think it was from the beginning when I was doing my Bachelor even beforeBachelor, I used to like to teach my other colleagues (Mirna, Omani).

I liked teaching. I used to, as a child, teach the servants we had at home how to read and write(Layal, Egyptian).

Lack of awareness/attractiveness of alternatives. Ten women mentioned the lackof awareness/attractiveness of alternatives as a reason for choosing academia.The statements below illustrate well this idea:

Growing up in the 80’s in Jordan, neither males nor females were thinking of jobs or careersother than the mindset that you’re a teacher, you’re an academic or in business; we were notaware of other careers which are now available in the area (Rawan, Jordanian).

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Name Source Reference Pseudonym (alphabetical listing)

Reasons for choosing academia

Academia as a calling 14 17 Dima, Inas, Khadija, Layal, Malak, Manal,Mirna, Nour, Rawan, Rawia, Reina, Reef,Saniya, Yasma

Lack of awareness/attractiveness of alternatives

10 11 Baria, Farida, Manal, Mirna, Mounia, Nour,Ratiba, Rawan, Rawia, Tala

Allows time for the family 9 9 Diala, Dima, Farida, Layal, Malak, Mounia,Nawal Rawia, Tala,

Encouraged by others 9 12 Baria, Diala, Dima, Jamila, Mirna, Nawal,Rawan, Reina, Saniya

Scholarship opportunity 6 6 Iman, Mirna, Mounia, Nabila, Reef, YasmaI found myself in academia 4 4 Baria, Diala, Dima, ManalAllows for growth andintellectually stimulating

3 4 Dima, Nabila, Tala,

Perceived as a respectful job forwomen

2 3 Dima, Ratiba

Typical dayTime spent on academic activities

Long day-multiple roles 17 19 Farida, Iman, Inas, Jamila, Khadija, Layal,Malak, Manal, Nabila, Nawal, Nour, Ratiba,Rawan, Rawia, Reef, Reina, Tala

Teaching related activities 8 10 Baria, Diala, Dima, Manal, Mirna, Mounia,Nawal, Saniya

Service related activities 7 7 Inas, Layal, Mirna, Mounia, Nabila, Nawal,Ratiba

Time spent on non-academic activitiesCaregiving activities 12 14 Dima, Farida, Khadija, Malak, Manal, Ratiba,

Rawan, Reef, Reina, Saniya, Tala, YasmaHousehold commitment 9 12 Baria, Diala, Inas, Malak, Mounia, Nawal,

Reina, Saniya, YasmaHealth and spiritualwell-being

6 8 Diala, Malak, Rawan, Reina, Tala, Yasma

Flexibility of academic workNo/minimal flexibility 8 8 Baria, Inas, Mirna, Nour, Rawia, Reina, Tala,

SaniyaFlexibility supportscaregiving

5 8 Farida, Manal, Mounia, Ratiba, Rawan

Flexibility supports one’scareer

5 5 Farida, Jamila, Ratiba , Reef, Yasma

Flexibility not felt because ofwork overload

3 3 Manal, Nabila, Nawal

University support mechanismsLack of University support 10 10 Baria, Dima, Farida, Inas, Jamila, Nabila,

Rawan, Rawia, Reina, YasmaFinancial support 6 6 Dima, Layal, Manal, Nawal, Nour, TalaAd-hoc flexibility and childcaresupport

6 6 Layal, Mirna, Mounia, Ratiba, Reef, Yasma

Colleagues 3 3 Dima, Ratiba, TalaUnstable support 2 4 Rawan, Reef

Table II.Thematic template

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Pharmacy work in the Middle East is very bad. So I will not be satisfied to work as apharmacist. I feel that the level of education I got is much higher than the practice. In teaching Ifeel like I’m telling students how to be good pharmacists. It is rewarding for me” (Nour, Qatari).

Among these women, some talked about their previous work experience, and how itwas unattractive due to limited intellectual stimulation, rigid schedule, or lack ofappreciation and rough work environment:

I never thought I would be in a university, ever. I love to teach but I didn’t plan to get into it.When I studied public health I thought I would always be in the field, getting my hands dirty.And when I came back to Lebanon I knew that having a PhD would give me a sort of status,because I am female. It would give me status vis-a-vis work that I wouldn’t have if I was justholding a master degree. So this is mainly why I got my PhD. If I had stayed in the statesI don’t know if I would have ever. I love my job as health educator, so I was very happy as afield worker. So I got my PhD, we moved back, at the time I was working at [an NGO] andI remember feeling I wanted to be 60 and grey because that’s the only time you get credit, age.So I knew it wasn’t going to work, being in the field, doing what I want, because it is not a jobpeople give you credit for, namely when you don’t have any credentials like age, etc. So I wentinto academia. (Ratiba, Lebanese).

Allows time for the family. Looking back over their choice of academia as a line ofwork, nine women mentioned the attractiveness of academic work flexibility as itallows spending time with the family. Women’s concerns revolved primarily aroundcaregiving responsibilities as some of them had children before joining academia orwere engaged to be married and anticipated childcare responsibilities:

I had a child by then; my son was three when I left for my PhD. When I came back he was sixyears old. So it was an easier profession to pursue for a mom (Mounia, Palestinian).

I did not want to leave the kids; Academia is different than a 9 to 5 job (Malak, Qatari).

I liked the flexibility of academia as opposed to the industry jobs. I wanted to stay with myfamily, which the flexibility of academia allowed me to do (Tala, Qatari).

Encouraged by others. Nine women attributed their choice of academia as a profession tothe encouragement of others, namely their family members and professors:

I remember Dr. [Rami] asked me if had taught before, in told him no. He told me I did have theability to teach and deliver information in a simple way. He was a very renowned professor inpsychology in Egypt. He told me I can take students to another level of thinking, and thatencouraged me to continue through that path. Some doctors did leave footprints in my life(Baria, Qatari).

Since I was young, and since I was in the university, I saw my professors who taught me asrole models. I used to imagine myself as a professor one day (Jamila, Palestinian).

Family members, both within the nuclear and extended family seem to play a role inencouraging women’s education and choice of academia as profession. Thisencouragement to pursue an academic career was due to several factors: the womenexcelled as students, the women’s family valued education, and because academia wasperceived as a family friendly job that would allow the women to continue catering forher family responsibilities:

I grew up in a family where it was a highly educated family and my father was a physician,and a very distinguished physician. Actually he’s a graduate from [university name]. So Ithink that created an environment in the house, as well as they spent nine years in the Stateswith a child, they were encouraged to think outside the box, to explore, and they pushed meor directed me to academia (Rawan, Jordanian).

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My father passed away while I was doing my masters. I had an uncle who worked in the USand came for a visit with his family. He asked about my studies, and when he knew I gotdistinction, he said I should go do a PhD in the US. I stayed at my uncle’s and then I went outand was on my own. I stayed for 5 years and got a PhD (Reina, Saudi).

Typical dayWomen were asked to describe how they spent a typical day. The analysis of thisquestion resulted in six categories that were grouped under two themes. The first theme,“time spent on academic activities” comprised three categories: long day/multiple roles,teaching-related activities, and service-related activities. The second theme, “time spenton non-academic activities,” comprises three categories: caregiving activities, householdcommitment, and health and spiritual well-being.

Time spent on academic activities. Due to space limitation constraints, this sectionwill briefly brush the three categories obtained under this theme, as they reflect thetraditional pillars of academia, namely teaching, research and service, and highlightthe academic scripts that women enact to build their academic careers.

As can be noted from the illustrative quotes below, a typical day for many of thesewomen (17 out of 23) is a long and busy day where they try to squeeze many activitiesincluding teaching, research and service. Many expressed sleep deprivation as aconsequence of their long and demanding days:

When I’m at work, I’m concentrated and fully absorbed. And I’m actually squeezing myself tofinish everything on time. I’m there; I’m doing my morning meetings, seeing the students,teaching, I’m constantly working, like a beehive. I try to finish everything before the evening.When I’m in the office hours I answer emails for the students, then I meet with the graduates, I’mfully absorbed and being very efficient. If I want to take a coffee break, it’s while I’m working [y]Sometimes, when I’m very busy I wake up at night, I don’t sleep well. I remember things I shoulddo. When we have grants [y] every semester, you have a few weeks that are very busy, when wehave finals that coincide with grants. For a few weeks I don’t sleep well (Khadija, Lebanese).

Moreover, there seems to be an important focus on teaching-related activities, whichreveals an unusual heavy teaching load as well as much time spent on interacting withstudents as illustrated by the quotes below:

I’m a morning person so usually I ask them to schedule my classes in the morning startingeight o’clock. So I leave home and I arrive to college early to have time to prepare for the class,check if anything is missing. And then I go to classroom. Sometimes I have a break betweenthe lectures, and sometimes I don’t. When I don’t have a break, I just go from one classroom toanother to get done with my lectures. And then once I’m done we might have meetings, anddefinitely you know that our job does not stop only at the college. When I leave the college Itake all the papers with me; either to mark an assignment, or to prepare an exam paper or tomark a project. So I feel that work follows me at home (Mirna, Omani).

Another salient category under the theme “time spent on work-related activities” is theservice-related activities. Seven women explicitly mentioned the heavy load of servicethey have to carry out and this load seems to cause them a high level of stress:

I’m at the office at seven in the morning. On the best day, I leave at around eight in the evening,and then on Saturdays I work from two to seven and then Sundays from seven to seven again.This is how it’s been for the past 3 years, since I’ve moved to administration. The problem isthat one is so conscientious so responsible that you end up doing a lot of things because youdon’t want things to fail. Men probably don’t think that way but women are more sensitive tothe details and the perceptions and they’re not confrontational. They want an environmentwhere everyone is cooperative, and then they work on their success (Nawal, Lebanese).

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Time spent on non-academic activities. In addition to enacting academic scripts, womenseem to also enact gender scripts as they make explicit references to their childcareresponsibilities as well as their household commitments and spiritual well-being,reflecting thus the three predominant institutions in the country: Islam, patriarchy, andfamily centrality.

Caregiving activities. In all, 12 women in the sample explicitly mentioned caregivingactivities when asked about describing a typical day. The quotes below illustrate thetype of caregiving activities they offer to their children and dependents, within thecontext of a typical working day:

I wake up in the morning, I spend some time with my daughter, she’s seven years old, withmy son a little bit, and then I come down to my office, teach if I have classes, work on myresearch. Then at noon, I go back home because I live on campus, so I pick up my daughterfrom school, take her home, offer lunch to her, and sit with her a little bit. My husband comesback home at five, then we have dinner at around six and then after six if I still have work Iput my daughter to sleep and come back to my office, if not, we go out, visit family. That’s atypical day (Farida, Lebanese).

Household commitments. Nine women mentioned time spent on household commitmentswhen asked to describe a typical day. These commitments revolve around cooking, doinghousehold chores, and spending time with their husbands and children:

In the afternoon, if I have something to cook, I cook something. If not, I go do some shoppingbefore going back to the house. Usually I am the one who does the shopping, and I am the onewho does the cooking; sometimes my husband cooks or my daughter, but most of the time it’sme. After that I clean the kitchen and what is left in the house [y] in the evening, I watch TVwith my husband for some time; he likes watching TV for very long hours and I get reallydepressed, but to be courteous I stay a bit with him for a couple of hours (Inas, Palestinian).

Health and spiritual well-being. Six women talked about their health and spiritualwell-being. Mostly, women mentioned praying and exercising as part of a typicalworking day:

In the evening, I exercise for one hour because I don’t have children. My son is at universityand then I come back for dinner (Mounia, Palestinian).

So I wake up usually at 6.30, I pray Al-Fajir I’m a muslim (Rawan, Jordanian).

I go back home, I pray of course, then I work from 5 to 7, then I either exercise or I watch amovie. I always have my laptop with me while watching the movie (Tala, Qatari).

Flexibility of academic workThe analysis of the following question: “is your work flexible, and how does it affect yourcareer?” led to the identification of four themes: no/minimal flexibility, flexibility supportscaregiving, flexibility supports career, and flexibility not felt because of work overload.

No/minimal flexibility. Eight women working in Oman, Palestine, Qatar, and SaudiArabia do not perceive their work as flexible, which points to a potentially differentmodel of academic life in those countries that would be worthy of further exploration.These women convey that they are expected to report daily to work and some did noteven have a say in scheduling their own classes. Others enjoy some flexibility inchoosing how to schedule their classes, but they need to report to work on a daily basisor provide an excuse for missing a working day:

We are given the freedom to choose our office hours but not the lecture hours. For example,today I have a lecture from 12 until 2 pm, but tomorrow I have a lecture at 8 am; the university

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doesn’t take into consideration that I am also a mom and that I would want to preparebreakfast for my family. This is the university policy in all faculties (Rawia, Qatari).

Not really flexible, I have to be at the office for some time (Inas, Palestinian).

We have a bit of flexibility that if you don’t have a morning class, and you have an eveningclass then you can come a little bit late (Mirna, Omani).

Flexibility supports caregiving. When asked about whether their work was flexible andhow it supported their career, five women highlighted the implications of theiracademic work flexibility on their personal lives as opposed to their career, and statedthat they find the flexibility of academic work very useful to cater for caregivingresponsibilities:

In academia, I am flexible; I can go only to my lecture if I want, and then deal with everythingelse. So if my child is sick I can stay home, go to my lecture and come back. If I need to take herto a friend’s house, I can look at my schedule and take her because of the flexibility of myschedule. So actually, because of this, there’s much less conflict than if you were an employee.And once I told the children, do you want me to change jobs and become an employee? I can geta lot much better salary, but I would only get 21 days of vacation. And they said no, we don’twant that because I’m always with them and taking them to every activity (Rawan, Jordanian).

Many of these women showed concern that the schooling system assumes thatmothers are not working and often requires school meetings or parent’s involvementduring working hours:

I don’t think school systems here are working on the assumption that mothers are working.So they tell you today that tomorrow they’ll be making a salad and your child is supposed tohave tomatoes, for example. So you don’t get home till 6 and you’re running around trying tofind tomatoes for the next day. Or they tell you that Friday from 10-12 there’s a big finalpresentation of the year. They don’t expect dads to be there, of course; they expect the momsto be there. So they have no concept that the mother is working. So the benefit of academia is,unless you’re teaching, you have the flexibility to say I’m not going to be here from 10-12because I need to go to this thing that my child is doing, or the parent-teacher conference.That’s a very important part of academia, because you have the flexibility, especially whenyou have kids (Ratiba, Lebanese).

Flexibility supports one’s career. Five women perceived flexibility of academic work asbeneficial to their careers, as it allowed them to pace their research and consultingwork according to their personal preferences and life circumstances:

Our job isn’t an office job. It is only important to finish your work whenever you can. If a day Idon’t go to campus, and stay at home, I give them my number and they can contact me.If I have a deadline, I am allowed to work from home. It is more comfortable an easier athome. So they are very flexible with us at the university” (Yasma, Palestinian).

That’s a very important part of academia, as opposed to a bank for example. We don’t clock inor out, people who are comfortable working in the morning work in the morning and peoplewho are comfortable working in the evenings work in the evenings, nobody tells you what todo, as long as you do your teaching and your research (Ratiba, Lebanese).

Flexibility not felt because of work overload. Three Lebanese women mentioned thattheir work was flexible but did not perceive it as such due to work overload:

They are flexible in the sense that I can come at 9 when my class starts but I cannot do thatbecause I have to be here early enough to make sure that all class preparations are there. AndI can leave work after class but I cannot because there are a lot of preparations for the nextclass, for the meetings, for the projects. In a sense, the nature of the work that I’m in does not

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allow flexibility. By policy there is flexibility but in reality the type of work and the roles thatI have do not allow for flexibility(Nawal, Lebanese).

When you spend 12 or 15 hours here, there’s no time to work at home. Sometimes I do, I takemy laptop with me anywhere. If I didn’t have all these responsibilities I would be workingflexibly (Nabila, Lebanese).

University support mechanismsWhen asked about the support mechanisms available to them at their university andwhich ones they use, women mostly referred to personal support mechanisms and didno allude to university support unless probed to do so. The most salient categoriesidentified under university support are the lack of university support, followed byfinancial support, and ad-hoc flexibility and childcare support.

Lack of university support. Ten women mentioned explicitly the lack of supportexisting at their university. The lack of support is expressed in terms of work overload,lack of daycare, discrimination, and lack of financial support. The followingare illustrative statements of the various types of non-support expressed by womenin the sample:

The university does not support us. It actually overloads us, especially the people that work alot (Baria, Qatari).

There is no day care at the university. They are afraid that women might leave work and gothere all the time. The university is located far from Jerusalem. With the wall in between, ittakes me an hour to get there instead of ten minutes (Yasma, Palestinian).

Financial support. Six women talked positively about the level of financial supportavailable to them at their university. Many expressed that their universities werethriving to build a research culture and were providing the financial support needed inthe form of grants, conference funding, course release, and other fringe benefits such ashealth insurance and schooling:

The university supports us in whatever needs we have. For example in pre-tenure, if we needa semester off we can take it. The professors get university support in terms of grants,research grants, teaching release, etc. (Layal, Egyptian).

The university helps in giving professional development workshops. For instance I am goingto a conference in the summer about Leadership in Academia in the UK. So the universityreally invests in us (Tala, Qatari).

Ad-hoc flexibility and childcare support. Six women mentioned the ad-hoc flexibility (i.e.the responsiveness of their universities to their caregiving needs) and the childcaresupport, namely in-house daycares, stopping the promotion clock during the maternityleave, and the possibility to go part-time and then full-time again as a supportmechanism provided by their universities:

The university can be very flexible, they can schedule your classes to finish earlier so you cango back home for your baby. Another thing is that we have a daycare at the university thataccepts your child from the age of one year. And it’s good because your child and yourself willbe there, especially if you don’t have the support at home, like if there’s a female who does nothave a mother, her mother is living far away, she does not have a nanny then yes. You have topay a fee but it’s not much (Mirna, Omani).

There is child care in the university, there is a nursery, not only for professors but foreveryone who works there (Layal, Egyptian).

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There are also structural support mechanisms within the university, like the fact that I’vegotten teaching release for the service and administrative tasks. I’ve also gone part time for awhile when my kids were young, there is the stopping of the clock for maternity that is alsohelpful (Ratiba, Lebanese).

Discussion and avenues for further researchThis paper has examined how women academics from the Arab Middle East enacttheir career with reference to double-bounded contexts: academia as an institutionencoding an organizational career scripts and gender as an institution encodingspecific gender roles.

The results of the study point to a series of institutional factors shaping/bindingwomen’s career enactment, confirming the importance of context in shaping individuals’careers. The career stories of women in the sample reflect well specific gender scriptsrooted in the three salient institutional factors in the region: Islam, patriarchy, and familycentrality, as well as academic scripts, anchored in the three pillars of research, teaching,and service. In fact, the results show that the choice of academia as a profession is mainlydriven by the subjective perception of an academic career as a calling, the lack ofattractiveness of other career options in the region, and the appeal of the flexibilityof academic work. Furthermore, the findings highlight both organizational (lack ofmentoring and university support) and cultural factors (Islam, patriarchy, and familycentrality) that shape/bind women’s careers choices and patterns allowing thus fora better understanding of local constraints to the boundaryless career view in the ArabMiddle East context. In order to address the two research propositions, the discussionwill center around two key findings: the view of academic career as a calling, suggestingthus a more subjective perception of careers; the importance of organizational andinstitutional factors in shaping/binding women’s careers. Finally, I will reflect upon theinteraction between the two; when individuals enact their careers, they also enact theenvironment in which they are embedded (Arthur et al., 1999). Through the enactment oftheir career scripts, individuals may impact back upon both the career scripts availableand indeed their institutional contexts (Duberley et al., 2006).

The academic career as a callingThe findings of this study point to the subjective view of an academic career asa calling. According to Dik and Duffy (2009), individuals with callings and vocationsconnect their work to an overall sense of purpose and meaningfulness toward other-oriented ends, but only individuals with callings perceive the impetus to approachwork in this manner as originating from a source external to the self. The desire to finda job that has meaning and purpose can be an important component in the careerdecision-making process (Lips-Wiersma, 2002).

Previous studies on women in academia also reported similar results. For example,several African-American women described their careers in education as callings, despiteentering teaching only because societal barriers prevented pursuit of their preferredcareer choices (Loder, 2005). Moreover, in two studies of predominantly white Christianmothers working in academic settings, participants reported feeling called to bothmotherhood and their careers. They described the nature of their callings as subtlydifferent across roles and noted that approaching work as a calling facilitated anadaptive approach to coping with inter-role conflict (Oates et al., 2005; Sellers et al., 2005).

The enactment of a calling can be the product of situational factors and anindividual’s agency with a context (Hall and Chandler, 2005). People are viewed as

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active agents capable of genuine intentionality, forethought, self-regulation, andself-reflectiveness (Bandura, 2006), but it is also assumed that this agency is influencedby complex interactions among biological, environmental, and spiritual factors (Chen,2006; Jones, 1994).

The complex interaction of environmental factors with individual agency wasapparent within our findings and is exemplified in the following quote from Dima,a Qatari assistant professor, highlighting the complex array of factors that shape/bindher choice of academia as a line of work:

I wanted to go into academia because I really had very high grade and one of my parents whois in the academic field encouraged me to [encouraged by others]. I like how I can havetime with the family [allows time for the family]. People respect those who are inacademia especially in university [perceived as a respectful job for women]. So it was agreat opportunity. It was a challenge. Eventually I got into research and it became part of me.I find myself in it [I find myself in academia]. There is a lot of creation and intellectualmerit [allows growth and intellectual stimulation]. I care about two perspectives: one isresearch, and the second is what to contribute to the country. It is a mission. [Academia as acalling] (Dima, Qatari).

By reflecting on the possible explanations behind the perception of an academic careeras a calling for women in the sample, Islamic values, along with the prevalentpatriarchy in the region could be two possible institutional factors that influencewomen’s preferences for the profession. These factors have been widely evidenced inthe literature as salient macro-level factors shaping women’s employment and careerpatterns in the region (Joseph and Slyomovics, 2001; Karam and Afiouni, 2013;Metcalfe, 2007; Moghadam, 2004) and could therefore be generating scripts thatwomen reference when enacting their careers.

In Islam, women’s education and right to work in traditional jobs such asmedicine, teaching, and nursing has become undisputed in most of the Arabworld and is allowed in religious circles (Sidani, 2005). Moreover, Islam hasemphasized the special responsibility of future mothers and elementary teachers inthe moral education of the nation (Starrett, 1998) and preaches that “the pursuitof knowledge is an obligation of every Muslim [man or woman].” In al-Muqaddimah(known as Prolegomena in Greek) of the renowned Tunisian historian andsociologist IbnKhaldun, the author highlights the aims of education, the curriculumand the skills of teaching and also provides a comprehensive overviewof the current state of Islamic knowledge. Overall, there seems to be a broadinterest among Muslims in educational principles and practice (Halstead, 2004,2007). Islam as a religion values work as a mean to express the self and to servethe society (Syed and Ali, 2010).

Moreover, patriarchy in the Arab Middle East might lead to the subjectiveperception of career as a calling because by pursuing a career, women are not aligningwith traditional gender norms. In sum, the role of work in women’s lives can provide avenue for social support, additional opportunities to experience success, and an avenuefor meaningfulness and purpose outside of traditional gender roles (Barnett and Hyde,2001; Halpern, 2005). The findings of Afiouni and Karam (2013) also point to thisdirection, stating that women’s conceptualizations of success in the Arab Middle Eastare altruistically oriented and attribute this to localized socio-cultural realities in theregion suggesting that traditional gender roles and the needs and desires of family andsignificant others will shape personal conceptualizations of career success for womenin the region.

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Organizational and institutional factors shaping/binding career choices and patternsIn addition to the importance of Islam and patriarchy in accounting for theconsideration of academic career as a calling, family centrality and the flexibility ofacademic have been found to shape/bind the careers of women in the sample.

The prevalent family centrality in the region (Moghadam, 2004; Karam et al., 2013)provides another possible explanation for the choice of academia as a line of work.The results show that the flexibility of academic work allows women to fulfill theirchildcare responsibilities, and women seem to be encouraged by others to opt for thisprofession, namely because of the flexibility it provides and its social desirability forwomen in the region as shown in the results. Inglehart and Baker (2000) suggest that insocieties where traditional values are held, these societies place great importance onparent-child ties and traditional family values. This has been evidenced to be the casein the Arab Middle East, where extended family systems are common and gender rolesare very well differentiated (Karam and Jamali, 2013; Moghadam, 2004).

Within this context characterized by family centrality, I would like to make acautionary note about academic work flexibility in the region. As much as academicwork offers some deal of flexibility, women academics embedded in the Arab MiddleEast – or any other context characterized by family centrality – may have bindingelements regarding the use of academic flexibility. Women embedded in that contextneed to fulfill the socially mandated gender roles to maintain their legitimacy (Afiouniand Karam, 2013; Karam et al., 2013), which in turn “binds” their use of flexibility foracademic work but rather helps them to adhere to existing social norms, namely usingflexibility to enact gender scripts. This might explain the results showing that theflexibility of academic work was seen as an attractive feature of an academic job, as asupport mechanism within the university context and as useful to fulfill childcareresponsibilities. Moreover, data collected from 26 universities in the region by Karamand Afiouni (2013) suggests that very little is being done in universities in the region toestablish women-centric family friendly environment, and that existing work-lifebalance policies namely are male-centric, designed to support a Muslim to balancebetween his Islamic duties and academic roles.

Furthermore, in line with Richardson (2009) calling for caution when consideringgeographical flexibility in academia, care should be taken in regards to geographicalflexibility for women in the Arab Middle East due to the traditional and conservativenature of Arab societies putting restrictions to women’s geographical mobility, namelywhen not accompanied by a male guardian (i.e. “mahram”) (Afiouni and Karam, 2013;Sidani, 2005; Vidyasagar and Rea, 2004). This could be an additional “binding” factorto women’s geographical mobility that is worthy of further investigation.

In sum, the findings of this paper support the two research propositions:

RP1. The institutional context in the Arab Middle East (e.g. Islam, patriarchy andfamily centrality) dictates specific gender scripts that women reference whenchoosing an occupation and enacting their careers.

RP2. The flexibility of academic work makes academia an attractive occupation forwomen in the region because it allows them to enact their career in reference totheir gender role.

On a final note, although the findings point toward the importance of institutionalfactors shaping women’s careers, it will be inaccurate to consider these women lacking

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agency and creative resources within societal and employment contexts (Tams andArthur, 2010). In line with Tams and Arthur (2010), the results show that attention tothe contexts in which agency is situated is essential to understand the relationshipbetween people’s enactment of agency and its outcomes. In sum, the results of thisstudy reflect both an independent and an interdependent referencing of agency forwomen in the sample. For example, the choice of academia was grounded in personalpriorities and goals as shown in the result, but a more interdependent interpretationwas evident when agency references institutions and society (Tams and Arthur, 2010)as shown when women reference both academic scripts and gender scripts whenenacting their careers.

Contexts both “shape and are shaped by the individuals who interact within them”(Griffin, 2007, p. 859). The enactment of careers is seen as a process which creates, but alsoconstantly modifies the structures of institutions and of individual lives (Arthur et al.,1999). Today, there seems to be a momentum of research pointing toward the changingfeatures of the gender institution in the Arab Middle East region (Afiouni and Karam,2013; Karam and Afiouni, 2013; Karam and Jamali, 2013; Karam et al., 2013). Conformityto the traditional gender contract and associated institutionalized rules promotinglegitimacy is being questioned to varying degrees across Arab societies (Karam andJamali, 2013). The study of Afiouni and Karam (2013) captures an interconnected and morecomplex understanding of how notions of career success are constructed through theinteraction of an individuals’ agency with his/her context. Moreover, in their investigationon the conceptualizations of work-life balance in the region, Karam et al. (2013) suggestthat women do not necessarily internalize the social expectations placed on them. Ratherwomen may deploy a variety of strategic responses to bend these norms, while at the sametime maintaining legitimacy through various alternative portals (Karam et al., 2013).The alteration of both the gender scripts and the academic scripts as the result of women’scareer enactment is worthy of further investigation in the region.

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About the author

Fida Afiouni is an Assistant Professor of Human Resource Management at the Olayan School ofBusiness, American University of Beirut, Lebanon. She obtained her PhD in Human ResourceManagement and Industrial Relations from Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne University and was therecipient of the Sharjah Prize for the best doctoral thesis in Administrative Sciences in the ArabWorld for the year 2005. Her current research focusses on the interplay of HRM, careers, andgender in the Arab Middle East with a particular interest in identifying best HRM practices inthe region, HR policies in support of women’s career development, as well as individuals’ chosencareer patterns and conceptualizations of career success. Her publications have appeared in severaloutlets, the most recent being in the International Journal of Human Resource Management andWomen Studies International Forum. Fida Afiouni can be contacted at: [email protected]

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: [email protected] visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints

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