Qatari women are dominating the filed of science: An abridgement

Qatari women have long since been transmuting their workforce, having already outshined the country’s men in the higher education system. Registrations in the Qatari universities for women enrolment have doubled in numbers than that of men. Additionally, women have made remarkable progress in professional fields of engineering, information technology and media. As observed by one of the university graduates currently working as an electrical engineer at Shell Qatar, one would come across numerous female engineers and project managers in the daily course of work and also would have a lot of female associates doing a marvelous job at Shell Qatar.

The Qatar Statistics Authority acknowledges about 25,000 Qatari women to have been employed outside Qatar in 2011. That count shot up to 32,000 by the end of 2014. The Gulf Ministry of Development, Planning and Statistics in its Cultural Statistics report last year has accounted for Qatari women holding about 21 percent of the jobs in social and natural sciences, education and media.

Per the authorities, about 27 per cent of Qatari women hold jobs in Information Technology, 25 per cent in construction and 45 percent in science and related fields. Their contribution of 1.9 percent in 2001 has risen to around 8 percent by 2010.

The National Development Strategy 2011-2016 finds one of the primary factors for the female employment statistics being still behind the rates as compared to the developed countries is because women are less encouraged to work in private sectors than men due to cultural, work-environment issues and attitude barriers. The general belief is inclined towards government jobs offering flexible timings, better maternity benefits, being closer to the Qatari culture, religious holidays and food habits. These factors have resulted in Qatari female university graduates to work mostly in the public sector.

Nevertheless, the government conjectures to increase female recruitments in top government
positions and private businesses. Higher education of women plays an important role in that
context. To cite an example, a survey conducted in Qatar shows that 57 percent of Carnegie Mellon University’s overall student mass comprises of women, of which about 56 percent of women are present in the university’s Information System Program. On the other hand, Texas University at Qatar makes up to 40 percent of women enrollment and they are specialized in undergraduate degree programs in electrical engineering, chemical engineering, petroleum engineering and mechanical engineering.

At present women in Qatar do not face any restriction during their course of study or after
graduation. Education is independent of nationality, cultural background or religion. Women are at par with men in being able to choose their careers and moving ahead with their professions in the field of science. The Qatari Business Women Association, a 15-year-old organization has signed a memo with Texas University at Qatar to edify women and their families about engineering. The QBWA has also come forward to improve the participation and engagement of women in different fields.

There is steady progress in the thought process and social status of Qatar in terms of women
education and fulfilment of their academic dreams and a breakthrough to pursue their career in male-dominates fields. At times parents require the guidance of someone else to make them understand the importance of their child to pursue a particular profession and their passion about the same. Haya Al-Thani, a 26-year-old lady, etched her name in the golden letter by being the first Qatari female to graduate in the computer-science program at Qatar University and pursued masters in programming.

Apart from outstanding progress in the field of science, Qatari women have also made a
significant successful entry into arts, politics, business and several other fields because of their education. With regards to women rights, Qatar has undergone an all-round development in social justice and gender equality agenda. As a Qatari scholar, it is one’s responsibility to participate in discussions about women empowerment and equality, and involvement with the government as well as the local and global communities for the betterment of the same in future.

The last 20 years have experienced a great achievement of the Qatari women. The young women are no more bound to stay in their parents’ home and get married. They are now into higher education and lucrative careers. They are free to choose their marriage or a life partner.