Purpose -The purpose of the study is to examine whether there is a difference in the entrepreneurial intentions among male and female students in UAE. The study is extremely relevant and interesting since females in the UAE have a higher success rate in education but this has not been translated into comparable increases in employment rates. Given the social, cultural, and religious fabric of the country's indigenous society and the rising number of female graduates, this anomaly in the corporate sector might result in more female entrepreneurs in this part of the globe, as compared to the rest of the world.Design/methodology/approach -The research studies a sample of first year business students from the United Arab Emirates, namely Dubai Men's College and Dubai Women's College. The primary survey was a part of an international study involving 12 universities in Europe, Middle East and Australia. A five-point Likert scale was used for each question and dummy variables were computed based on the scores. The authors used a multivariable econometric model to assess the statistical significance of the determinants of entrepreneurial attitudes. The empirical assessment of the students' entrepreneurial propensity was based on the estimation of a logistic regression. Findings -The authors' results show that male and female students were equally strong in terms of their propensity to become future entrepreneurs. Female respondents showed higher risk-taking behavior than males, which was contradictory to past research findings that have typically found females to be more conservative in risk-taking than males. The estimation results showed that the propensity of future entrepreneurship does not depend on gender -it depended on factors like creativity, motivation and awareness. This is a very important result since the authors' sample does not follow the expected trend in the existing literature on gender differences and entrepreneurship propensities where a wide gender gap has been found.Originality/value -Both academia and practitioners have increased their efforts in promoting an entrepreneurial mindset within society. However, only a few studies have investigated entrepreneurial attitudes amongst students and no research studies have been conducted in the UAE. The authors' research fills this lacuna and shows that the efforts need to be directed towards nurturing the creativity and awareness of both male and female students for future business ventures.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to conduct a meta-analysis of existing research on gender discrimination/gender gap and women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in the UAE, specifically, and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in general because of very limited number of articles published on the subject. It will give future researchers insights into the topics, methodologies and findings of such research from 1999–2019. Design/methodology/approach This study conducts a meta-analysis of 72 articles using the Wildcard operator search method and the Boolean operator to perform an integrative literature search related to gender discrimination studies done in relationship to or specific to the UAE. Findings In total, 88 papers related to the UAE and gender gap and women were identified. The articles were narrowed down to the ones published in high-ranked or Scopus journals (72). The findings suggest a decreasing trend in gender discrimination, but the issue still persists, requiring efforts from policy-makers, society and government to ensure gender parity is achieved. Academic research on women in STEM/SET workplace, specific to the UAE and the region, continue to slowly advance, with very few articles published in the same. Practical implications The study provides insights into gender gap research done in the past ten years specific to the UAE national women and gender gap in general and their career choices and prospects in the STEM/SET domain. Social implications There is a need to focus research on Emirati women in STEM careers to develop more insights into gender gap perceptions of Emirati women and identify challenges and methods to close the gender gap in STEM careers. Originality/value This paper brings a holistic perspective to the meta-analysis of research on the gender gap and women in the UAE’s STEM domain.
PurposeIn today's world, entrepreneurship is seen as the vital source for economic growth and education is a vital component in the creation and development of entrepreneurial attitudes. It is, therefore, natural to consider students as the primary resource of future entrepreneurs. To this end, the purpose of this paper is to carry out an empirical research amongst females in their first year of business studies in Dubai, providing a descriptive analysis of students' entrepreneurial intentions.Design/methodology/approachA primary survey amongst female first‐year business studies students in Dubai was conducted. A five‐point Likert scale was used for each question and mean scores were generated from the ranks.FindingsThe results show that the young female students in Dubai are positive regarding the role that universities can play in fostering their interest towards entrepreneurship, both for their education and the incubator for their new venture.Practical implicationsSignificant scope for promotion of entrepreneurship in the education system in the United Arab Emirates is found. Emirati females students showed a high inclination to become entrepreneurs provided they underwent a specialized entrepreneurial Business Program. More attention is required by policy makers and higher education authorities to foster “hands‐on” entrepreneurship as a part of business studies program.Originality/valueBoth academia and practitioners have increased their efforts in promoting entrepreneurial mindset within the society. However, only a few studies have investigated entrepreneurial attitudes amongst students; even fewer have considered entrepreneurial intentions of females and no studies have been conducted in the Middle East. This paper fills this gap.
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