Representative bureaucracy in the Arab Gulf states

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to apply the lens of representative bureaucracy (RB) to women’s representation at management level in governments and government-owned companies in Arab Gulf states (AGS), and to consider the implications for government stability, legitimacy and performance. Design/methodology/approach Data were analysed of the numbers of men and women in management positions (8,936), of government and government-owned companies (846), for the six countries of the AGS. Analyses were conducted on the presence/absence of women in management for ten industry types. Findings Governments and government-owned companies in the AGS were identified as hybrid (public/private) institutions. Women were found to be underrepresented at management levels in public sector bureaucracy; women clustered in a narrow range of industries; all countries returned a high result of zero female managers in these industries. Research limitations/implications This research is limited by data collected from a single source, “Eikon”, which is a commercial database. The implication of these results is a benchmark for future studies on women’s representation at management level in governments and government-owned companies of Arab Gulf countries. Practical implications The practical implication of this study is for concerted government intervention to address gender inequality in management of governments and government-owned companies across the AGS. Originality/value This is the first study of RB in AGS and extends the theory of RB to a new geographical and cultural context. There is value in application of RB to government and government-owned companies as a regional form of hybrid public–private organisation.

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“…Include viewpoints of those involved, citizens, domestic workers, elites, expatriates. For instance, being a citizen or expatriate woman matters in the Arab Gulf states (AGS) because nationality is a leading indicator of status (Kemp et al , 2018). There are local and national women; the range may be from elite women to disadvantaged women who are socially dis-privileged.…”