Championing women’s empowerment in the Middle East

The UAE has made significant progress on the gender diversity agenda, especially within the banking industry.

February 6, 2024

3 mins

Corporate & investment bankingDiversity & inclusion

This interview with Rola Abu Manneh, Chief Executive Officer, UAE, Middle East, and Pakistan was originally published on The National Newspaper in 2021 (the article contents has been revised to fit SC.com editorial guidelines).

What are your views on gender diversity in banking in the UAE?

The UAE has made significant progress on the gender diversity agenda, especially within the banking industry. Overall, the country ranks first among Arab countries in the advancement towards bridging the gender gap and is among the globally recognised for making remarkable headway in gender equality both on the country level and within the banking industry.

You’re one of the sector’s success stories. As a woman, what challenges have you faced?

One of the key challenges I’ve faced was the unconscious bias towards women, which is embedded in some corporate cultures. I witnessed several women with great potential and outstanding skill set being hampered by this bias. The metaphoric glass ceiling, most of the women face in their careers, exists, and sometimes deter women from actively succeeding in the corporate environment. In my career, shattering this glass was a challenging task. Even though overcoming this obstacle was accompanied with a considerable amount of uncertainty; it was defiantly an exciting and fulfilling experience which I encourage all women to pursue with unwavering determination.

Outline a couple of industry successes and provide a couple of areas where the sector could improve in terms of the empowerment of women

The banking industry has set the bar high for other industries in the UAE. They played a vital role in setting themselves as role models to support women in the business. Today, women make up for more than 70% of nationals employed; one of the highest rates of working Emirati women compared to other sectors.

With these impressive numbers now achieved, the time has come for the banking industry to accommodate the growing aspirations of women. The objective is to support women climb up the organisational ranks and increase female representation in leadership levels. Future leader programmes, such as the ones introduced in Standard Chartered for women, should be an industry wide phenomenon and would help meet the aspirations of women in the industry.

How does the gender pay gap play out in banking in the UAE?

Overall, wage equality for similar work, and the estimated earned income have both improved across all industries in the UAE in general and within the banking industry, specifically. The progress accelerated significantly post the legislative reforms and the Decree of Federal Law introduced in September 2020.