Working Women
My wife is on reduced working hours due to the birth of our daughter this past December. Under Qatari law, ex-pat women are entitled to 40 days maternity leave with pay, plus one year of “mother’s hours”, ie a shortened workday to allow the mother to nurse or otherwise care for her new baby. This is at full pay of course.
It’s even better for Qatari women. They get 60 days official maternity leave, plus two years of “mother’s hours”. Considering that the birth rate here is still pretty high… an average of five children per family, this can add up to quite a bit of time off. Family always trumps work in this culture… praise God!
I think the liberal allowances are part of an effort to keep Qatari women active in the economy. A whole range of benefits open up to women who work outside the home, in addition to their salaries, so more are entering the workforce. It’s hard to get solid data on this, but it appears that the majority of single women work now, and a fair plurality of married women as well, maybe a quarter to a third, based upon informal observation.
Educational levels are rising too. Among people under forty, about half of Qataris are college educated, with women actually out-achieving men in this respect. Women typically go to college here in Qatar, whereas the men more often go abroad, although many women do go abroad as well.
Some families are hesitant to send their children (especially girls) off to a foreign university. Visions of western film depictions of collegiate life haunt these parents. For them, Qatar University has been the traditional venue of choice. Until recently this was the only local option, but now that is changing too.
It has been somewhat more difficult in recent years to obtain education visas to the United States, formerly a common choice for many Qataris for their secondary education. Add to this the hesitancy on the part of some parents to send their kids so far away, and to such a dramatically different culture, and you can see that there is an enormous demand for more local educational options.
Rather than send the Qataris to the foreign universities, the new trend is to bring the foreign universities to Qatar. Several universities have opened branches in Qatar recently, most notably Cornell and it’s new medical school. This makes the logistics of sending students to college much easier on the parents, and makes Qatar less dependent upon foreign resources for the education of it’s young people.
It’s even better for Qatari women. They get 60 days official maternity leave, plus two years of “mother’s hours”. Considering that the birth rate here is still pretty high… an average of five children per family, this can add up to quite a bit of time off. Family always trumps work in this culture… praise God!
I think the liberal allowances are part of an effort to keep Qatari women active in the economy. A whole range of benefits open up to women who work outside the home, in addition to their salaries, so more are entering the workforce. It’s hard to get solid data on this, but it appears that the majority of single women work now, and a fair plurality of married women as well, maybe a quarter to a third, based upon informal observation.
Educational levels are rising too. Among people under forty, about half of Qataris are college educated, with women actually out-achieving men in this respect. Women typically go to college here in Qatar, whereas the men more often go abroad, although many women do go abroad as well.
Some families are hesitant to send their children (especially girls) off to a foreign university. Visions of western film depictions of collegiate life haunt these parents. For them, Qatar University has been the traditional venue of choice. Until recently this was the only local option, but now that is changing too.
It has been somewhat more difficult in recent years to obtain education visas to the United States, formerly a common choice for many Qataris for their secondary education. Add to this the hesitancy on the part of some parents to send their kids so far away, and to such a dramatically different culture, and you can see that there is an enormous demand for more local educational options.
Rather than send the Qataris to the foreign universities, the new trend is to bring the foreign universities to Qatar. Several universities have opened branches in Qatar recently, most notably Cornell and it’s new medical school. This makes the logistics of sending students to college much easier on the parents, and makes Qatar less dependent upon foreign resources for the education of it’s young people.
posted by dervish at Wednesday, May 25, 2005
7 Comments:
My wife had a scholarship through the Saudi Cultural Mission here in DC. After 9/11 the numbers of Saudis sending their kids to the US has gone way down. Most stay home now or go to Europe. Women in Saudi tend to be better educated than their counterparts, but much less able to use it. My sister in law is a professor at a University in Jeddah. One of the few jobs open for women there.
Abu Sinan
Assalaamu alaikum,
What are the regular hours and what are the "mother's hours"?
This reminds me... Did you see those Brazilian women who were protesting for the rights of the women in Arab Gulf countries, while that Arab-South American summit was going on there? They were wearing niqabs and even burned one, I think? Apparently they feel sorry for the Gulf women and think they need to rescue them from their miserable lives and I guess especially from their niqabs...
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/050510/ids_photos_wl/r1621255117.jpg
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/050511/ids_photos_wl/r278320749.jpg
*looking at the Brazilian women in those pictures*
Are you sure those are women?! They look like men dressed as women! They're huge!! Oo
I also want to point out somethings. Women in general aren't forced to wear Hijab in Qatar, and Qatari women are only required to cover their hair, not their faces. Those who cover their faces do it with their own free will. Most of the women in my family, including my mother and aunts, started wearing niqab without anybody telling them to do so.
I'd also like to point out that the rape count in Qatar is much lower than in Brazil (If it exists, that is).
Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts (Design) was the first foreign university to open in Qatar in 1998. It was followed by Cornell, Texas A&M (Engineering), Carnegie-Mellon (Business and Computer Science) and soon we will be joined by Georgetown (Foreign Service and International Relations) in the fall.
Qatar is fast becoming an education destination in the Middle East -- a wonderful way to be distinguished.
And btw, I am glad another reader pointed out that we Muslims are all free to choose to cover as we like. The more wide-spread wearing of niqaab is a fairly recent phenomenon in Qatar -- something that has changed in my own 6-7 years here. While one sees veiled women here they are still in the minority. On the other hand, hijaab is something that is the norm for Gulf women, as well as many others. However, there are plenty of Muslimahs who do not cover their hair, but adopt modest dress.
Salaam Alaikum,
PM
Assalaamu alaikum,
Just wanted to clarify that I wear niqab myself, and it's ridiculous that Brazilian women think they're so much better off...
And I've been glad to see these universities opening in Qatar. I don't know what my children will want to do (they're still young0, but these are good opportunities to study and still stay in this area.
The exact benefit in "mother's hours" varies from company to company, depending on what the work day consists of.
In my wife's case, she takes a two hour break at midday to nurse our baby, shortening her day from seven to five hours.
The protests in Brazil are part of a recurring theme that we have seen quite a bit abroad. Time and again women who have no experience in the Gulf will be seen burning niqabs and decrying the oppression of women here.
It's been my experience that few of these women really sit down and talk with women who wear hijab or niqab. When they do, they usually back off a bit.
You sisters reading this are the key to educating these women. They typically won't believe what I would say, but they may listen to first hand accounts by Muslimas.
To any who are wondering about issues of niqab, and "oppression" of women in the Gulf, I would direct you to my links. There you will find several blogs by sisters in Islam. Read what they have to say, and ask them questions in the comments section. You might be surprised at what you hear!
I assume your wife would be working in the private sector, right? If so then the maternity leave is quite impressive in comparison to how it is here in Oman. I wrote about it a week ago:
http://muscati.blogspot.com/2005/05/unfair-maternity-leave.html
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