Arab women reach senior positions in the corporate sector but remain in small numbers || Newspapers (Arabic)

AL Hayat newspapers shared the findings of an international study which indicated that although women have been able to reach high positions in the corporate world, yet, their numbers have not increased much.  The study indicated that despite their small numbers, women were able reach the top positions in very influential companies.  The study indicates that there are currently 14 Arab women who hold the position of CEO in the Arab region. These were listed in Arabian Business of 2012 and include Lubna Oleyan, the CEO of Oleyan for Financing in the KSA, Amina Rustumani, the CEO of Tecom Business Parks in UAE, Shekha al Baher, the CEO of the National Bank of Kuwait. These women were also listed amongst the 50 most powerful women in the Arab region.
The study was conducted by CTPartners executive search Inc. and notes that these figures seem to indicate that women are playing a bigger role in businesses in the Arab region especially in the UAE, Kuwait, KSA and Qatar.
The Global Fortune 500 list of the most powerful corporates in the work indicates that 12 women hold the position of CEOs of the listed corporates thus representing only 2.4%of the overall leading corporates form Asia, Europe, and the USA.  These handful women now control some USD 680 billion compared to USD 102 billion in 2005.  The same report indicated that currently, only 2.6% of major companies in the world are controlled by women.  However, this still represents an increased from the total of 6 women in 2005 to 12 women this year. Although this may look like a 100% increase over the period but, in fact, represents an increase of one woman CEO per year for the entire world!

Source: Al-Hayat 8 November 2012