It is always very rewarding to get insights into different cultures and to learn from them. Last week I had the opportunity to present at the first women´s conference of the Arab Science and Technology Foundation in Dubai.

The conference should probably be regarded as a historical moment. It was the first time that female researchers from different Arab countries have come together to exchange experiences in professional development and to discuss the most burning issues relating to business success.  Even if many women are capable of overcoming cultural, religious and political constraints so that they can pursue their own careers, there is still a long way to go to bringing more women into decision-making positions.

In Saudi Arabia, for example, 60 per cent of students are female, but only 1.3 per cent of women are board members of major companies. What happens to all these highly qualified women when they leave university?!

Looking at the unemployment rates of graduates in the Middle East, the percentage of women is extraordinarily high. So there we are. There is obviously still a barrier to hiring qualified women for respective positions. It is interesting to see that, in Dubai, it is still common practice for job advertisements to state a preference for men. Women don’t even seem to get a chance to apply.

Whilst in Dubai, I had an opportunity to talk to some of our partners from our Graduate Entrepreneurship Training programme, including the Dubai Women´s College. I learned that there seems to be a greater demand for women to be more highly qualified in the use of technology and a greater need to help them set up their own businesses. What an excellent opportunity! I have been very pleased to see that, through our GET-IT programme we can obviously make a good contribution.

Talking to ‘Young Entrepreneurs in Dubai’, an organisation supported by the Dubai government to significantly increase the number of entrepreneurs over the next couple of years, the response has been similar. Jobs that, in the past, were made available by the government will not be funded in a similar way in the future. It seems as though graduates from universities now need to take much more personal responsibility for their future careers. And entrepreneurship is one of the answers - especially for women.

I very much hope that the Arab Science and Technology Foundation will be able to maintain the inspiring momentum of the conference and that they will continue to support women researchers in their career development. The heat is on and congratulations to all women in this region who are already on their way.

Jeannette Weisschuh, Director of Global Citizenship, HP EMEA