Hochschule Karlsruhe-Technik und Wirtschaft
Fakultät für Wirtschaftswissenschaften
Intercultural Business Communication
IMM1 – (WS 09/10)

Handout

Women in Arab Business Cultures
By Naïma YOUSSOUFI

I) In Middle East

• Women in Saudi Arabia

Status of women

Saudi Arabia is rather conservative=

• Saudi Arabia has a system of control including separate schools, inequities in legal rights, unequal access to property and jobs, and restrictions on freedom of movement imposed only on women • Women in Saudi Arabia were not allowed to vote in the country's municipal elections • The Saudi Arabian government provides educational opportunities for females as well as males. However, traditionally women were deprived of official education • Women in Saudi Arabia are not permitted to drive vehicles

Dress Code • Never show bare shoulders, stomach, calves and thighs • Wearing the hijab is enforced in Saudi Arabia. All Saudi Muslim women are required, by both law and tradition, to wear a full black cloak, called an abaya • Women should not wear bright coloured clothes or clothes that are adorned so that they may attract men's attention • Business women should make certain that their collarbones and knees are covered and that their clothes are not form-fitting • Women should always wear modest clothing in public

• Women in Bahrain
Status of women • Women are more publicly active in Bahrain than in most Arab countries • Bahraini women are highly educated and are well represented in all of the major professions, as well as various women's societies and organizations • About one-quarter of Bahraini women hold jobs outside the home • Women have the right to vote

Dress Code

• Business attire is conservative • Many Bahraini women are not completely veiled; however, some still wear a head-covering in public • Women should avoid giving