Women in the Bahrain Financial Sector: Opportunities, Challenges and Strategic Choices

Abstract

The present article attempts to throw light on the social, cultural, institutional and economic influences on workforce participation of Bahraini women. It focusses on employment trends in the Bahrain financial sector, the cultural context of work, existing legal framework and work environment. Available empirical evidence suggests that while universities put great emphasis on financial education and a significant proportion of Bahraini women work in the financial sector, their career progression is distinctly slower than that of men due to a variety of socio-cultural constraints, perception bias, job requirements and policy choices. The article underscores the need for an enhanced understanding of opportunities and challenges faced by women in Bahrain’s financial sector. Using bank-level public disclosures and government statistics, the article analyses opportunities and constraints of women’s work participation in the financial sector. It also emphasises the need to monitor the trends in female representation in the formal workforce through quantitative and qualitative analysis.