Women’s Ascents to Executive Roles in the Middle East and Africa: The Potential of Swift Changes in the Face of Stagnated Progress

Around the world, women learn less, earn less, and have far fewer assets, opportunities and professional authority than men. This occurs at a cost to women’s own achievements and agency, as well as to the organizations and countries in which they work and live. One striking manifestation, and arguably mechanism, of this inequality is the dearth of women in the highest positions in organizations. My dissertation will examine women entrepreneurs in environments where their professional accession seem the least likely, yet who have risen to the highest management positions in their organizations and founded companies that are thriving. While scholars understand the myriad reasons that women do not make it to the top organizations, existing research cannot explain why some do and it is to this end that I propose my dissertation research. Furthermore, I show the way in which women can make swift and dramatic changes that have impact on their communities without waiting generations.