Dearth of Women Representation in the Top Management in the Banking Sector in Bahrain

Running head: WOMAN IN BANKING SETOR IN BAHRAIN
Dearth of Women Representation in the Top Management in the Banking Sector in Bahrain
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1WOMAN IN BANKING SETOR IN BAHRAIN
Abstract
While working in the banking or financial sectors, female employees faces several obstacles
on the basis of professional as well as social perspective. Several factors can be responsible
for the shortage of women executives in BBS (Bahrain Banking Sector). The aim of this
research is to find out the dearth of Women Representation in the top management of the
Banking Sector in Bahrain while analysing the real time and secondary data collection. The
research objectives of this research have been made as per the aim of the study while aligning
the scope of the study with it. It has been found that there is a need for diversity within the
board members and this can only be done by inducing female executives into the managerial
positions. Reports suggest that a company is more likely to undergo a failure when it
undergoes a crisis. Increasing of the cultural and the social awareness and promotion of the
participation of the women in all the management positions to increase the opportunity of the
women to lead the banking and the financial sector. The development of the sustainability of
the women in the Bahraini financial sector needs the continued concern of the authorities for
the effective development of the mechanisms that encourage women employment and
accelerating development in the career that enables them to take up the challenges of
leadership position.

2WOMAN IN BANKING SETOR IN BAHRAIN
Table of content
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................4
Background of the study..............................................................................................................4
Rationale of the study..................................................................................................................5
Research aim................................................................................................................................6
Research objectives.....................................................................................................................6
Research questions.......................................................................................................................7
Structure of the study...................................................................................................................7
Literature review........................................................................................................................8
Introduction..................................................................................................................................8
Women Leadership and Influence on Institution Performance and Economic Growth:.............9
Female CEOs and Chairwomen are more conservative:...........................................................12
Female Leaders and Glass Cliff and Glass Ceiling theoretical aspects.....................................13
Women’s current situation in the Bahraini Banking Sector in Bahrain:...................................17
Feminism:..................................................................................................................................21
Summary:...................................................................................................................................23
Literature gap:............................................................................................................................26
Research methodology.............................................................................................................27
Method outline...........................................................................................................................27
Research onion...........................................................................................................................27
Research philosophy and justification.......................................................................................28
Research approach and justification..........................................................................................29
Research design and justification..............................................................................................29
Research strategy and justification............................................................................................30
Data collection method..............................................................................................................31
Questionnaires:..........................................................................................................................31
Sample size................................................................................................................................32
Data analysis method.................................................................................................................33
Ethical consideration.................................................................................................................34
Summary:...................................................................................................................................35
Data collection and findings.....................................................................................................36

3WOMAN IN BANKING SETOR IN BAHRAIN
Data presentation.......................................................................................................................36
Data analysis and Findings........................................................................................................42
Conclusion and recommendation.............................................................................................48
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................48
Linking with objectives.............................................................................................................50
Recommendation.......................................................................................................................51
Limitation..................................................................................................................................52
Future scope of the study...........................................................................................................53
References................................................................................................................................54
Appendix..................................................................................................................................61

4WOMAN IN BANKING SETOR IN BAHRAIN
Introduction:
Background of the study
In this era of modernization, it is highly crucial to incorporate female representation in
the higher post in order bring prosperity in the business as well as equality in the society.
Gender diversity can be considered as a major leadership concern and it is related to the
allocation of the economic resources and human talents. Gender diverse workplace imposes
positive impact not only on the organization but also encourages the society to be
progressive. According to researchers, hiring a demographically diverse workplace has the
potential to enhance the financial performance of the organization. Several advantages of a
gender-diverse team can be pointed out. Considering the fact that men and women posses
different points of view, market insights and ides, incorporating both mal as well as female
members in a team provides the team with better problem solving skills that in turn leads to
superior performance of the organization. Apart from that, a gender diverse workplace has
been found to provide an easier access to the resources that includes various sources of
information and credit and wider industry knowledge. Not only that a workforce which is
gender diverse, allows the company to serve an increasingly diverse consumer base.
While the above mentioned factor are the chief advantages of recruiting female
employees along with male employees, several positive impact on the society can also be
pointed out. Survey demonstrates that countries with more gender diverse companies
demonstrate progressiveness and independence of women compared to countries where
women are no allowed to lead a professional life. It has been found that gender diversity in
the boardroom is lower in the Asian and the Pacific nations in comparison to Europe and
North America. Among all the countries across the world, 22 countries in the Middle East
and north of Africa ranks lowest when it comes to gender equality. In some parts of the

5WOMAN IN BANKING SETOR IN BAHRAIN
Middle Eastern countries like Bahrain, women are not allowed to work and lead a
professional life. Even in this era of modernization there prevails a backlash against the rights
and freedom of women. In Bahrain, only 36.3 percent of the women lead professional life.
Lack of women employees in the Bahraini organization can be considered a major reason
behind the deficit off women managers and executives. The gender diversity in the
boardroom is lower in the Asian and the Pacific nations in comparison to Europe and North
America. It is also important to note that the differences in the gender differences in the cross
country are related to the supply of the female leaders are all related to the economic demand.
The supply of the female leaders, on the other hand, is measured by the infant survival,
wages, labor participation and equality in education.
Rationale of the study
Considering the fact that there exists a huge difference in the behavior executed by
men and women, several researches has been conducted on the gender based behavior
variances among the male and female employees in the workplace. It has been found that
gender diversity in the audit committee impose impact on the earning management of
banking sectors. On the other hand, the total number of Bahraini employees in BBS is
14,678, which is 37 percent of the total number of employees. Out of them, the percent of
female Bahraini employee is just 25 percent o the total workforce. Only 8 percent female
employees have manage to acquire executive level of BBS and the rest 92 percent is acquired
by male executive officers. Researchers have stated that banks which are led by female
managers have less likely to undergo failure compared to banks that are being led by male
managers. The conservative decision making of the female executives can be considered as a
major reason behind this. Thus it can be clearly understood that employing female employees
in the executive position will be highly beneficial for the banking sector of Bahrain.

6WOMAN IN BANKING SETOR IN BAHRAIN
Considering the fact that enhancement in diversity of thoughts leads to better problem solving
ability, it can be understood that during crisis, a gender diverse leadership will be able to
provide a better support. Besides that, it has been seen that a socially diverse workplace with
a diversity of ethnicity, race, gender and sexual orientation are caable of being more
innovative compared to a homogeneous group. Especially when it comes to the banking
sector, it has been found out that banks with female executives have evidenced higher profit.
Moreover, during the time of decision making it has been seen than women managers takes
more conservative decisions that are capable to prevent bank failure compared to male
executives. Several factors can be responsible for the shortage of women executives in BBS
(Bahrain Banking Sector). While working in the banking or financial sectors, female
employees faces several obstacles on the basis of professional as well as social perspective.
Research aim
The aim of this research is to find out the dearth of Women Representation in the top
management of the Banking Sector in Bahrain while analysing the real time and additional
data collection to explore the topic carefully. Apart from that, another aim of this research is
to formulate suitable recommendations for the organisations involved in Banking Sectors in
Bahrain that can help to increase the number of women employees in banking sectors for
both ground level and upper management level positions.
Research objectives
The research objectives of this research have been made as per the aim of the study
while aligning the scope of the study with it. The research objectives are described below:
 To find out the current situation in the BBS in terms of women’s representation in the
high-profile positions and Executive Boards

7WOMAN IN BANKING SETOR IN BAHRAIN
 To find the cause behind the requirement of women in the high-profile positions and
Executive Boards
 To find out the barriers that impeded women’s effort to reach top management positions
in the BBS
Research questions
(1) What is the current situation in the BBS in terms of women’s representation in the
high-profile positions and Executive Boards?
(2) Why do we need women in the high-profile positions and Executive Boards?
(3) What are the barriers that impeded women’s effort to reach top management positions
in the BBS?
Structure of the study
1.
Intr
odu
ctio
n
2.
Lite
ratu
re
Rev
iew
3.
Res
earc
h
M et
hod
log
y
4.
Dat
a
pres
enta
tion
5.
Ana
lysi
s
and
inte
rpre
tati
on
6.
Con
clus
ion
and
Rec
om
m en
atio
n