Bain & Company research indicates that 70 percent of women feel that gender bias and stereotypes are their main challenges, along with inadequate recruitment processes, lack of mentoring, training, and support for work-life balance, all of which are barriers that women face globally.

“Women have changed the landscape of the GCC workforce, with a growing number of organizations reaching the 30 percent tipping point,” said Anne-Laure Malauzat, chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer at Bain & Company Middle East. “Government pressure for gender equality has been a huge catalyst for this change, and more organizations have seen the clear benefits of gender diversity and added it to their agenda in the past five years as a result.”

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