Progress Amid Resistance

OMAN 349employees and only 17.1 percent of private sector workers. 28 This disparityis attributed to the fact that society is more comfortable with womenworking the shorter hours associated with public sector jobs. To minimizethe gender gap that exists in the workforce, more opportunities for womenmust be provided in both the public and private sector. 29Most women cite the traditional attitudes of men as the single greatestobstacle to their advancement in the workplace. These attitudes rangefrom disapproval of women working outside the home to lack of acceptanceof women holding senior positions. Further complicating matters,tradition encourages women to have a poor self-image and lack confidence,attitudes that in turn negatively impact their work performanceand affect their motivation to pursue work opportunities. In addition todiscrimination and lack of viable employment opportunities, these culturalissues must be addressed if women are to be fully integrated into theformal workforce.Ideally, unions and women’s rights organizations should form to ad -dress these inequalities, but this is not possible under the current Law onNongovernmental Societies (No. 14 of 2000—NGO Law). In recent years,however, several organized events have focused on increasing women’s economicparticipation. “Women in Focus,” Oman’s first business forum forprofessional women, was organized by a loose affiliation of businesswomenin Muscat in April and June 2004. It aimed to provide networking opportunitiesfor female professionals and presented a variety of keynote speakersfrom the region. When the businesswomen who organized it attemptedto register as an NGO, their application was denied and all further meetingswere prohibited as illegal gatherings. In March 2008, the “Women inBusiness Conference” provided businesswomen with the opportunity toshare their success stories and exchange experiences in an effort to encourageyoung women to become more active in Oman’s economy. 30RecommendationsF The government should work with the OWA to provide skills trainingand create centers that offer career counseling and opportunities fornetworking between working women.F The OWA should organize classes in both rural and urban areas thatprovide instruction on how to start small or home-based businesses,as well as community courses on basic accounting and management.