Annual Report 2015

The second in the series of game-changing seminars focused on the story of Yomna Kamel, Group Marketing
Manager, Galadari Brothers Group. In conversation with Dr Payyazhi Jayashree, Acting Dean of UOWD’s Faculty of
Business and Principal Investigator behind the NRF study, Ms Kamel discussed her journey from growing up in
Saudi Arabia to becoming one of the MENA region’s leading marketing consultants .
Over the course of the event, Ms Kamel highlighted the mechanisms that continue to guide her in her career, how
she deals with the perceived ‘glass ceiling’ in the private sector, the importance of instilling genderless concepts of
leadership in the next generation and the need to allow a more balanced family lifestyle.
“We need culturally to place a priority on flexible working conditions and allow both men and women to take equal
responsibility in raising children”, Ms Kamel commented during the event. “There is a glass ceiling in the private
sector, which will only change with advances in cultural management. However, that doesn’t mean that women
can’t succeed – they must fight harder to make themselves stand out”.
“According to the Grant Thornton Internal Business Report 2013, more women (52 per cent) than men now enrol
in tertiary education. However, this has not translated to an increased representation of women in senior
leadership roles and we need to explore why this is happening”, added Dr Payyazhi Jayashree, facilitator of the
series .
“The UAE is ranked highest in educational attainment among 20 Arab countries (Human Development Report,
2013) and lowest in gender inequality (Human Development Report, 2013) and we believe that the opportunity to
add more voices to the debate surrounding gender and leadership through events such as this seminar series will
create more awareness and enable us to arrive at constructive solutions to support economic contributions of
women in the UAE workforce”.
The next Women and Leadership seminar will be held at UOWD’s campus in Dubai’s Knowledge Village on
Wednesday 9 December 2015. Interested parties can visit https://www.uowdubai.ac.ae/WomenandLeadership to
find out more.