Societal and Political Determinant of Reform - MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Societal and Political Determinant of Reform. Answer: Introduction The concept of gender equality and women empowerment has been globally adopted by the organizations over industries with a view to provide the women equal opportunity to compete in the male dominated society. The goal of the concept is to strengthen the power of women, especially in the economic field that will help in eradicating poverty in the countries (bh.undp.org 2017). Bahrain is one of the countries who have recently adopted steps for fighting the issues that were being faced by the women in the society to get out of their houses and take part in the mainstream economy to compete the men. Bahrain is located in Middle East, where women are strongly dominated by their male counter parts of the society in the name of religion (bh.undp.org 2017). The policies implemented by UNDP in the past decades to fight the stereotypic mentality and exploring the potential of women reflect some positive outcome (bh.undp.org 2017). The following report will identify the impact of gender equalit y and women empowerment in the banking sector of Bahrain. The research proposal identifies the aims and objectives of the research along with a brief idea on the topic through the study of existing literatures. This proposal also communicates the methodologies incorporated for the completion of the research and the time required. Research Aim The primary aim of the research is to identify the link between gender equality and women empowerment in relation to the banking sector of Bahrain. The research further seeks clarification on the implementation of gender equality and women empowerment in the sector and identifies the way women are treated in this sector. Research Objectives To identify the link between gender equality and women empowerment in relation to the banking sector of Bahrain To identify the reality in the banking industry for Bahrain To identify the extent of implementation of the mentioned concepts in the industry. Research Question How women are treated in the banking sector of Bahrain? How gender equality and women empowerment is perceived in the banking sector of Bahrain? To what extent the gender equality is visible in the industry? Literature Review It was the feminists of 80s and 90s who popularized the concept of women empowerment and gender equality around the globe (Cornwall and Rivas 2015). According to Cornwall and Rivas (2015) the topic was in the lime light at the end of 20th century and received acceptance around industry. Industries were in the front row to embrace the concept (Cornwall and Rivas 2015). However, the current situation in the business world reflects different scenario than the stated (Cornwall and Rivas 2015). A transformation in the frame and policies is necessary for attaining the global gender justice. Al Gharaibeh (2011) focused on the concept in relation to Bahrain, a small Arabian Gulf country that received its freedom from Britain in 1971. The modern independent government of Bahrain sought to exploit the women capital of the country for attaining economic, social, and political benefits (Al Gharaibeh 2011). However, gender discrimination and male dominance was deeply embedded in the society and c ulture of the people of Bahrain. Hence, the realities came out to be different than the one stated in the legislation of the country (Al Gharaibeh 2011). The author also highlighted that though women gained access to the public sphere, they are largely discriminated on the basis of their cultural and social norms stated by their early ancestors. Karolak (2013) on the other hand reviewed the legislation of Bahrain. His findings stated that the government of Bahrain strongly supports the idea of gender equality. However, the study at the same time reflects the absence of any directly stated law for holding the interest of the women in the workplace. This led to the workplace discrimination for the women as they are paid considerably less than their male counterparts are. Karloks study identified that the women on an average receives about 76% of the salary compared to the male for similar position. Kemp, Madsen and Davis (2015) in their study compared women leadership accross countries in the Arabian Gulf. The results of their reports reflect that the women participation of in the economic fields are significantly low in the countries like Kingdom of Bahrain. Moreover, leaders in business organizations hold their cultural point of view and reflects negative attitude for the womens economic participation (Kemp, Madsen and Davis 2015). Naturally, the authors found even less number of women in the authoritative positions in these business organizations of Bahrain in exchange of a significant amount of struggles they face in everyday operation. Similar study conducted by Pillai, Prasad and Thomas (2011) represents a high level of discrimination in the industries of Bahrain regardless of the educational qualification the women held. The women are provided ample opportunities to enter the economic sphere of the country. However, they are likely to face a number of hurdles in the path of getting appraisal and claim for the higher position in ht organization. Gender prejudiced discrimination against the women restricts them from climbing up the corporate ladder in the kingdom of Bahrain. Al-Ghazali, Yusoff and Sadi (2013) took a different approach and studied women entrepreneurs of Bahrain and compared them with the male entrepreneurs to identify the motivations and barriers that the women face. The results clearly state that economic growth works as the primary motivation for the women in setting up their own business. This is evidenced in both the cases of male and female entrepreneurs of the country (Al-Ghazali, Yusoff and Sadi 2013). However, the barriers that work against women are primarily societal. The male dominated society of Bahrain constantly de-motivates the women and makes them doubt their own capabilities in the process country (Al-Ghazali, Yusoff and Sadi 2013). Moreover, they lack of information on the market, due to the lack of support received from the government in the process of data accumulation. This restricts them to explore the market information required to thrive in the market. Kauser and Tlaiss (2011) conducted a multidimensional study on the women of the Middle East Islamic countries that includes the women in the Kingdom of Bahrain. They found that the growth of the employed women in this particular segment of world is considerably slow reflecting a growth of 2% from 1990 to 2004 (Kauser and Tlaiss 2011). They further identified that women employment is restricted particularly in the service sector. The report further highlights the fact that the women in Bahrain and other Middle East countries make up the most of the labour force in the service industries despite similar education they receive as the men. The number of women in higher authority is significantly low (Kauser and Tlaiss 2011). Men employees are given priority despite of their educational qualification when compared to the women employees (Kauser and Tlaiss 2011). Another study The impact of gender, family, and work on the career advancement of Lebanese women managers by Tlaiss and Kauser ( 2011) identified that women over industries in Middle East Islamic countries including Bahrain are paid less compared to their male colleagues. The women interviewed by the authors do not perceive the factors such as family responsibilities as obstacles to their carrier progression but blames the gender discrimination. They could easily manage both their professional and family simultaneously. Male with less educational qualification in these countries are paid more in comparison with female employees until date, which is because of gender inequality. Literature gap The above very short and brief provides a glimpse about women in Bahrain find strong barriers in their economic life due to the absence of direct law safeguarding their interest. This leads to the discrimination based on the sex of an employee in the workplace. They face challenges in surviving and getting promotion in their workplace (Karolak 2013). Moreover, there is a considerable gap in the literary work that has been conducted on the Bahraini banking sector in relation to gender equality and women empowerment, because most of the publications around this topic are from Middle East. Hence, there is ample scope to conduct research on the banking sector of Bahrain and identify the kinds of hurdles the women have to face for surviving and climbing up the ladder in the sector. Research Hypothesis H0 The women in banking organizations in Bahrain are equally treated compared to their male counterpart. H1 Women are provided less importance and advantage in the banking compared to the male. Research Methodology Research design is the overall structure of a report. It can communicate the complete procedure of the research conducted. Six different layers come together to formulate a research design, where each of the layers communicates different methodologies incorporated for the completion of the report (Sekaram and Bougie 2016). Figure 1: Research Onion (Adopted from Sekaram and Bougie 2016) Research Philosophy Four different philosophies inform the reader about the mode of data collection, analysis, and utilization for the particular report. They are realism, interpretivism, positivism, and post-positivism (Eriksson and Kovalainen 2015). Philosophy incorporated for this research is positivism as it helps in uncovering the truth on a particular topic by accumulating knowledge. That in this case will help in understanding the link between gender equality and women empowerment in relation with the banking sector of Bahrain and its impact on the industry. Figure 2: Research Philosophy (Adopted from Eriksson and Kovalainen 2015) Research Approach Two types of research approaches can possibly be taken for the completion of a research - the inductive and deductive approach. An inductive approach is required when the research conducted for proposing new theory on the concept being study. Whereas, the deductive approach is taken into consideration to fulfil the need of validating the existing theory (Waltman et al. 2012). This research aims to identify the link between the gender equality and women empowerment in relation to the banking sector of Bahrain. Moreover, the focus will be given on the change that is visible due to the implementation of the mentioned concepts. Hence, the deductive approach will come in handy for fulfilment of the need of validation. Figure 3: Research Approach (Adopted from Waltman et al. 2012) Data Collection and Analysis Both primary and secondary data will be utilized for the completion of the report due to the limited access for in-depth field research in the industry. Moreover, this research will also consider qualitative and quantitative data collection for understanding the topic and its impact on the organizations. Hence, as narrated by Palinkas et al. (2015) mixed method will be incorporated to extract complete data on gender equality and women empowerment in the organizations of Bahrain. The quantitative data will be collected using questionnaires, which will be distributed to the respondents for providing their opinion. This is referred as closed ended interview. Qualitative data on the other hand will be collected using open ended questions. Here the respondent will be provided scope for expressing their view regarding the issue. The administrative authority of the banking organizations will be interviewed with the open ended questions for gaining deeper insight. The analysis requires a number of analytical tools. The regression tool will be helpful in analyzing the quantitative data, whereas, the qualitative data will be analyzed using pattern identification (Cameron and Trivedi 2013). The concluding tool that is required is the hypothesis testing. This helps in identifying the relation between the variables identified in the research. Sampling Random sampling method will be utilized in this research as it is free from biasness of the researcher (Levy and Lemeshow 2013). The sample for data collection in this case is randomly selected out of the target population. Hence, this will provide authentic data for the research. A sample of five banking organizations in Bahrain will be selected using random sampling technique for this research. Ethical Consideration It is important in any research to safeguard the interest of the respondents. Endangering the respondent by exposing their comment in the research will be a direct violation of the research ethics (Miller et al. 2012). Hence, it is important to maintain secrecy regarding the names of the respondents. However, this may include the job title of the respondent. Time Schedule Main activities/ stages Month November 2017 Month December 2017 Month January 2018 Month February 2018 Month March 2018 Month April 2018 Selection of topic Constructing the research layout Literature review Selection of Appropriate Research Techniques Development of research Plan Collecting data from secondary sources Primary data collection Analysis Interpretation of Data which are collected Conclusion Development of Draft Final Work submission References Al Gharaibeh, F., 2011. Women's empowerment in Bahrain.Journal of International Women's Studies,12(3), p.96. Al-Ghazali, B.M., Yusoff, R.M. and Sadi, M.A., 2013. Women Entrepreneurs in Bahrain: Motivations and Barriers.Sains Humanika,64(2). bh.undp.org. 2017.Women's Empowerment. [online] Available at: https://www.bh.undp.org/content/bahrain/en/home/ourwork/womenempowerment/overview.html [Accessed 11 Dec. 2017]. Cameron, A.C. and Trivedi, P.K., 2013.Regression analysis of count data(Vol. 53). Cambridge university press. Cornwall, A. and Rivas, A.M., 2015. From gender equality and womens empowermentto global justice: reclaiming a transformative agenda for gender and development.Third World Quarterly,36(2), pp.396-415. Eriksson, P. and Kovalainen, A., 2015.Qualitative methods in business research: A practical guide to social research. Sage. Karolak, M., 2013. Between Womens Empowerment and Emancipation.. Societal and Political Determinants of Reforms in the Kingdom of Bahrain.Arabian Humanities. Revue internationale darchologie et de sciences sociales sur la pninsule Arabique/International Journal of Archaeology and Social Sciences in the Arabian Peninsula, (1). Kauser, S. and Tlaiss, H., 2011. The Arab women manager: participation, barriers, and future prospects.Journal of International Business and Economy,12(1), pp.35-56. Kemp, L.J., Madsen, S.R. and Davis, J., 2015. Women in business leadership: A comparative Study of countries in the Gulf Arab states.International Journal of Cross Cultural Management,15(2), pp.215-233. Levy, P.S. and Lemeshow, S., 2013.Sampling of populations: methods and applications. John Wiley Sons. Miller, T., Birch, M., Mauthner, M. and Jessop, J. eds., 2012.Ethics in qualitative research. Sage. Palinkas, L.A., Horwitz, S.M., Green, C.A., Wisdom, J.P., Duan, N. and Hoagwood, K., 2015. Purposeful sampling for qualitative data collection and analysis in mixed method implementation Pillai, K.R., Prasad, S. and Thomas, J., 2011. Why do women still experience downward gravitation in the corporate ladder? A close look at glass ceiling in Bahrain.Research Practice in Human Resource Management,19(1), p.1. Sekaran, U. and Bougie, R., 2016.Research methods for business: A skill building approach. John Wiley Sons. Tlaiss, H. and Kauser, S., 2011. The impact of gender, family, and work on the career advancement of Lebanese women managers.Gender in Management: An International Journal,26(1), pp.8-36. Waltman, L., Calero?Medina, C., Kosten, J., Noyons, E., Tijssen, R.J., Eck, N.J., Leeuwen, T.N., Raan, A.F., Visser, M.S. and Wouters, P., 2012. The Leiden Ranking 2011/2012: Data collection, indicators, and interpretation.Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology,63(12), pp.2419-2432.