First UAE Women Leaders Summit Emphasises Education, Technology, and Empowerment

With more women turning to technology and changing employment to obtain better working circumstances for themselves, women in the workforce are rethinking how they operate within a global market that has undergone significant shift. This was the message that rang out on the first day of the Women Leaders Summit in Dubai on Wednesday.

The summit, a first-time event organised by Verve Management, is dedicated to advancing women in the workplace by bringing together female leaders to discuss their problems, triumphs, and paths to success in order to inform and motivate the next generation.

The speakers are a distinct group of accomplished women representing a variety of professions in the area.

“Today we women vote, and we lead corporations: The Middle East of today is not the desert our forefathers left us,” said Friedson as she opened the summit.

“Many countries in the Middle East are turning the pages of history and finding ways to incorporate women in the workplace. They have run the numbers, and guess what? Companies with women in leading roles lead the way to the bank,” she said.

Technology has liberated women and increased opportunities for female entrepreneurs.

The fact that technology has liberated women from the constraints of the workplace and enabled them to launch their own enterprises was one of the main topics discussed at the summit.

One of the presenters at the two-day summit, Divya Gokulnath, is the co-founder of the Indian edtech company Byju's. She said: “Technology can connect women entrepreneurs to major markets at the click of a button.”

As she described her experience beginning her own business, Gokulnath advised the audience that many decisions should also be based on instincts and intuition.

That digital inclusion, said Dania Daoud, a senior director at Credit Suisse AG, is a critical catalyst for boosting women’s participation in financial issues.

According to Kate Baker, chief HR futurist at the Neom smart city being built in Saudi Arabia, a McKinsey & Company study shows that women are no longer settling for what they have been given in the workplace.

The study found that just 20% of C-suite leaders are women, while 20% are happier when they can decide how and when they work.