Neither Ghettoed Nor Cosmopolitan: A Study of Western Women’s Perceptions of Gender and Cultural Stereotyping in the UAE

Abstract

This research examined Western women in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and whether they perceived there to have been gender and cultural stereotyping towards them, and if they exemplified a new breed of cosmopolitan expatriates or the more traditional experience of living within expatriate bubbles. The study was based on semi-structured interviews with 27 expatriate females from Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States working in the UAE. The female expatriates studied did not perceive gender and cultural stereotyping at work, but identified stereotyping as occurring in the non-work context; some of which resulted from the women engaging in auto-stereotyping. Additionally, the women neither lived within ghettoes in the UAE but nor could they be viewed as truly cosmopolitan; suggesting that expatriates' working and living experiences need to be understood as operating on a continuum.