Female IT Managerial Position Discrimination? | ExpatWoman.com
 

Female IT Managerial Position Discrimination?

1
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 01 February 2015 - 17:03

Hi,

I am new here and also new in UAE but my family is all residing here for years. I now moved with them and started applying as Project Manager but I've been hearing that there's a discrimination in IT Managerial position on women, especially if you have a solid and good experience.

I haven't received any phone calls from all my applications but I have received some emails mentioning that I'm overqualified on the position, that they find my qualification and skills great but can't offer me the position that I am applying for.

Can someone help me and confirm that the discrimination is not true as I am starting to loose hope in getting the position / job in line with my experience.

:(

Thank you so much in advance!
<em>edited by pearl28 on 01/02/2015</em>

1
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 02 February 2015 - 18:22
Thank you so much for all the response and I do appreciate every bit of it. :) I am a Filipina and yes I think not having a local experience is causing me to worry by not receiving a job interview. I also lowered down my salary expectation base on what I've read in the field that I am applying for. It is much clearer now. :-) I'll just patiently wait for their calls and hopefully it will be sooner. Again, thank you. ;)
1184
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 01 February 2015 - 23:12
I agree with others, it is not gender discrimination. I have been working here for over a decade, and can assure you I have experienced or heard less gender discrimination here than in Europe. The is plenty of IT people around, supply is larger than demand. Companies only need 1 maybe 2 IT persons (except IT companies..). Keep applying, and make sure the position is a good fit with your background. Finding a job with no local experience is always difficult. But if you are really good in what you do, you will succeed here.
17
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 01 February 2015 - 20:40
Hi Pearl28, I don't think what you're experiencing is gender discrimination. My Husband who has UAE Snr Management IT experience, is going through exactly what you are: no responses to applications, or automated ones, finding it difficult to even speak to recruiters etc etc. However, as other posters have said it's not discrimination, just the way things work here. We are expecting it to take 3-6 months before he gets anything, although I am hoping its sooner :) Good luck with the search.
1759
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 01 February 2015 - 20:26
Not getting a response to your applications is neither unusual or discriminatory in the GCC. Many if not most companies do not acknowledge applications if they are not interested in the CV. As for being female, as another poster said it is a male dominated field mostly from the subcontinent. If your salary expectations are too high or (because of your nationality) are perceived as being probably high, your applications won't go far. I have no idea what your nationality is and perhaps that isn't a factor at all. No smart company is going to discriminate against someone with "good and solid" experience no matter what their gender. That being said, discrimination happens here all the time - usually starting with asking for a picture with your CV. If you do a search here on the forum you'll find women in all sorts of professions find it hard if not harder to find work after landing in Dubai for some reason or another.
3220
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 01 February 2015 - 17:58
Your family has been here for years but you are new? That does not matter. You are applying for jobs. Not them. You need UAE experience to get a job in the IT market and also connections. Overqualified is just a keyword that they use here in UAE when they are not interested in you. It doesnt really mean you are overqualified. If you had UAE experience you would of known that. Its like when they say in the shops an item is 'out of stock'...it usually means they dont know what your talking about or the never had it in the first place.
Anonymous (not verified)
0
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 01 February 2015 - 17:30
I have a friend who is in IT and has several people working under her on her projects. She does have specific experience and expertise, but never heard her speak of discrimination. What you might find is that the IT market here mainly employs from Asian background, and mainly men yes but even at my previous employer the IT in charge was a woman. It might be that you being new to Dubai are not as attractive as someone who has several years local experience. And to add, the fact that they say you're over qualified might mean they either really don't have a position for you within your qualifications, or they do but can't or don't want to offer you the salary that someone with your qualifications and experience would warrant. I can imagine they assume you are just looking for any IT job that will serve as a "keep you busy" and you will move on as soon as you find something better. Or just be bored and unhappy. <em>edited by Marroosh on 01/02/2015</em>
 
 

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