{
  "id": 3951984,
  "title": "From participation to leadership: The next chapter for Emirati women in Stem",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/28/from-participation-to-leadership-the-next-chapter-for-emirati-women-3951984",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-08-28T11:18:27.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The National Business",
    "slug": "the-national-business",
    "url": "https://www.thenationalnews.com/lifestyle/2026/08/28/from-participation-to-leadership-the-next-chapter-for-emirati-women-in-stem/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Every August, the story of Emirati women entering science and engineering re-emerges, comparing favorably to international figures. However, this observation misses the real story. The UAE has already addressed the participation issue, with women making up a significant portion of STEM graduates and university graduates overall. The focus should now be on conversion – the gap between ambition and leadership roles. Women hold a large percentage of public sector positions and some leadership roles, but they are not proportionally represented in technical and academic positions. The decisive moment in a scientific career is when someone is given a decision that cannot be easily reversed, such as choosing the architecture for a system or allocating research budget. This is where technical authority lives, and someone who is never given a decision may still be considered junior after a decade of excellent work. The people setting research priorities in advanced technology are making decisions about the society we want to live in. The author recalls their experience of being asked to make a technical decision related to post-quantum cryptography, which marked a turning point in their career. They realized the difference between being valued for expertise and being trusted with authority. At the Technology Innovation Institute, they have witnessed the impact of early authority on young women's careers. Teams at the institute have developed cutting-edge AI models, cryptography, and launched a sounding rocket, all with early authority. The institution's success depends on assigning difficult problems to young women, rather than waiting for them to request it. The UAE's Year of Family highlights the importance of families in nurturing ambition. Institutions have a responsibility to support women, particularly working mothers and caregivers, during the crucial years when they are most likely to be raising young children. Rather than focusing on the pipeline, institutions should consider what happens in the middle, where careers are made or capped. This question belongs to those who run institutions, not the young women arriving in them.",
  "summary": "Every August, a version of the same article appears. It notes how many Emirati women are entering science and engineering, observes that the figures compare well internationally and expresses the hope that more girls will follow. This is accurate, but such an observation is not the real story. The UAE settled the participation question years ago. Official figures show 56 per cent of Stem…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The National UAE",
        "title": "From participation to leadership: The next chapter for Emirati women in Stem",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/28/from-participation-to-leadership-the-next-chapter-for-emirati-women",
        "published": "2026-08-28T11:18:27.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}