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Abstract
Social traditions and cultural expectations present complex challenges for Qatari women who pursue careers. Telework offers a possible solution, as demonstrated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This research identifies the potential for adopting telework in Qatar, analyses key factors influencing telework implementation, and discusses the merits of working from home for female professionals. The adoption of telework is examined here through a theoretical model comprising Task-Technology-Fit theory, the Technology Acceptance Model, Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory, and Sectoral Analysis. The feasibility and possible outcomes of telework adoption in Qatar are evaluated from technological, cultural, and occupational perspectives. This theoretical discussion is refined through an analysis of Twitter posts which indicate the public response to work-from-home mandates during the 2020 lockdown. While telework appears to have become socially acceptable in Qatar during the pandemic, its ongoing adoption will likely be shaped by sociocultural factors, occupational and educational dynamics, and access to necessary technologies.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 FaceBook page of H.E. Sheikha Moza bint Nasser Al-Misned, 24 March 2020.
2 Ibid.
3 Gulf Times, “Time to Reflect, Take Risks, Says Sheikha Hind”, 31 August 2020.
4 Ibid.
5 World Bank, Gender and Development in the Middle East and North Africa: Women in the Public Sphere (2004).
6 Govt of Qatar, Planning and Statistics Authority, “Labor Force Sample Survey 2018” (June 2019).
7 Ibid.
8 Tavares, “Telework and Health Effects Review, and a Research Framework Proposal”, Munich Personal RePEc Archive (2015).
9 Tavares, “Telework and Health Effects Review”, International Journal of Healthcare 3.2 (2017), p. 30.
10 General Secretarian For Development Planning, “Qatar National Vision 2030” (2008).
11 Govt of Qatar, Planning and Statistics Authority, “Labor Force Sample Survey 2018”.
12 Govt of Qatar, Planning and Statistics Authority, “Woman and Man in the State of Qatar: A Statistical Portrait 2018” (2018).
13 Lari, Gengler and Al Thani, “Attitudes Towards Female Labor Force Participation in Qatar”, SESRI Report (June 2020), p. 5.
14 Doha International Family Institute, Work-Family Balance: Challenges, Experiences, and Implications for Families in Qatar (2018).
15 Felder and Vuollo, “Qatari Women in the Workforce”, RAND: Qatar Policy Institute, working paper (2011).
16 Ibid.
17 Ibid.
18 Momani, “Equality and the Economy: Why the Arab World Should Employ More Women”, Brookings Doha Center (2016).
19 Al-Ghanim, “Perceptions of Women’s Roles between Traditionalism and Modernity in Qatar”, Journal of Arabian Studies 9.1 (2019).
20 Ibid.
21 Al-Asfour et al., “Saudi Women’s Work Challenges and Barriers to Career Advancement”, Career Development International 22.2 (2017), 184–199.
22 Al-Ghanim, “Perceptions of Women’s Roles”; Felder and Vuollo, “Qatari Women in the Workforce” (2011).
23 Nakrošienė, Bučiūnienė and Goštautaitė, “Working from Home: Characteristics and Outcomes of Telework”, International Journal of Manpower 40.1 (2019), pp. 87–101.
24 Ansong and Boateng, “Organisational Adoption of Telecommuting: Evidence from a Developing Country”, The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries 84.1 (2018).
25 Jamal, Teleworking in the Middle East, MA diss. (2017).
26 El Louadi and Everard, “Telework: Tomorrow’s Technology for the Arab Woman”, Proceedings of the First International e-Business Conference (2003).
27 Wu and Chen, “Continuance Intention to Use MOOCs: Integrating the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Task Technology Fit (TTF) Model”, Computers in Human Behavior 67 (2017), pp. 221–232.
28 Charness and Boot, “Technology Acceptance Model”, in Schaie and Willis (eds), Handbook of The Psychology of Aging, 8th edn (2016).
29 Ibid.
30 Klopping and McKinney, “Extending the Technology Acceptance Model and the Task-Technology Fit Model to Consumer E-Commerce”, Information Technology, Learning and Performance Journal 22.1 (2004), pp. 35–48.
31 Lari, Gengler and Al Thani, “Attitudes Towards Female Labor Force Participation in Qatar”.
32 Pérez et al., “A Technology Acceptance Model of Innovation Adoption: The Case of Teleworking”, European Journal of Innovation Management 7.7 (2004), pp. 280–291.
33 Lule, Omwansa and Waema, “Application of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in M Banking Adoption in Kenya”, International Journal of Computing and ICT Research 6.1 (2012), pp. 31–43.
34 Ibid.
35 Kemp, “Digital 2020: Qater”, DataReportal, 18 February 2020.
36 Jacob and Venkataraghavan, “A Study of the Malayalee-Qatar Diaspora: Cultural Identity and Media Consumption”, Global Media Journal: Indian Edition 10.1 (2018), pp. 26–53.
37 Doha International Family Institute, Work-Family Balance (2018).
38 Ibid.
39 Peters, Pascale and Dulk, “Cross Cultural Differences in Managers’ Support for Home-Based Telework: A Theoretical Elaboration”, International Journal of Cross Cultural Management 3.3 (2003), pp. 329–346; Wojčák, Emil and Baráth, “National Culture and Application”, European Journal of Business Science and Technology 3.1 (2017), pp. 65–74.
40 Hofstede, “Organising for Cultural Diversity”, European Management Journal 7.4 (1989), p. 390–397.
41 Corporate Finance Institute, “Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory” (2020).
42 Ibid.
43 Ibid.
44 Hofstede Insights, “Country Comparison Tool: Qatar”, (2021).
45 Gill, “Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions and Differences across Cultures”, Oxford University Press Blog (2017).
46 Ibid.
47 Govt of Qatar, Planning and Statistics Authority, “Labor Force Sample Survey 2018”.
48 Lari, Gengler and Al Thani, “Attitudes Towards Female Labor Force Participation in Qatar”.
49 Al Sharq, “ʾAmān ḥamlat waṣl ʿayālik maʿa bidāyat al-ʿām al-dirāsī al-jadīd”, 31 August 2019.
50 Anderson, “Generational Masculinities”, Journal of Gender Studies 27.3 (2017), pp. 243–247; Theodoropoulou and Ahmed, “Ethnographing Gender Roles and Power in Intercultural Communication in Qatar”, Journal of Arabian Studies 8.1 (2018), pp. 141–160.
51 James-Hawkins, Qutteina and Yount, “The Patriarchal Bargain in a Context of Rapid Changes to Normative Gender Roles: Young Arab Women’s Role Conflict in Qatar”, Sex Roles 77.3 (2017), pp. 155–168.
52 Lari, Gengler and Al Thani, “Attitudes Towards Female Labor Force Participation in Qatar”.
53 Corporate Finance Institute, “Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory” (2020).
54 Al Dulaimi and Bin Sailan, “Examining the National Culture of Qatar”, Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences 5.10 (2011), pp. 727–735.
55 Ibid.
56 Peters and Dulk, “Cross Cultural Differences in Managers’ Support for Home-Based Telework”.
57 Hofstede, Culture’s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations Across Nations (2001).
58 Ibid.
59 Ibid.
60 Lari, Gengler and Al Thani, “Attitudes Towards Female Labor Force Participation in Qatar”, p. 16.
61 Govt of Qatar, Planning and Statistics Authority, “Labor Force Sample Survey 2018”.
62 Ibid.
63 Parent-Thirion et al., “Fourth European Working Conditions Survey”, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (February 2007).
64 Ibid.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Hamda Al-Boinin
Hamda K. Al-Boinin is a PhD candidate at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Hamad bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar, [email protected].