Adopting Telework for Female Employees in Qatar: Sociocultural Perspectives, Theoretical Modeling, and Pandemic Experience

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.

Keywords:

• telework
• work from home
• Qatar
• female employment
• sociocultural factors

1 Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed patterns of life around the world. In the early days of the national lockdown, H.E. Sheikha Moza bint Nasser Al-Misned invited her social media followers via her social media channels to pause and consider their values: “Some would look at the coronavirus pandemic as a crisis, but I see it as a breakthrough that is making us realise that we were, in fact, living in a crisis long before.”¹ She further mused that the crisis has “shifted our priorities in life. Is it our family or our work?”² A careful reflection on how people live appears to be epitomised by the dilemma “Our family or our work?” –– must one exclude the other? Echoing this message, H.E. Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, at a global panel discussion, urged the community to “reflect, understand, and really be informed about what the future could look like”³ after the pandemic, and to use this situation to assess and improve “education, the way we work, and even the way we live.”⁴ These statements illuminate the ongoing debate around the roles of work and family in Qatari society, which pandemic-related concerns and lockdown restrictions have brought into sharp relief.

One of the most radical lifestyle changes to emerge during the pandemic is the comprehensive shift to working from home. Apart from offering an immediate solution for continuing business and production operations, and enabling people to work without compromising their quarantine routine, physical distancing, or family responsibilities, this development demonstrated other benefits of telework. Family obligations are of particular value in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region, where educated women often forgo employment altogether or leave their jobs in order to care for their growing families.⁵ In light of the current pandemic that has already challenged existing norms around life and work, how will work patterns be defined in the future? In particular, what does the future hold for female professionals in this evolving context?

Female employment in Qatar presents an intriguing case study. The level of education among Qatari women is high (99.3%) in proportion to their low participation in the workforce (59%). In comparison, 96% of Qatari men are economically active.⁶ Statistics indicates that although Qatar has made substantial progress towards gender equality in the field of education, a large gender gap (60.9%) persists in economic participation.⁷

This paper discusses the sociocultural factors influencing women’s participation in Qatar’s labour force, and suggests that implementing a more suitable work pattern –– telework –– could offer a promising long-term solution. First, the paper briefly outlines the rise of telework opportunities, which was accelerated by COVID-19, and highlights the impact of this development on working women. The next section summarises recent research on cultural and social expectations defining female employment in Qatar and the Middle East, including the potential benefits and factors influencing telework adoption. This discussion is then refined through a discourse examination of Twitter posts about women working from home during the lockdown. As we shall see below, this examination enables a more detailed evaluation of Qatari’s initial response to compulsory telework policies. Then, the paper applies Task-Technology-Fit (TTF) theory, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory (HCDT), and Sectoral Analysis to assess the feasibility and suitability of adopting telework in Qatar from technological, cultural, and organisational perspectives. Then, the paper turns to the discussion of potential benefits of telework for women in Qatar, and provides some policy recommendations. The closing section identifies the limitations of this study, and draws some conclusions. By way of introduction, the following section will briefly trace the growing popularity of telework over the past decade, and discuss its universal adoption during the pandemic.

2 Telework before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

While the first decades of the twenty-first century witnessed the gradually-accelerating shift to telework, the outbreak of COVID-19 turned the developing theoretical discourse on the benefits and drawbacks of working online into a matter of urgency and real politics. People were forced to work from home during the succession of pandemic lockdowns. These developments have substantiated the growing body of research into the potential of telework by way of providing empirical data on individual and corporate experiences of distant working on a truly global scale. Technology has offered increasingly sophisticated opportunities to enhance the planning and implementation of work schedules. Organisations and institutions got an opportunity to improve their production and develop a better working environment; researchers got a chance to probe their theories.

Several scholars had identified growing business interest in allowing employees to work from home long before the 2020 emergency measures. Their analyses remain valuable today. For instance, Tavares observed that organisations and employees worldwide can enjoy flexible hours if they adopt telework arrangements. The format enables employees to improve their social life, gain a greater autonomy over their affairs, and operate without work constraints.⁸ She also pointed to the positive effects of telework on employees’ health and net benefits: telework reduces work-related stress and promotes work-life balance. Researchers have further identified the benefits of telework as a long-term employment solution, noting workers’ enhanced productivity and physical health under this arrangement.⁹

In Qatar, the adoption of telework appears particularly promising, especially in terms of fostering inclusive work environments and allowing women to thrive. The policies outlined in Qatar National Vision 2030 (QNV 2030) open with “Human Development: Improvement of the capability and motivation of the workforce”.¹⁰ The policies in this section promote a skilled workforce as a key impetus behind a flourishing, sustainable, knowledge-based society. QNV 2030 further acknowledges the limited number of Qatari nationals, which precipitates women’s inclusion in the labour force to achieve QNV 2030 goals while progressing towards a post-hydrocarbon economy.

The objectives stipulated in QNV 2030 address existing challenges experienced by educated women who tend to either forgo employment or leave the workforce to care for their children. In some cases, women abandon their dream of working for the government or private sector due to the regional culture and religious beliefs. In fact, 41% of women in Qatar are economically inactive compared with only 4% of Qatari men.¹¹ Additionally, 44.6% of women who forwent employment cited being a housewife as a reason for their choice. Family responsibilities are among primary challenges faced by women pursuing employment.¹² In particular, a “lack of adequate paid maternity leave forces some working mothers to remain at home at the expense of seeking employment in Qatar.”¹³ A study completed before the COVID-19 pandemic revealed that working Qatari women tend to find it challenging to negotiate cultural expectations and achieve work-family balance.¹⁴ These difficulties were aggravated by the introduction of lockdown measures in Qatar in March 2020, when all schools shifted to online learning. Although national lockdowns are gradually being lifted at the time of writing, in September 2020 schools adopted blended learning, which has placed additional demands on parents –– especially mothers. Flexible working hours and an opportunity to stay at home, both of which telework uniquely offers, have become critical to individuals’ ability to continue working while maintaining a balance between work and family duties.

The COVID-19 pandemic has called for the adoption of a telework (work-from-home) system in response to the social distancing requirements recommended by the World Health Organization. Most governmental and private organisations across Qatar have enforced temporary measures to safeguard their workers from COVID-19 and ensure continued production. The pandemic and subsequent global lockdowns have essentially positioned flexible telework as the only feasible employment mode, irrespective of whether employees and employers agree. The pandemic has thus put telework to a real-life test. The comprehensive and compulsory introduction of telework in most organisations in Qatar and elsewhere in the world has granted researchers an opportunity to analyse immediate results, examine shifting market dynamics, and consider the future potential of telecommuting. Yet an open question is whether this system can be adopted permanently after the pandemic. Moreover, is telework desirable in Qatar from a cultural perspective? Can it boost women’s participation in the labour force and provide Qatari women with better work options? In order to answer these questions with attention to the local context, next, the paper summarises existing research on cultural expectations regarding women’s professional employment.

3 Research on sociocultural factors influencing Qatari women’s employment

Qatari women’s participation in the country’s labour market has been a subject of careful research over the last few years. A 2008 study pointed to the growing number of Qatari women in the workforce but underlined that this proportion remains quite low compared with men.¹⁵ The study also emphasised the Qatari government’s immense responsibility to enhance efforts to promote women’s success in society by creating a suitable educational, social, and political environment to expand women’s opportunities.¹⁶ Nearly a decade later, another study noted the increasing influence of Qatari women on the future of Qatar’s economy, which the researchers linked to the fact that women at that point had a better education, on average, than their male counterparts; the authors also pointed out the trend of an increasing number of women entering Qatar’s labour force.¹⁷ Growing participation of women in the labour force is expected to have a substantial impact on the Arab economy and regional economic prosperity.¹⁸

Other scholars have focused on the social and cultural context of women entering employment. Kaltham Al-Ghanim recently examined the traditional and modern roles that Qatari women are expected to play in the society.¹⁹ The author hypothesised that women’s roles within the public life in the Arabian Peninsula were limited due to the tradition, which often moulds regional socioeconomic development opportunities. Al-Ghanim further analysed Qatar’s social structures based on the objective of gender equality in workforce participation. She explored gender roles via focus groups, which included women and men of diverse ages who belonged to working and non-working categories. Their discussions generally focused on women’s roles in the family and public life in Qatar. Al-Ghanim argues that despite changes in government policies and educational goals, several factors continue to impede Qatari women’s participation in the public workforce –– in particular, a deeply-rooted kinship model and cultural factors represented the major inhibitors to such participation.²⁰ Qatar and other Arab Gulf countries have a long history of tribal system, in which kinship serves as the primary bond that unites individuals and determines their roles in the kin structure. In that sense, men are responsible for protecting and providing for the family, while women are responsible for reproduction and caring for the children and the family. This arrangement relegates women to a subservient position in the household and outside. In modern Qatar, in Al-Ghanim’s opinion, the culture and social structures are still significantly impacted by kinship relationships and gendered social roles. These findings suggest that the Qatari government should implement more adequate strategies that align with the country’s cultural and social norms to bolster women’s participation in the national labour market.

Ahmed Al-Asfour, Hayfaa Tlaiss, Sami Khan, and James Rajasekar examined the challenges faced by working women in Saudi Arabia and the existing barriers to career advancement.²¹ The authors conducted semi-structured interviews to elicit Saudi women’s feedback on these topics. The informants unveiled several organisational structural issues along with attitudinal and cultural challenges which Saudi women face at work. Interviews revealed concerns about mobility barriers: gender stereotypes and gender discrimination, limited growth opportunities, excessive workload, and difficulties ensuring work-family balance (especially for expectant mothers). The study confirmed that women in the Gulf region face gender-specific challenges that impede or prevent them from occupying positions in their countries’ workforce. In effect, Al-Asfour et al. echoed other researchers’ findings,²² and further exemplified cultural factors which complicate women’s employment prospects and careers in the region. Having thus reviewed the studies on the challenges experienced by women who enter the employment, the present study can now turn to recent studies on the benefits of telework and factors influencing its adoption.

4 Research on telework adoption

Audronė Nakrošienė, Ilona Bučiūnienė, and Bernadeta Goštautaitė discussed the theoretical approaches to the impact of telework versus the individual and organisational experience.²³ Relevant aspects included the perceived benefits of telework, workers’ job satisfaction, high productivity, and associated career opportunities. The researchers referred to survey data comprising 128 teleworkers from multiple economic sectors and varying telework intensity. They identified 10 factors that influence telework and considered effects on individual and organisational outcomes. Results indicated that reduced communication with co-workers, home environment suitability, and supervisors’ support and confidence were the most important factors influencing telework adoption. Overall, Nakrošienė and colleagues concluded that telework is a useful tool: managers can use it to promote workers’ job satisfaction, increase organisational productivity, and offer better career opportunities.

Eric Ansong and Richard Boateng explored the various elements that influence telework adoption (for example, potential advantages) and found that telework arrangements benefit workers and organisations.²⁴ They also identified technological, environmental, and organisational factors that guide telework adoption by organisations. Technological factors included the technological market trends, the convenience of telework applications, and the types of technologies used to implement telework practice. Environmental factors consisted of household attributes and community features, such as culture and norms. Organisational elements affecting telework adoption included characteristics of the company or industry, and types of jobs.

Abdulkarim Jamal investigated the advancement of telework in the Middle East and the demographic factors that have shaped its progress in the region.²⁵ His objective was to determine the demographic factors affecting people’s willingness to engage in telework. Jamal performed a quantitative study involving a survey with 214 respondents. Variables of interest included respondents’ age, gender, marital status, children, and distance to workstation. His findings revealed no significant link between respondents’ willingness to telecommute and the focal demographic variables. Therefore, Jamal argues that demographics does not influence the advancement of telework in the Middle East. However, most respondents (n = 146) were from Lebanon; the sample consisted of two people from Qatar and 15 from the Gulf region. The results therefore could not be generalised to Qatar because Qatari culture is more conservative than Lebanese culture, especially on issues related to women.

Mohamed El Louadi and Andrea Everard investigated the changing nature of the Arabian workforce and future labour force trends.²⁶ The authors pointed out that Arab youth faces challenges due to the scarcity of jobs in the areas they are living in, which requires them to immigrate to secure a job. Their findings suggest that future workforce trends and telework in Arab countries will benefit individuals with the least mobility, especially women. They further argue that telework adoption could provide women in Arab nations with the power to determine their countries’ economic success. Discussing the benefits of telework adoption, the authors argue that it can help Arab women to remain socially and economically relevant, as well as enjoying a greater job-related flexibility and autonomy.

As we have seen above, recent research has explored factors influencing women’s employment in the MENA region, examined the benefits and challenges of telework, and underscored the potential of such work in mitigating existing employment challenges for women. The next section provides an overview of current discussions around telework in Qatar.

4.1 Current status of telework: discourse on Twitter

Little research has been conducted on the current telework situation in Qatar. This study takes a first step towards accumulating data to provide a clearer understanding of the circumstances and possible future directions. This section presents a content analysis of Twitter posts regarding telework in Qatar. Although the data discussed herein are limited and do not reflect the opinion of the general population, the information offers important insights into the public opinions on telework.

To navigate telework-related posts in Qatar during the pandemic, the researcher used the search option on Twitter with the Arabic keywords “العمل عن بعد” (“working from distance”, referring to telework). Search results were filtered to be limited to messages posted in Qatar. The researcher then reviewed the most popular posts on this topic. The selection was based on the engagement level of each post. We selected the posts with the highest number of likes, comments and retweets; all tweets quoted here were translated into English for the purposes of this paper.

One of the most active debates around telework in Qatar was facilitated by a verified Twitter user Mohammed Al-Kuwari, a columnist for the newspaper Al Arab. The original post was published on 30 March 2020, just after telework was introduced in Qatar due to the pandemic lockdown. Al-Kuwari posted the following message:

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بعد ما تعدي هالازمة باذن الله على خير .. لو تم طرح فكرة العمل عن بعد بشكل اختياري مقابل شروط معينة من بينها خصم بعض البدلات .. هل راح تطلب العمل عن بعد ؟

When the crisis ends, if the idea of ⁣⁣working remotely were proposed voluntarily under certain conditions, including the deduction of some allowances, would you be willing to adopt telework?

The question received 210 replies and comments. Most women replied with “Yes”, whereas most men preferred commuting to working from home. Women who agreed with Al-Kuwari’s post were mostly mothers seeking to strike a balance between work and family responsibilities. These women’s positions can be illustrated by the following posts:

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آنا السبب الرئيسي اللي مانعني عن الشغل هو عدم وجود وظيفة عن بعد؛ لأني ما أفضل أشتغل وعندي أطفال دون سن المدرسة

The main reason why I don’t work is because there are no remote jobs. I prefer not to work having kids under school age.

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نعم جدا مناسب لي كأم وأفضل من الإستقالة التقاعدية اللي أخذتها مبكرا

Yes, [telework would be] very suitable for me as a mother, better than the early retirement resignation that I took.

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طبعاً كأم مابي اترك بيتي وعيالي عند الخدم، في نفس الوقت مابي اخسر سنوات بدون خبره عمل وبعد بلدنا استثمرت فينا فالتعليم ونحب نرد العلم الي تعلمناه لمجتمعنا بدون ما يأثر سلباً على نواته“الأسره”

Of course, as a mother, I don’t want to leave my house and my kids with the housemaids, I don’t want to loose years without work eithe. Our country has invested in our education and we would love to return the knowledge that we gained back to the society, without negatively affecting the core of our society- family.

These posts demonstrate that educated Qatari women are willing to adopt telework. Their remarks also exemplify their appreciation of its potential in terms of professional and personal development. The last post communicates a desire to work and contribute to the country’s development.

As the pandemic continued to dictate the need for remote work and schooling in Qatar, Twitter users began to consider the future potential of telework for working mothers. On 3 June 2020, Mohammed Ahmed Al-Ansari, a lawyer and active Twitter user, posted the following poll:

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في ظل جائحة #كورونا وتجربة العمل عن بعد هل تؤيدون ان يستمر عمل المرأة المتزوجة عن بُع الى ما بعد #كوفيد_19 ؟

In light of the Corona pandemic and the experience of remote work, do you support [giving] married women [an opportunity] to continue working remotely beyond #Covid_19?

The poll received 1,181 votes, with 76.8% respondents voting “Yes” and 23.2% voting “No”.‏ The poll results did not provide a demographic breakdown of voters; however, the response distribution strongly suggests that the idea of working from home is generally socially accepted and that there is a possibility to adopt telework in Qatar.

After Qatar’s lockdown was partially lifted in August 2020, some employees were asked to return to work while most schools remained online. Another interactive debate regarding telework was facilitated by a verified user, Hamad Lahdan Al-Mohannadi, an engineer and social media activist. In a message posted on 18 August 2020, he presented the following argument:

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اذا كان هناك توجه لاستمرار الدراسة عن بعد، فيجب الاخذ في عين الاعتبار تواجد على الاقل الامهات في البيت، يعني بان يتم منح الامهات العمل عن بعد، الابناء بحاجة لولي الامر في الدراسة عن بعد وخصوصا المرحلة الابتدائية

If there is a tendency to continue studying remotely, it must be taken into account that mothers should stay at home, meaning that mothers are given remote work. Children, especially in elementary [school], will need a parent to study remotely.

His post received 74 comments, 124 retweets, and 514 likes. Most women and men agreed with the post. Some users mentioned certain professions (for example, nursing) that were not conducive to telework. Others did not agree that women should have special privileges related to working from home because their children were studying at home; a few noted that fathers can help with schoolwork as well. Another objection raised by three users (two women and a man) illuminated a complex debate regarding women’s roles in society and the pressure they face: these three users questioned whether women who were allowed to work remotely would in fact spend their time at home teaching their children. The following comment provides an example of this argument:

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انت مصدق ان الامهات يدرسون عيالهم لا يبا غلطان أنت متى كلين على المدرسين الخصوصيين وعلى الفلبينية الي في البيت قلبك ابيض ماعندهاوقت الام اول اليوم دوام وتطلع بعد الدوام مع صديقتها تتغدي والعصر تطلع تقهوى والرجل والعيال والبيت في ذمت الخدم

If you believe that mothers are teaching their kids, you are wrong. They depend on private tutors and the housemaid. The mother doesn’t have the time. She works in the morning, has lunch with her friends after work, and goes to coffee shops in the evening. The housemaid is the one taking care of the house, the husband, and the children.

This post provoked a heated discussion as female users strongly disagreed with the claim that all women in Qatar neglect their husband and children. Notably, no one questioned whether women working remotely would do their work more or less efficiently from home –– nor did commenters appear to ponder the challenges of completing work duties while monitoring children’s home learning. This conversation reflects a complex set of cultural expectations related to women’s roles in Qatari society today: although many individuals might judge a woman for spending some time out (meeting with friends or stopping for a coffee), less attention is apparently given to the challenges of pursuing successful employment while being a “good” wife and mother. Present discussions about working from home thus seem to ignore the effect of this shift on female employees’ productivity. The socio-cultural stigma around the status of working women revolves around their abilities to balance their family duties and professional responsibilities. Otherwise, women’s employment would be viewed as disturbing the family dynamics. In order to explore this situation in more depth, we propose a conceptual framework considering telework technology as a fit work option for women in Qatar. The flexibility of telework allows women to navigate their expected social roles while achieving professional development.

The Twitter posts adduced above show that the discussion tends to be initiated by men: they post the original messages and introduce poll discussions, thereby revealing latent cultural expectations. The sample comments suggest that most women favour telework; some men encourage women to work remotely, too. Yet are these Twitter discussions necessarily indicative of what the women want –– or do they merely represent what the society expects from these women? Two motifs are at play here: the first reflects cultural expectations about women’s roles in the society (primarily as wives and mothers); the second implies that many women desire a job that suits their wishes and lifestyle. In both cases, there is a strong desire to continue working from home even after the pandemic. The next section details a hypothetical model investigating the possibility and suitability of adopting telework in Qatar from technological, cultural, and organisational perspectives.

5 Conceptual model for factors influencing telework adoption in Qatar

This section refers to primary and secondary data from reports, social media, academic journals, supporting articles, and other online sources to propose a multi-dimensional conceptual model which integrates Task Technology Fit (TTF) Model, Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory (HCDT), and occupational factors. This approach enables triangulated analysis from technological, cultural, and organisational points of view. Findings are then qualitatively discussed (see Table I).

Table I: Factors influencing the adoption of telework in Qatar.

5.1 Technological factors

The proposed technological factors are derived from TTF and TAM to evaluate the possibility of adopting telework in Qatar from a technological perspective. TTF suggests that people will adopt a new technology or system if the technology supports and suits the task they wish to achieve.²⁷ The theory addresses technology, task characteristics, and how they align. TAM aims to explain the rationale behind new technology adoption from another perspective, postulating that people are likely to adopt a new technology or system if they deem it useful and simple.²⁸ In other words, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use influence individuals’ decisions (in this case, whether to adopt telework in Qatar).²⁹ This theory provides a general framework that complements TTF theory in explaining the adoption of a new system from a technological viewpoint. Researchers therefore have applied TAM along with TTF theory to elucidate technology adoption.³⁰

5.1.1 Technology characteristics

According to TTF theory, technology characteristics cover specific aspects of a new technology or system that influence individuals’ decisions to adopt it (for example, to switch to working remotely from home). The present study argues that Qatari women are likely to adopt telework because it enables them to work from home, thereby affording them more control over their work schedules; such control is currently the key factor determining their willingness to adopt this system. Remote work delivery is also efficient because this format uses the internet to complete daily tasks.

5.1.2 Task characteristics

TTF theory defines task characteristics as tasks that people want to accomplish when using a given technology. In this case, Qatari women wish to have more flexible working hours. According to Noora Lari, Justin Gengler, and Maryam Al Thani, the greatest challenge facing the female labour force in Qatar is inflexible working hours.³¹ Their study indicated that 27% of female participants agreed that inflexible working hours constituted their greatest work challenge. Therefore, this factor is expected to be a motivating element behind working women’s telework adoption in Qatar. The telework system’s ability to facilitate flexible work renders this system especially appealing to mothers, as telework offers them the flexibility to work and care for their families. Given the match between this system’s technical and task characteristics, Qatari women are presumably likely to engage in telework. TTF theory further argues that, if the technology suits a given task, then this alignment will inform individuals’ adoption of such technology and enhance users’ performance.³² As such, telework will likely increase female Qatari workers’ motivation and work performance. Male employees, who have different family responsibilities and face different cultural expectations, may not feel as motivated as their female counterparts to pursue remote work; in this case, the model will be less popular with them.

5.1.3 Perceived usefulness

The concept of perceived usefulness is a component of TAM, referring to one’s belief that using a specific technology or system will be beneficial and improve their performance.³³ In this case, the theory will test the belief that telework will be advantageous. The Twitter posts presented above suggest that most people recognise the practical utility of telework. As discussed above, this mode offers a more flexible work environment desirable for women in Qatar, especially mothers with young children. This flexibility might be helpful in achieving a greater work-home balance. The work-from-home method could offer a solution for housewives to enter the workforce without compromising their family responsibilities.

The use of telework in Qatar can potentially reduce the gender gap in workforce participation, and thus make a valuable contribution to the national economy. In particular, this work mode alleviates the difficulty associated with negotiating the sensitive issue of discrete male and female working spaces. The convenience of working from home also generates more productive time to focus on work tasks. As people begin working from home, traffic congestion will lessen and employees will save time normally spent commuting to work. Therefore, telework is likely to be adopted in Qatar because it will be deemed socially and economically advantageous.

5.1.4 Perceived ease of use

Perceived ease of use is another aspect of TAM, encompassing one’s belief that using a particular technology or system is effortless.³⁴ Telework systems must thus be considered easy to use for individuals to contemplate adopting them. Nearly all (99%) of Qatar’s population uses the internet.³⁵ Young Qataris are technologically savvy and can use emerging technologies effortlessly.³⁶ Qatari women are highly literate: 50.5% of non-working Qatari women have a university-level education or above.³⁷ Qatari employees are highly skilled as well.³⁸ Therefore, mastering the technologies needed to work remotely should not present a problem for these workers. During the lockdown, employees and non-working mothers needed to learn how to use certain software (for example, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or WebEx) for virtual conferences, their workflow, and their children’s education. The government can harness these merits to draw more women into the workforce.

5.2 Cultural factors

The cultural factors are especially important in the context of this study. As discussed, women’s participation in the workforce in Qatar is deeply influenced by cultural values. Thus, suggesting a framework of telework adoption based on technological factors alone would neglect critical cultural factors that could significantly influence the transition to working from home. For that reason, Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory (HCDT) was utilized to explain telework adoption in Qatar from a cultural perspective. Hofstede’s theory has been applied and tested in several empirical studies which investigated the influence of national culture on telework application.³⁹ Nevertheless, these studies were conducted in European countries, where the cultural background is different from Qatar. This study will advance the existing scholarship by adopting HCDT in the context of telework adoption in Qatar.

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory is a framework to identify countries’ cultural differences. It explains the influence of a country’s culture on the values of its people, and how these values influence individuals’ behaviour. These distinctions are essential to consider when discerning how businesses operate in various cultures.⁴⁰ Scholars have applied HCDT to evaluate new technology adoption on the basis of national culture.⁴¹ Hofstede’s framework includes six culture-related categories. The current study focuses on the following dimensions, which are most relevant to developing a model for telework adoption in Qatar: collectivism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, and short-term orientation. These dimensions will be applied to define the characteristics and influence of Qatari culture on telework acceptance and enforcement across national businesses.

5.2.1 Collectivism

The HCDT dimension of individualism versus collectivism describes how society integrates groups and meets specific obligations.⁴² Individualism frames personal goals as being of higher importance, whereas collectivism prioritises the group well-being and the pursuit of common goals.⁴³ Qatar is a predominantly collectivist society: Hofstede estimated Qatari culture as 75% collectivist.⁴⁴ Individuals in collectivist communities emphasise in-group members’ obligations.⁴⁵ Collectivism refers to the prioritisation of group interests over individual concerns; in Qatar, the interests of the family unit are favoured over personal convenience.

Citizens of collectivist societies are generally willing to sacrifice their own needs and wants for the benefits of the group.⁴⁶ In our case, a wife/mother in the collectivist Qatari culture tends to leave employment to care for her family. A report from the Planning and Statistics Authority (2018) indicated that housewives compose 47% of the country’s economically inactive population.⁴⁷ In another survey, nearly half of participants (41%) cited family and matrimonial issues as their greatest concerns related to female labour force participation.⁴⁸ These figures reveal the economic and social costs of collectivism in the region.

As is typical for a collectivist society, the family unit is taken as a cornerstone of Qatari culture. Qatar’s educational and social organisations emphasise the core role of the family as well. In 2019, AMAN –– a protection and social rehabilitation centre belonging to Qatar Social Work –– launched a campaign “وصل عيالك” (“Drop off your kids”). The campaign aimed to promote family cohesion by way of encouraging parents to take their children to school instead of relying on private drivers or housemaids.⁴⁹ The campaign sparked a heated debate on social media, with parents bitterly complaining about balancing their work schedules with parental responsibilities: most parents work, and their fixed schedules do not allow them to drop off or pick up their children from school. Parents then suggested urging the government, employers, and organisations to provide them with more flexibility which would enable parents to meet their children’s needs. The following are some examples of users’ replies to AMAN’s campaign on Twitter:

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موضوع مهم للغاية نرجو ان تكون الحملة موجهة في المقام الاول لاصحاب القرار في مختلف الوزارات والمؤسسات هناك مسؤولين في بعض الجهات لا يراعون ابداً ظروف الموظف ويتمادون في اصدار القرارات التعسفية بدون مبرر واضح الاداء رغم الاداء المتميز للموظف

This is a very important topic. The campaign should be targeted in the first place at decision makers in ministries and institutions. Some employers never take into account the employee’s circumstances and they issue arbitrary decisions without clear justification, despite the employee’s outstanding performance.

Table

من ضمن أهداف حملة #وصل_عيالك (حث المسؤولين للتسهيل على موظفيهم لتوصيل أطفالهم) (أيها المسؤول المرونه في العمل تشجع الموظف على الأداء الجيد والصرامه تقتل الإنتاجيه (لذلك خلك مرن)

Among the goals of the campaign (urging employers to facilitate taking the children to school by their employees), to employers: flexibility at work encourages the employee to perform well, while inflexibility kills productivity, (so be flexible)

Table

ان شاءالله لما الدوائر الحكوميه او المسؤولين يحترمون المواطن ويحترمون العائله القطريه ومايتعقدون في الحضور والانصراف ويحاربون رزق خلق الله في ربط البصمه بالراتب بنواصل عيالنا وبحرص

When government departments or responsible parties respect a citizen and respect a Qatari family, and do not stress about attendance, and do not cut the salary when an employee arrives late, then we will take our kids to school with care.

Qatari society and social organisations clearly emphasise familial obligations, and individuals are keen to meet their family responsibilities; however, inflexibility at work is in conflict with collectivism. The last comment is interesting as it links work flexibility with “respecting a Qatari family”: this claim once again underlines socially espoused family values. Thus, decision makers should attend to family priorities rather than individualistic concerns. In this case, telework would offer an effective employment solution for Qatari citizens; it would provide more opportunities and work flexibility, which agrees with citizens’ collectivist duty to care for their families.

5.2.2 Masculinity

Another dimension of HCDT, femininity versus masculinity, is of a particular interest to this study. According to Hofstede’s theory, countries that score high in masculinity have distinct and clearly defined gender roles and expectations. Qatar scores high in the masculinity dimension; in this country, men and women have distinct social gender roles.⁵⁰ Traditionally, Arab culture defines women’s role as domestic, and expects women to stay home and care for their families. This expectation underlies the high number of economically inactive housewives in the region in general, and in Qatar in particular. Yet a recent study demonstrated that certain norms around women’s roles have changed in Qatar: for instance, women completing higher education is becoming common, although women’s participation in the workforce remains relatively low.⁵¹ Laurie James-Hawkins, Yara Qutteina, and Kathryn Yount attributed women’s limited employment to Qatar’s patriarchal culture: women are conventionally responsible for the household and childrearing.

The controversy around leaving the house to go to work can be partially alleviated by the opportunity to work from home. This factor is likely to contribute to the appeal of telework adoption among Qatari women. Another noteworthy issue concerns gender segregation. Family members’ decision to support female employment in Qatar is often determined by the gender-inclusivity of the working space (whether an office is mixed-gender, or women-only). Research on female labour force participation in Qatar demonstrates that a women-only office is associated with a substantially greater likelihood of family approval.⁵² Moreover, a survey on Qatari women’s participation in the workforce indicates that working in a mixed-gender environment is one of the key concerns for women: 76% of female respondents asserted that mixed-gender environment was the main reason they chose not to work in the private sector. As a consequence, gender conventions will probably increase the likelihood of Qatari women adopting telework.

5.2.3 Uncertainty avoidance

The Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) in HCDT is used to determine the cultural likelihood of and tolerance for ambiguity.⁵³ Specifically, this index measures the threat of ambiguity and unknown situations.⁵⁴ It therefore considers unusual or unexpected events, and how they will be accommodated. Qatar’s UAI score is 55 out of 100, compared with 68 for other Arabic nations.⁵⁵ Although Qatar has a lower score than other Arab countries, Qatari citizens are still willing to avoid uncertainty. Telework could be considered an uncertain situation because it is a new system. The most common uncertainty involves employers’ ability to accept the comprehensive introduction of telework into their organisational structures versus employees’ willingness to adopt such technology.⁵⁶ The COVID-19 pandemic has enforced home-based telework and distance learning, and turned them into mainstream organisational arrangements, which has provided most of Qatar’s population an opportunity to experience working (and/or studying) from home. Thus, the previously unknown aspects of working remotely online have already been experienced and tested by organisations and people in the country: telework is no longer a “terra incognita”. The pandemic has confirmed the possibility and practicality of implementing such a system. Necessary adjustments can now be made based on organisations’ and workers’ experiences in order to develop the system, and consider implementing it permanently.

5.2.4 Short-term orientation

The long-term orientation index, another HCDT dimension, refers to the extent to which social change is promoted beyond norms and traditions.⁵⁷ Qatar’s long-term orientation index is 41 out of 100, which is relatively low.⁵⁸ Facets of a short-term orientation include respecting tradition, fulfilling social obligations, protecting one’s face, and valuing leisure time.⁵⁹ Since the culture in Qatar associates with short-term orientation, telework would be a fit option. Telework would allow women to have a more flexible work environment where they can fulfil other social obligations and have more leisure time. Moreover, it aligns with the cultural traditions and values of gender segregation and conventions. In the long run, working remotely may enhance the image of working women in the Qatari society. To sum up, the short-term orientation index suggests the likelihood of adopting telework for women.

According to a SESRI report on Qatari attitudes towards the female labour force, “23% of participants fear negative marriage implications for the working woman; 22% believe that women working outside the home undermines Qatari traditions and values; and 5% fear negative peer judgment of the woman and/or her family.”⁶⁰ These results demonstrate the value of traditions, the importance of fulfilling social roles for women, and the importance of maintaining a positive social image in the Qatari society. Due to the alignment of telework with the short-term orientation of the Qatari society, this cultural dimension will likely facilitate the national telework adoption.

The above discussion shows that collectivism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, and short-term orientation influence telework adoption by women in Qatar. However, it is important to note that although Hofstede's cultural dimensions can be useful in providing a foundation for understanding cultural influences on telework adoption in Qatar, the complexity of the Qatari culture (such as the deeply rooted kinship model and traditional tribal system) requires further investigation.

Thus far, this study has examined technological and cultural factors related to telework adoption in Qatar. The discussion above suggests that, both technologically and culturally, telework can help to eliminate multiple obstacles faced by Qatari women willing to enter the workforce. Next, this paper presents an analysis of occupational factors and explores the feasibility of implementing telework from an organisational perspective.

5.3 Organisational factors

Our examination of relevant technological and cultural factors (which were tested when telework became comprehensive during the pandemic) strongly suggests that there is a realistic possibility of adopting telework in Qatar. However, the success of such adoption will depend on workers’ industries and occupations. Adopting telework requires jobs that do not depend on physical employees interaction, or operation of heavy machinery to produce goods or provide services. This section focuses on job duties of female Qatari employees.

According to the Planning and Statistics Authority, 44.1% of female Qataris hold professional occupations, 29% hold clerk jobs, 18.3% are technicians, 6.2% are managers, and 5.9% have “other” occupation.⁶¹ The report demonstrated that most Qatari women work in the education and health sectors (37%), while 32.8% work in public administration, 5.7% in financial services and insurance, 5.7% in mining, 3.8% in transport and storage, and 15% in other sectors.⁶²

Table II: Distribution of Qatari labour force by occupation

OCCUPATION	QATARI MALES (%)	QATARI FEMALES (%)
Managers	13.3	6.2
Professionals	21.9	44.1
Technicians	18.3	14.8
Clerks	24.6	29.0
Service workers & vendors	7.8	5.5
Agricultural & fisheries workers	0.0	0.0
Craft & related trade workers	7.0	0.0
Machine operators	1.7	0.0
Elementary occupations	5.4	0.4
Total	100.0	100.0

Source: Govt of Qatar, Planning and Statistics Authority, “Labor Force Sample Survey 2018”.

Table III: Distribution of Qatari labour force by economic activity

ECONOMIC ACTIVITY	QATARI MALES (%)	QATARI FEMALES (%)
Agriculture & Fishery	0.2	0.0
Mining	12.3	5.7
Industry	1.5	0.7
Electricity, gas & AC supplies	2.3	3.0
Construction	2.2	0.4
Trade	1.6	2.7
Transport & storage	2.3	3.8
Accommodation & food services	0.4	0.8
Information & communications	3.4	3.0
Financial services & insurance	3.3	5.7
Professional & technical services	0.6	0.3
Administrative services	1.2	0.5
Public administration	58.9	32.8
Education & health	6.3	37.0
Household activities	0.0	0.0
Others	3.5	3.6
Total	100.0	100.0

Source: Govt of Qatar, Planning and Statistics Authority, “Labor Force Sample Survey 2018”.

Agnes Parent-Thirion, Enrique Fernádez-Marcías, John Hurley, and Greet Vermeylen have found that employees who hold professional occupations are better positioned to move to telework.⁶³ For example, managers and clerical workers have a higher chance of moving to telework than workers in other occupations. Real estate, education, and financial mediation industries appear best suited to telework.

Table IV: Telework by sector and occupation, EU27 (%)⁶⁴

These trends suggest that telework can be implemented in Qatar and adopted by Qatari women because most of their jobs fall within occupations and sectors conducive to telework. For jobs that require employees to be physically present in the office at certain times, employers can consider implementing a hybrid strategy wherein employees generally work from home, and commute to work only on certain days.

The hypothetical model proposed in this paper has evaluated telework with respect to technological convenience, cultural preferences, and occupational suitability. This analysis indicates that telework could be adopted as a long-term employment solution in Qatar, especially for women.

6 Potential implications of adopting telework for women in Qatar

Qatar strongly supports empowering women; bringing women into the workforce is a key component of QNV 2030. Yet this objective remains problematic because many educated women tend to stay home to care for their families. Telework can help to realise QNV 2030 goals because it will provide highly qualified –– but currently economically inactive –– women with an opportunity to join the labour force without compromising their family responsibilities. It will also offer mothers with young children a flexible and more convenient employment structure and help them fulfil their childcare duties. Women will no longer need to choose between their desire to work or to stay home and care for their families –– they will be able to do both. Telework will therefore resolve the dilemma of work-family balance for working Qatari women. Critics have argued that telework will socially isolate women by keeping them at home; however, telework will in fact enable women to participate in other social activities by affording them greater control over their time and schedules. This work format will give women flexible working hours, which are currently not available under regular working schedules. While a working mother who spends half of her day at the office might not have the chance to engage in after-work activities and spend all her free time looking after her family, telework can offer mothers a chance to work while caring for their children. This conclusion mirrors the research reviewed above, which shows that working remotely promotes employee satisfaction, work-family balance, and richer social lives. Overall, women will have more opportunities, and will be able to choose a work pattern that suits their lifestyle.

Telework can also open doors for women who wish to work, but whose employment prospects are constrained by embedded cultural norms, expectations, and gender stereotypes. These circumstances will likely translate into the gradual movement of Qatari culture towards embracing female employment. Recent debates on working from home during the pandemic signal that this idea is becoming socially and culturally acceptable. Telework thus marks an important step in the evolution of cultural norms around female employment; but there is a need to develop policies which will facilitate this transition. The following section presents some policy recommendations for implementing telework in Qatar.

6.1 Policy recommendations

The above analysis suggests the following policy recommendations:

1. Governmental and business organisations should evaluate and learn from current experiences of remote work and schooling during COVID-19; in particular, they should identify and address technical flaws in the system. This stage requires coordination among the government, organisations, and digital communication companies to facilitate smooth adoption of the system in future.

2. Organisations should identify jobs suitable for telework. For positions that require workers to be physically present in the office at certain times, a hybrid approach can be adopted wherein employees work from home, but commute to work when need be. Government entities and private organisations should also consider offering their employees an option of remote work to accommodate those who would prefer to work from home.

3. Companies should deliver tailored training in the technical and “soft” (for instance, interpersonal) skills required to work remotely.

4. The government and companies should analyse the telework experience during the lockdown, and develop a set of instructions concerning working from home, establish clear procedures, and maintain evaluation routines.

5. To increase women’s participation in the workforce, telework should be promoted as a culturally and socially acceptable option for educated housewives who wish to work without compromising their family responsibilities. Given that most women in the country use social media, these platforms can be leveraged as tools to monitor, moderate, and influence public opinion on telework.

Overall, these measures should aim to increase participation and productivity of female employees in the national economy.

7 Conclusion

The COVID-19 pandemic has precipitated a dramatic shift to working from home in Qatar. This change has spurred research into how telework enables people to work without compromising their quarantine routine, shielding, or family responsibilities. This paper briefly outlined the rise in telework opportunities, which was accelerated by the pandemic, and summarised recent research on telework. It also delineated the effects and potential of this development for working women in Qatar in terms of cultural and social expectations that tend to define female employment in the region. This study revealed that Qatari women appreciate the flexible scheduling and environment of telework. Further analysis of Twitter discussions suggests that the society finds this model to be acceptable.

The conceptual model proposed in this paper considers the possibility and suitability of implementing telework for female employees on a permanent basis. The model considers implementing telework from various perspectives: technological, cultural, and occupational. In order to assess the feasibility and potential outcomes of telework adoption in Qatar, this study employed TAM, TTF theory, HCDT, and Sectoral Analysis. Our examination suggests the following observations. The implementation and adoption of telework will be facilitated by its key characteristics and benefits (for example, ease of use). The process can be further accommodated by the cultural aspects of the region (collectivism and predominantly male-employees-oriented workspaces), uncertainty avoidance, and short-term orientation: these often frame and complicate Qatari women’s workforce participation; however, their challenges can be largely negotiated through telework. The occupational analysis revealed that many employee positions are well-suited for the transition to telework. In essence, adopting telework in Qatar could represent a major step towards a greater gender inclusivity and equality in the economy in general, and the employment sector in particular.

7.1 Limitations and future research

Time constraints precluded a more detailed qualitative and quantitative study of telework adoption in Qatar. The COVID-19 restrictions which were in force at the time of writing impeded social interaction, and prevented me from conducting a survey or in-person interviews. The current research was therefore limited to reviewing extant literature and online resources. As a next step, longitudinal research is needed to explore in depth sociocultural barriers to female employment in Qatar. Further work is needed in order verify the validity and reliability of the present findings. Subsequent research should include surveys and in-depth interviews, and measure the significance of factors presented in this study. Scholars should consider demographic attributes, assess individuals’ willingness to adopt telework, and determine the factors that influence both employees’ need for telework, and its implementation. Lastly, future research should consider detailed organisational perspectives, assess the suitability of telework within organisational structures, and define telework performance metrics.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

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].

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, 8^th 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.