College-to-work transition: an exploration of the participants' views on the extent and impact of factors affecting the transition of female Emirati graduates into the labour market in the United Arab Emirates

Despite the huge number of unemployed female graduates, very little is known about their experiences and interpretations of the factors that restrict their transition into the labour market. The research question focuses on understanding the factors that affect the transition of female Emirati graduates from entering the labour market and recommendations to the UAE government policy makers to increase the participation of Emirati females in the labour market. An exploratory phenomenological sequential mixed method research was used through focus group discussions with male and female Emiratis, followed by factor analysis of the data collected using a questionnaire. The intention is to understand the perceptions and interpretations of the restrictive factors. The results show that patriarchal factors restrict female labour transitions. The results reveal the complexities of interpretations of social realities that are influenced by the religion of Islam that is considered as the way of life and anything written in The Holy Qur'an should be accepted. The results show that the majority of male respondents want their women to be home-bound, while women want to work for companies outside the home. The results further show that men should be given employment priority in Muslim societies. Men consider the working environments as unsuitable for females, yet men are in charge and fail to improve the female working conditions. The oil boom made the Emirati families rich and they hire domestic workers who work under the supervision of women, thereby elevating the domestic role of women as managers and restrict their mobility out of the home. Shunning some jobs by Emirati females, fulfil men's motives of restricting women from entering the labour market. The no objection letter requirement by employers when employing female graduates restrict women because the approval depends on the male members of the society who are against working women.