The recent news that women hold 6.8 percent of board seats across the GCC (up from 5.2 percent in 2024), from the inaugural GCC Board Gender Index 2025 by Aurora50 and Heriot-Watt University Dubai, was widely covered by the media across the region.
[Download the report (PDF) for free by filling in a simple Aurora50 form.]
أدت الجهود الحثيثة، التي تبذلها دولة الإمارات في سعيها المستمر نحو تحسين التنوع بين الجنسين إلى زيادة عدد المناصب، التي تشغلها النساء في مجالس الإدارة لهذا العام إلى 8.9%، لتسجل بذلك ارتفاعاً بنسبة 3.5 % بالمقارنة مع عام 2020، وذلك وفقاً لبحث أجرته مؤسسة أرورا 50 الاجتماعية، وهي مؤسسة تعمل على تحقيق التكافؤ بين الجنسين في مجالس إدارة دول مجلس التعاون الخليجي، بالتعاون مع كلية محمد بن راشد للإدارة الحكومية.
The number of women on UAE-listed company boards has more than doubled from 3.5 percent to 8.9 percent in just two years, with 59.1 percent now having at least one female board member, Zawya reports, quoting Aurora50’s research report Non-executive Board Careers in the UAE: A Path to Gender Balance.
Interviewed on Asharq Business Bloomberg after a quota of one woman per listed UAE board was mandated by the Emirates and Securities Commodities Authority (ESCA), Aurora50 co-founder Diana Wilde said: “We have a clear message from the government in the UAE that the economy will grow substantially if gender balance is achieved. The challenge lies in creating a pipeline of women, and the extent of women’s access to boards.”
