Mansour Group: Gender Diversity and Equity in Corporate Business

UN Women

Citation: Understanding the business case for gender equality in the Workplace. Equimundo.

(2022, June 7). Retrieved October 23, 2022, from

https://www.equimundo.org/resources/understanding-the-business-case-for-gender-

equality-in-the-workplace/

Ola Harb

Fundamentals of Gender Discrimination (SOC488D)

Section 11; 11:00AM – 12:15PM

Dr. Sonia Nakad

Oct. 24th, 2022

 The given case study discusses gender-related discrimination on the corporate scale in Egypt.

It explains the situation women are currently suffering from in the workplace, and focuses on the

example of Mansour Group, a family-owned multinational company. In Egypt, eight thousand

employees work for Mansour Group, but only a tiny portion of those are females (14% of upper

management, 4% of middle management, and 6% of workforce). The case emphasizes how the

problem has different underlying factors, not only focusing on policies and procedures which

weren’t inclusive enough, but also on the effect of mindset and culture on gender perception. This

has resulted in women being underprivileged in terms of employment and advancement

opportunities compared to men.

Firstly, upper management at Mansour Group realized that their policies and regulations

resulted in unconscious biases towards males when opening job vacancies, and even when

accounting for promotions. For instance, according to the study, job applications included

questions related to gender, future plans, and other members of the family, all of which constructed

a certain assumption about the candidate, thus resulting in an unfair recruitment process.

Moreover, according to one of the employees interviewed, workers usually take on senior positions

after being employed in lower-level jobs. The main issue here, however, is that females only

constitute an extremely low percentage of workforce (6%), which leads to males being mainly

promoted to higher corporate levels.

Secondly, culture plays a prominent role in shaping the mindset of workers, whether they

are males or even females themselves. For example, there are certain types of work which are still

considered blue-collar in the MENA region – and specifically in Egypt – according to the case

study at hand, such as accounting jobs, security-related occupations, or simply jobs that require

long shifts. In addition, the law prohibits women from working after 7:00pm, thus placing a
privilege for men who are allowed to do so by giving them more opportunities to advance. In fact,

according to an employee at Mansour Group, females in Egypt are usually less favorable than

males, not only in the workplace, but also at home with their families. The employee states how

“mothers often prefer their sons to daughters”, and explains how this way of thought is

“embedded” in their culture and values.

Thirdly, work-life balance has always posed a barrier against women’s progress in their

careers. In Egypt, women are usually expected to fulfill house chores and hold responsibilities

which actually pertain to both partners (husband and wife). However, this idea of females being

the sole members in the family who are accountable for care-taking duties (cooking, cleaning,

looking after the kids, etc..) has created a burden on women who are interested in acquiring a job

and making money independently. Consequently, such women in Egypt are expected to prioritize

and sacrifice one of two important parts of their lives for the sake of fulfilling the other. In fact,

they might be shamed for choosing self-development and professional advancement over getting

married and having children because they are perceived as stay-at-home caretakers. Contrary to

females, males are expected to work for longer hours, which, in turn, provides them with an

“excuse” to refrain from taking part in performing housework.

Mansour Group, realizing the problem and the consequences it brings about in terms of

gender discrimination, decided to take action. The Human Resources department, in collaboration

and cooperation with the Corporate Social Responsibility department, decided to amend the

policies and procedures of the company so that they better serve the novel gender norms being

presented into the Egyptian community. The aim of these amendments was to provide equal

employment and advancement opportunities for both women and men working at Mansour Group.

The policy changes that took place considered the potential unconscious favoritism in terms of
gender discrimination and perception, especially when it was related to hiring and promotions. For

example, applicants to job vacancies are not required to indicate their gender anymore. They are

not inquired on any matters related to other family members except for insurance purposes. In

addition, working hours were adjusted to comply with Egyptian law which states that women

cannot work after 7:00pm, requiring both women and men to work till 5:00pm only. The aim of

this adjustment was to provide equal opportunities in terms of recruitment and career advancement

for all genders. Most importantly, Mansour Group decided to provide equal pay for women and

men working the same job, and is working on providing gender training for employees to help

raise awareness on gender issues.

I believe that the steps Mansour Group has taken to improve the quality of work from a

gender point of view are important and effective; however, they are not enough to ensure that

gender equity and equality are being fully achieved. Policies play a prominent role in shaping the

behavior of employees, and in the type of work they can do – regardless of gender. However, these

legal steps may not be sufficient to alter the mindset of people who are part of the Egyptian society,

which generally doesn’t perceive women as equally important in the workplace as men. As such,

there should be awareness campaigns and trainings held which focus on the idea of women at

work, in addition to governmental reinforcement of gender-related measures to guarantee that

individuals not only fear the law when accounting for the role of females in the community, but

also understand why such laws are enforced in order to respect this role.

In brief, gender equality is a pertinent issue today in places all over the globe, and now it is

particularly significant in the MENA region. Egypt is one of the countries where gender is not

given as much importance as it needs, and thus, individuals who belong to its community are

suffering from discrimination they encounter on a daily basis and on many levels. The workplace
is one of the environments where this is a deeply enrooted problem, where women are expected to

work specific jobs, be paid differently than men, and hold more responsibilities outside the

workplace as well. After analyzing the case study at hand, we were able to understand how this

problem has affected employees working at Mansour Group, and how the Group tried to fix it by

adjusting and reinforcing their implementations at the legal and strategic levels. This case is one

example of many which highlight the reality of gender discrimination in the MENA region, and

spreading awareness on the topic is important to mitigate the risks and consequences that might be

associated with it.