The Sultanate of Oman marks the Omani Women’s Day today (Oct 17). The country celebrates the annual event as Omani women achieve more landmark strides.
The year 2019 has seen two more women joining the Council of Ministers as the country celebrates Omani Women’s Day on Thursday.
Forty-three women will be among 700 candidates who will contest in the Majlis Ash’shura elections.
The number of students enrolled in schools in 2019/2020 stands at 759,307, and around 50 per cent of whom are girls.
The student ratio tips a bit in higher education where there are more women in higher education.
Finding the job opportunities continues to be a challenge for both men and women.
The Ministry of Higher Education, in cooperation with the Oman Society for Petroleum Services (OPAL), conducted a study on women empowerment in the oil and gas sector in 2018.
In Oman, women constitute less than 10 per cent of the total workforce in the oil and gas sector whereas their participation ranges between 20 and 25 per cent worldwide.
In the local private sector, the study pointed out, the participation is 25.4 per cent of the total number of Omanis in this sector.
The survey shows that about 85.7 per cent of employed graduates in the oil and gas sectors are engineers.
36.6 per cent of the students in engineering specialisations are women, but they make up only 16.1 per cent of the total number of applicants to this sector.
The study revealed that currently less than 2.7 per cent of women work in concession sites, but 29.5 per cent of them are currently working in office-based jobs and are willing to be relocated to concession areas if provided with suitable facilities and schemes.
Currently females constitute 4.2 per cent in management positions.
More than 70 per cent of women of a total of 1,182 from the oil and gas sector who completed the online survey believed there is a need for more women in senior positions.
The study states that in the three highest private commercial activities and industries in employing graduates in the oil and energy sector 12.8 per cent are women, 10 per cent in engineering and engineering services, and 9 per cent in construction.