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Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze the convergence between the current state of education, labor markets’’ preparedness, and expectations of Generation Y females taking Bahrain as a case study. Generation Y is defined as the group of people aged 30 years and under. Although Generation Y is a worldwide phenomenon and members of this generational group share certain characteristics globally, in Gulf Cooperation Council countries [GCC] they display strong pressure to succeed, a need of gaining a high salary but also to acquire knowledge and expertise; and a preference for a strong work-life balance. In addition, in the workplace they seek peer orientation of the superiors rather than sheer respect for hierarchy; the latter is especially visible among the female population. The quickly modernized and globalized world created a generation with worldviews distinctive from the generation of their parents and this is especially visible in the GCC region that has been undergoing profound changes in the last decades with more and more women entering the labor market. GCC countries are at a stage where the transformation of their labor markets remains of utmost importance; hence this paper will shed light on the current trends and provide recommendations for future reforms.

Author Biography

Cameron Mirza is a highly skilled leader within education with vast international experience within the UK and Middle East including working within two UK Prime Ministers. At the Department for Education (UK) Cameron was responsible for establishing the young apprenticeship programme, led the review of diversity in the curriculum with Sir Keith Ajegbo and was part of the team that set up Academies. Cameron was appointed Director for Strategy for Higher Education Council, Bahrain from December 2011 to May 2016 where he has co-authored a national higher education strategy and the nation’s first industry-led graduate skills guide. In 2016 Cameron was appointed Head of transformation at the University of Bahrain, authoring the transformation plan of the national university. Cameron is a board member of BETT Middle East and a fellow of Oxfords Gulf Talent advisory board.

Magdalena Karolak (Ph.D. in Linguistics, University of Silesia, Poland) is Associate Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences at Zayed University, UAE. Her research interests include transformations of societies in the Arabian Gulf and comparative linguistics. Dr. Karolak has published more than 30 journal articles and book chapters on the shifting gender relations, social media, culture and identity and political system transformations in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. She is the author of a monograph "The Past Tense in Polish and French: A Semantic Approach to Translation" (Peter Lang, 2013) and "Social Media Wars: Sunni and Shia Identity Conflicts in the Age of Web 2.0" (Academica, 2013).

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