A mentorship programme to help Bahraini women take up senior positions in the banking sector is underway.

The programme, in co-operation with the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), the Bahrain Institute for Banking and Finance (BIBF) and the Supreme Council for Women (SCW), will target 100 university students seeking careers in the banking and finance sector, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

It was announced by CBB Corporate Services executive director Dr Huda Al Maskati during the launch of the initiative yesterday at the CBB headquarters in Diplomatic Area.

Students nominated from five universities (Bahrain University, Bahrain Polytechnic, Bangor BIBF, Ahliya and Royal University for Women), will undergo the three-month free-of-charge programme conducted by the BIBF. The year-long campaign, which features a series of activities including panel discussions and town hall sessions leading up to the Women in the Financial and Banking Conference on November 30, under the patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, wife of His Majesty King Hamad and SCW president, will commence in September.

“According to statistics women account for only 32 per cent of the workforce in Bahrain’s banking sector,” Dr Al Maskati told the GDN.  

“We would like to see this percentage increase, and such initiatives will help us on this.

“As of now, we see women holding starting and middle management positions, but what we see is a lack of women moving into higher positions of authority.

“We need to tackle this and the challenges that we face in this aspect are both internal and external.

“We need to target the internal obstacles, which women themselves create – mainly the lack of self-confidence.

“They don’t push themselves to take up higher positions in the institutions where they work, unlike men, who grab opportunities while women hold themselves back.

“Adding to this are the external factors, especially the social expectations and definitions of a woman’s role – we need to work on all these.”

Dr Al Maskati said that the programme has been designed for both genders, under the national equal opportunity vision.

“But the turnout was more of women students and we will be happy to encourage them in the sector,” she said.

“The programme is not limited to subject-oriented sessions, but into aspects like how to present yourself in work and what is needed to climb up the ladder.”

SCW representative Dr Duniya Ahmed said that the first-of-its-kind council’s initiative aims to place a sustainable mechanism for women to reach up.

“All that is important for us is for women to reach up, and this coincides with this year’s Bahraini Women’s Day theme – Women in the financial and banking sector – to highlight their presence in this pivotal sector for about 50 years.

“We need to have a sustainable mechanism in place to build the future and contribute to the future generation, while we highlight pioneers in the field.

“The curriculum of the programme will also have topics related to gender sensitivity, which will be supported by practitioners from the field.”

According to BIBF director Solveig Nicklos, the programme aims to guide women in Bahrain into leadership positions in the industry and in the region.

“BIBF has remained the core resource to help continued growth in the sector that we focus on and we are happy to be part of this programme,” she said.

“The sessions will comprise five training workshops covering a range of topics including communication, banking, Islamic finance, insurance and investment.

“It will also include three mentoring sessions per student that will be provided by a group of experts from Bahrain’s leading financial institutions.”

Also present were, CBB external communications head Nayla Ali Al Khalifa, BIBF marketing and corporate communications head Hisham Abu Al Fateh and BIBF assessment and development manager Amal Al Awadhi. - TradeArabia News Service