Gender-Inclusive Leadership Development in MENA: Skills, Access and Progression
August 2, 2026 · Education · 5 min read
Gender-inclusive leadership development should focus on the capabilities required for leadership and on whether employees have fair access to the experiences, feedback, sponsorship and promotion processes that develop those capabilities. It should not be built around assumptions that women and men have fixed leadership styles.
For organisations in the Middle East and North Africa, the design also needs to reflect national labour markets, law and workforce patterns. Regional averages can provide context, but leadership participation and barriers vary substantially between countries and sectors.
Use skills and evidence, not gender stereotypes
Leadership development should begin with the work leaders need to perform. Relevant capabilities can include:
- setting direction and priorities;
- making decisions under uncertainty;
- communicating clearly;
- giving feedback and managing performance;
- negotiating and influencing;
- developing other people;
- handling conflict;
- leading change;
- using financial, customer and operational evidence.
The standards should be explicit enough that employees can understand how leadership readiness is assessed.
Gender data should be specific enough to guide action
The ILO’s 2026 statistical brief on gender and the world of work in the Arab States emphasises the need for high-quality, disaggregated labour statistics to measure women’s participation in leadership, gender pay gaps, women in STEM, violence and harassment at work, unpaid care and other employment outcomes.
Source: ILO, Gender and statistics in the world of work in the Arab States Region, 2026
This is a better basis for workforce decisions than treating one “female participation rate” as the story of the entire Middle East. Organisations should use country, sector, level and occupation data where possible.
Representation and development access are different measures
An organisation may have women in the workforce while still seeing differences in who receives:
- stretch assignments;
- people-management responsibility;
- client exposure;
- budget authority;
- mentoring and sponsorship;
- formal leadership training;
- succession-plan visibility;
- promotion opportunities.
Leadership development should therefore measure access to the experiences that build readiness, not only the final percentage of leaders by gender.
Leadership training can build practical influence skills
In August 2026, the ILO and the General Federation of Jordanian Trade Unions ran leadership, advocacy and campaigning training for women and young trade unionists. The programme focused on practical skills for building alliances, communicating messages, engaging in policy and collective bargaining, and participating in decision-making.
This is an example of skills-focused leadership development in the region. It is not evidence that one training programme produces a universal percentage improvement in promotion, retention or business performance.
Leadership development should connect training with real responsibility
A course can build knowledge and confidence, but employees also need opportunities to use the capability. Useful development pathways can combine:
- formal learning;
- stretch assignments;
- project leadership;
- acting or deputy responsibilities;
- mentoring;
- sponsorship;
- coaching;
- cross-functional exposure;
- feedback on real leadership behaviour.
The organisation should track whether access to these opportunities is distributed fairly.
Make promotion criteria transparent
Leadership-pipeline problems can emerge when promotion depends heavily on informal visibility, personal networks or vague ideas of “executive presence”.
A more defensible process:
- defines the capabilities and evidence required;
- uses multiple relevant sources of evidence;
- documents the decision;
- calibrates standards across managers or departments;
- reviews outcome patterns for unexplained differences;
- provides useful feedback to unsuccessful candidates.
The goal is not to create a quota through the back door. It is to make the assessment of leadership readiness clear and job-related.
Sponsorship and mentoring solve different problems
Mentors can help employees understand decisions, build skills and navigate development. Sponsors use their influence to advocate for a person to receive an opportunity or be considered for a role.
Both can be useful, but neither should depend entirely on informal personal chemistry. Organisations can review who has access to influential sponsors, high-visibility assignments and decision-makers.
Flexible work and care responsibilities belong in leadership-system design
Leadership programmes should not assume that the only credible path involves constant after-hours availability, relocation or informal networking outside normal work. Where job requirements allow, organisations can examine whether working patterns unintentionally screen out capable employees.
This needs country-specific legal and organisational analysis rather than one regional rule.
Managers need training on fair talent decisions
Inclusive leadership development is not only training for women. Managers and talent decision-makers also need to understand how to:
- define role-relevant criteria;
- give developmental feedback;
- allocate stretch work deliberately;
- avoid using similarity or familiarity as a proxy for potential;
- run consistent succession and promotion reviews;
- support workplace adjustments and flexible arrangements where appropriate;
- address harassment, exclusion or retaliation concerns through the correct process.
The broad MATSH Diversity and Inclusion page should own organisation-wide inclusion. This page should remain focused on leadership development and progression systems.
Measure the leadership pipeline at several stages
| Stage | Possible measure |
|---|---|
| Access | Participation in leadership development, stretch assignments and mentoring |
| Learning | Demonstrated leadership skill in exercises or work |
| Experience | Project, budget, people or client responsibility gained |
| Progression | Promotion, succession and acting-role patterns |
| Retention | Voluntary turnover by level and relevant demographic group |
| Experience of process | Clarity, fairness and feedback on development and promotion |
Demographic analysis requires privacy safeguards and sufficient sample size. Differences are signals to investigate, not automatic proof of bias.
Do not promise financial or innovation multipliers
Leadership diversity research can show associations with governance, innovation or business outcomes, but those findings do not prove that one leadership-training programme will increase decision speed, investment, productivity or retention by a fixed percentage.
ILO’s global women-in-leadership resources report that women remain under-represented in management and board roles, but organisations should use such evidence to understand representation, not to manufacture a guaranteed ROI for training.
Source: ILO, Women in leadership roles
A practical gender-inclusive leadership development cycle
- Define leadership capabilities from the work.
- Analyse representation and development access by level.
- Make entry and promotion criteria explicit.
- Combine learning with real assignments.
- Give managers tools for fair development decisions.
- Provide mentoring and sponsorship through transparent routes.
- Track progression and employee experience.
- Investigate unexplained gaps and adjust the system.
The goal is not to create a “female leadership style” or a “male leadership style”. It is to build a leadership system in which capability is visible, opportunity is not distributed informally, and employees can develop the skills and experience required to lead.
Sources
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