Arab Women as Business Leaders Will Always Be the Exception

Watch this panel discussion, "Women, Civil Society, and Leadership in a New Arab World." The first speaker says the Arab Spring protests from 2010 to 2011 were a catalyst that helped change minds and ideas about women business leaders and managers. For example, the director of a Tunisian business syndicate is now a woman.

However, a panelist complained that many exceptional and competent women who possess capital and leadership characteristics were being left out. For example, some Arab countries prohibit businesswomen from signing contracts or traveling alone to another country for work. Many families and traditions stand in the way of women's progress.