IBTISAM AXFIR

Benghazi- As in many countries, women's participation in the labor force is prevented for various reasons in Libya. Women are excluded from some professions because of their gender. NuJINHA spoke to Manal Kamel, a researcher at the Libyan Academy for Graduate Studies, about the exclusion of women from certain professions.

 Before speaking about the reason why some professions are still dominated by men, Manal Kamel drew attention to the role of families and relatives in gender-based discrimination. Mentioning that her family opposed her to study engineering in high school, Manal Kamel said, “They thought men only can be engineers. Although my family tried to convince me, I was determined to study engineering.”

‘They did not want me to study aeronautical engineering’

After studying engineering in high school, she wanted to study aeronautical engineering or petroleum engineering at university. “However, my family members and relatives did not want me to study aeronautical engineering because I would move to another city to study it. When I decided to study petroleum engineering at university, they began to ask me if I could work in the desert when I graduate from this department. I was able to convince my family but the obstacles faced by me did not end there. There were 20 male students and I was the only woman studying petroleum engineering. Despite all the obstacles, I did not give up and studied hard.”

After graduating from the university, Manal Kamel could not find a job due to the deteriorating economic conditions as well as because of the work conditions imposed by oil companies in the country. “They think women cannot work in this field because they are weak.”

‘Women are still excluded from some certain professions’

“Women’s participation in the labor force is prevented because some professions are still dominated by men,” Manal Kamel said, “In some sectors, only men are hired. Men determine the working conditions according to their own interests to prevent women from participating in the labor force although women have the necessary and sufficient skills and abilities to work.”

 ‘There are many female petroleum engineers’

Expressing that women can create an initiative by not accepting the patriarchal mentality, Manal Kamel said, “There are many female petroleum engineers working for Libyan oil companies but they are of different nationalities, including Russian and Filipino. Libyan women are not hired by oil companies. Once, I asked why Libyan women are not hired by oil companies on my social media account. The comments shocked me. Many wrote that Libyan men are ‘jealousy’ and they do not allow their wives, daughters, or sisters to work with men.”

Sharing the story of Sarah Hussein, an Iraqi chemical petroleum engineer, Manal Kamel said, “She was the only female engineer among 45 male engineers working in this sector. But she was able to prove her skills and became the project supervisor in Iraq. Her success encourages many women in this sector.”