At the end of 2010, I began contributing stories to Knowledge@Wharton on women entrepreneurs in the Middle East. My co-writer Nafeesa Syeed and I began to spend more and more time in the region, witnessing how ripe for opportunities it is as well as being filled with innovators. When the Arab Spring came along, it appeared to open up new opportunities for women’s participation in social and political spheres as well. In addition, the literacy and gender gap in the region has greatly improved over the decades with more woman now holding graduate degrees than men in several countries. On top of that, social media and smart phone penetration is skyrocketing, even exceeding figures in the United States. Nafeesa and I spent much of that past three years in the region exploring these trends and eventually produced the eBook ‘Arab Women Rising’ published through Knowledge@Wharton (price: free).
Image: http://beacon.wharton.upenn.edu
