Today's Edition
BATOOL GHAITH (ABU DHABI)
Emirati women are taking on a wider range of technical, operational and leadership roles across the UAE’s energy and infrastructure sectors, as the country expands its capabilities in areas including clean energy, engineering, digital systems and sustainable cooling.
Industry leaders said the next stage of progress will depend not only on increasing female participation, but on ensuring women move into roles with greater technical responsibility, project ownership and decision-making authority.
Zainab Al Ali, Director of Outreach and Stakeholder Relations at Masdar, said the UAE’s sustained investment in education, advanced industries and women’s empowerment has broadened the careers available to Emirati women.
“As the energy sector evolves, opportunities increasingly span engineering, project development, research, digital systems and operations,” Al Ali told Aletihad.
According to Dubai Women Establishment, women account for 56% of STEM graduates from the UAE’s government universities, while DEWA reported that 845 women worked in engineering and technical roles across the organisation.
At Masdar, women represented 30.2% of the workforce in 2025, according to Al Ali.
“The next measure of progress is not simply how many women enter the sector, but how effectively they progress into technical specialisations, project ownership and leadership positions,” she said.
She noted that some of the strongest opportunities are emerging where engineering, digital capabilities, research and operational expertise come together.
At Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), women made up more than half of the incoming Emirati student cohort for the 2026-2027 academic year, providing a growing talent base in AI.
Al Ali said these skills can be applied in areas including energy forecasting, asset performance and the integration of renewables and storage.
She indicated that Emirati women are already contributing across technical disciplines, energy research and leadership, noting that at Masdar, women held 20% of management roles in 2025.
“Increasing representation is an important starting point, but sustained progress depends on women gaining ownership of major projects, operational responsibilities and decisions that shape business outcomes,” Al Ali said.
She said WiSER, founded by Masdar and the Zayed Sustainability Prize in 2015, supports women through education, engagement and empowerment.
The initiative has supported more than 180 women from over 35 nationalities, while more than 640 hours of one-to-one mentorship have been delivered to help participants navigate professional challenges and prepare for greater responsibility.
“For Emirati women, this global exposure provides opportunities to exchange expertise and understand how different markets approach energy challenges. Our focus is on helping women apply that knowledge throughout their careers and strengthen their influence over the sector’s future,” Al Ali said.
At Masdar, she said that there are Emirati engineers working in China, combining technical expertise with the language skills and cultural understanding to build strong relationships in one of UAE’s key markets.
Specialised Roles
At Tabreed, Emirati women are also moving into technical, operational and leadership positions across district cooling and infrastructure.
Dr Yousif Al Hammadi, CEO of Tabreed, said Emirati women are taking on increasingly specialised responsibilities linked directly to the reliability and efficiency of cooling networks.
“Emirati women are taking on increasingly specialised roles in district cooling, from managing day-to-day operations to planning and delivering infrastructure projects,” Al Hammadi told Aletihad.
At Tabreed, 22% of Emirati female employees work in engineering specialisations, while 30% hold leadership positions, he added.
“These roles demonstrate how Emirati women are influencing both the delivery and long-term planning of district cooling infrastructure,” Al Hammadi said.
He also noted that automation, predictive maintenance and advanced monitoring are changing technical roles in district cooling.
“Digitalisation and advanced monitoring technologies are changing how district cooling systems operate, placing greater emphasis on data analysis, predictive maintenance and energy optimisation,” Al Hammadi said.
He added that these developments are creating opportunities for Emirati women to contribute to operational optimisation, infrastructure planning and more efficient energy use.
Al Ali similarly said AI and digital technologies are becoming increasingly relevant to the next generation of energy careers.
She pointed to areas such as AI, renewables, storage, engineering and research as fields where women can build technical depth alongside commercial and leadership skills.
Al Ali said universities, internships and industry training programmes are essential when they form a connected pathway from education into employment and continued professional development.
“The challenge is not only preparing women to enter the energy workforce, but ensuring that professional development continues as technologies, industry requirements and leadership expectations evolve,” she added.
Al Hammadi also stressed the importance of practical experience.
“Academic qualifications provide the technical foundation, but practical experience is equally important in understanding how complex infrastructure is designed, operated and maintained,” he noted.
As the sector evolves, Al Ali said the opportunity is for women to play a larger role not only in applying technology, but in shaping how it is developed and used.
“In energy, women should help define the challenges these technologies address, lead their application and assess their impact,” she added.
