In Jordan, the conditions for full integration of women in the modern sector – need, opportunity and ability – were met at the state and popular levels, albeit briefly. In theory, the same should have happened in the Arab Gulf states, where the need for manpower was even more pressing than in Jordan. In practice, it did not. Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Gulf women's integration into the modern sector was a gradual process. It is tempting to turn to tradition and to conservative social attitudes to explain why women held back, particularly as the veil continued to be conspicuous in the Gulf, especially in Saudi Arabia. This does not, however, tell the whole story. As will be shown below, the conditions of need, opportunity and ability were not met at the state and popular levels.

A flood of foreign manpower

The impact of oil wealth on the Gulf makes for one of the most dramatic stories in recent Arab history. Oil was discovered during the early part of this century, although production and export operations only reached appreciable levels in the '40s and '50s. In the early days, the revenues were largely pocketed by foreign oil companies, so the change in the people's way of life was fairly slow at first.