Bridging the gap between youth unemployment and entrepreneurship in the United Arab Emirates

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-660-4_13How to use a DOI?

Keywords

youth unemployment; entrepreneurship; skills mismatch

Abstract

The study examines the role of entrepreneurship in addressing youth unemployment and the skills required for young people to succeed as entrepreneurs, particularly within the Arab region, including the UAE, between 2015 and 2024. In many countries, youth unemployment poses a significant socioeconomic challenge, and entrepreneurship is increasingly viewed as a potential solution for this problem. The methodology involved a systematic review of studies between 2015 and 2024, with a particular focus on research conducted in the Arab world. Studies were selected based on their relevance to the research questions: (1) What role does entrepreneurship play in addressing youth unemployment? and (2) What skills are required for young people to succeed as entrepreneurs? In this study, entrepreneurship was found to offer a promising avenue for reducing youth unemployment. To accomplish this, young people are provided with the opportunity to create their own employment opportunities and exercise a greater degree of professional autonomy. The governments of the UAE and Saudi Arabia have implemented a variety of initiatives to promote youth entrepreneurship, including mentoring programs, entrepreneurial training, and access to capital. Furthermore, the study identified key skills that are important to the success of entrepreneurs, such as entrepreneurial skills and mentoring skills. It was also determined that young entrepreneurs require access to financial support and social capital. The study concludes by emphasizing the potential of entrepreneurship as a solution to youth unemployment, as well as the need for targeted skills development and enhanced support mechanisms to promote entrepreneurial success.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Sunette Scanlen
AU  - Lindall Elaine Adams
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/02/26
TI  - Bridging the gap between youth unemployment and entrepreneurship in the United Arab Emirates
BT  - Proceedings of the HCT International General Education Conference (HCTIGEC 2024)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 187
EP  - 202
SN  - 2667-128X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-660-4_13
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-660-4_13
ID  - Scanlen2025
ER  -