Big business often means a big gender gap – but the opposite is true of the thriving SME sector in the Emirates.

Small and medium-sized enterprises are approaching equality in terms of the employment of men and women, unlike the country’s male-dominated corporate boardrooms, new research has found.

Opportunities for promotion, less bureaucracy and more flexible working conditions are just some of the factors behind that, executives say.

Just ask Nada Zagallai, managing director of the Dubai-based GlamBox.ME, which sells subscriptions to packages of beauty samples in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Eight of the company’s 10 employees are women, something Ms Zagallai said is a reflection of the employment and promotion opportunities offered by smaller businesses, rather than her own company’s largely female customer base.