The Strides of the Saudi Female Workforce: Overcoming Constraints and Contradictions in Transition (original) (raw)

WOMEN, EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT IN SAUDI ARABIA: AN EXAMPLE OF MULTIPLE MODERNITIES

This paper uses official statistics and previous research by Saudi scholars, but mainly our own evidence from 23 interviews during 2015 and 2016 with 25-35 year old males and females, to explain why modernisation is Saudi Arabia, which includes the diversification of its economy and a huge expansion in higher education for males and females, is unlikely to lead to a higher proportion of women in the workforce. This is because the total number of jobs in the country is unlikely to increase, and opportunities for women are likely to remain limited not only by employers' hiring preferences and practices, but also by the limited range of jobs that young women and their families consider acceptable. Thus rather than following the same modernising path as Western societies, Saudi Arabia will add to the examples of multiple modernities.

Saudi women's work challenges and barriers to career advancement Article information

Career Development International , 2017

Few studies have explored the work challenges and career barriers faced by women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Drawing on Institutional Theory, the purpose of this paper is to explore the experiences of employed Saudi women through in-depth interviews. The paper employs a phenomenological qualitative approach drawing on 12 in-depth semi-structured interviews with Saudi women. Findings – The findings reveal a significant number of prominent societal and organizational structural and attitudinal barriers to the advancement of Saudi women in paid employment. Among others, these barriers include a lack of mobility; the salience of gender stereotypes; gender discrimination in the workplace; limited opportunities for growth, development, and career advancement; excessive workload caused by a lack of family-work balance; and gender-based challenges related to dealing with pregnancy. Despite the contributions of this study, it also has limitations, particularly the convenience sampling approach and the focus on the KSA. The small sample size means that the findings cannot be generalized to all women employed in Saudi Arabia and should be generalized within Saudi Arabia and other Arab societies only with caution. The paper contributes to the understanding of work challenges and barriers of Saudi women in the workforce. It provides fresh insights to the issues surrounding women in Saudi Arabia and the need to address them in order to provide support for their career advancement. Keywords: Gender, Qualitative research, Career development, Saudi women, Work experiences.

Saudi Women's Education and Work Opportunities: Equity Matters

In the context of Saudi Arabia, women are more likely to have fewer work opportunities and a lower income than their male counterparts. Alnajem [1] found that poor Saudi women suffer from a low level of education and lack of employment opportunities. She emphasizes that certain social and cultural factors interact to influence the women's experience as victims of poverty. However, the wave of globalization impacts on women's status; whereby Waterman [2] argues there is a global movement of women, which seems to be aware of the neoliberal discourse to free itself from the economic and politic determinants. This improvement in the economic and social status of women would balance the economic equation. Saudi women are not far from this movement, where many developments have occurred in their status so far. The impact of gender inequality on women's status in Saudi Arabia will be discussed in this paper.

Gender Equality in Employment in Saudi Arabia: A Relational Perspective

Career Development International , 2018

Purpose: This study examines gender inequality in Saudi Arabia by using a relational perspective that takes into account the interrelated nature of the multilevel factors that influence this phenomenon. Methodology: Twenty-one in-depth interviews with female employees in Saudi Arabia were conducted and analysed using a thematic analysis. Findings: The findings show how the interplay of factors on macro-, meso-and micro-levels influences equal opportunities for women in Saudi Arabia, such as religio-cultural factors, the social power of wasta, the notions of female modesty and family honour, and issues related to gender segregation, discrimination and harassment at work. Moreover, Saudi women's experiences are varied on the basis of social class, family status and other dimensions of individual identity, adding to a growing body of intersectional research. The paper highlights the role of male guardianship system as well as the intersection of gender and class in pushing gender equality forward. Originality: This study stresses the interrelated nature of the multi-level factors that affect gender equality and highlights the important role of individuals agency and resilience.

Saudi women’s work challenges and barriers to career advancement

Career Development International, 2017

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Education as a Ladder for Saudi Women: An Overview

Journal of Arabian Studies, 2013

Accessibility and the quality of education available to Saudi women have improved rapidly in the past two decades, resulting in an increase in the number of educated women. This progress in the field of women's education has had a considerable impact on their socio-political and economic condition. A section of society, however, continues to demand greater rights for women. The Kingdom has tried to respond to these demands, but has been constrained due to fear of backlash from conservative sections. In this context, the issue of women's rights has emerged as an important challenge to the stability of the Kingdom. Saudi Arabia needs to evolve a nuanced response to the problem; otherwise it could prove to be the precursor to a major crisis.

Saudi women modernity and change

Routledge , 2010

Saudi women were particularly affected by the shift in the country’s economic fortunes. In just three decades, female literacy rates rose sharply, and today female students outnumber male students. This jump in the number of educated women generated a demand for work outside the home, though the workplace was not developed enough to receive women. Segregation, a practice less strictly followed before modernization, was gradually institutionalized until it became a new reality. Thus the main challenges occupying conservatives in Saudi Arabia have been how to maintain and regulate the veil and how to prevent women from working alongside men.