Are women still facing challenges in working after empowerment? An applied study in public education in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)
Abstract
The advancement and civilization of a culture are reflected in the empowerment of women. It is essential and necessary for the overall growth of civilization to succeed. This study tries to provide a response to the topic, Do Women Still Face Workplace Challenges After Empowerment? In the context of examining the contribution made by the “Kingdom’s vision 2030” to Saudi women’s empowerment.
The objective of this study is to shed light on the role of Saudi women working in community development, to identify the most significant challenges and issues facing Saudi women generally and those working in the public educational sector, and to offer solutions. The researcher used qualitative research techniques and a descriptive-analytical strategy (semi-structured interviews). Thirteen Saudi women who are working in public education administration in Jeddah and Riyadh cities were subjected to interviews. The study’s factors were divided into three categories: organizational challenges, societal challenges, and family challenges.
The study concluded that the Saudi leadership has increasingly acknowledged the value of Saudi women. The administration made improving the position of women in several growth sectors, especially economic growth, a top priority. Saudi society continues to disapprove of Saudi women’s employment and participation in the labour force. The Saudi family is crucial in supporting working Saudi women and assisting them in excelling in their careers and professions.
The researcher suggested that Saudi society’s perception of working Saudi women must be changed. Moreover, it is important to implement numerous radical changes in hiring practices and to attain gender parity in job chances.
Full text article
References
Abeer, A. (2016). Increasing Women’s Labour Market Participation in Saudi Arabia: The Role of Government Employment Policy and Multinational Corporations, PhD thesis, College of Business, Victoria University. Available Online:
Ahmed Al-Asfour, Hayfaa A. Tlaiss, Sami A. Khan, James Rajasekar, (2017) “Saudi Women’s Work Challenges and Barriers to Career Advancement”, Career Development International, Vol. 22 Issue: 2, pp.184-199, DOI: 10.1108/CDI-11-2016-0200.
Al Ghamdi, Azala M. (2016). “The Empowerment of Academic Women Leaders at Saudi Universities and Its Relationship to Their Administrative Creativity”. Dissertations. 2484. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations/2484.
Al-Ahmadi, H. (2011). Challenges Facing Women Leaders in Saudi Arabia. Human Resource Development International, 14, 149-166. https://doi.org/10.1080/13678868.2011.558311
Al-Ahmadi, H. 2005. Leadership and Development: a Practical Vision to Activate the Participation of Saudi women in Decision Making Workshop Women and the Millennium Organized by the United Nations Development Program, Riyadh, December 17, 2005.
Alam, S. (1984). Islamic Thoughts. Dhaka: Islamic Foundation Bangladesh.
Al-Dossary, R.N. (2018). The Saudi Arabian 2030 Vision and the Nursing Profession: the Way Forward. International nursing review, 65(4), pp.484-490.
Al-Ghalib, S.J., Salim, A.Y., Al-Khalifah, S., and Dahlawi, R.A. (2018). Perceptions of Women’s Driving in Saudi Arabia: Relationship with Openness to Experience and Happiness. Middle East Journal of Positive Psychology, 4(1), pp.102-125.
Almujahid, M. (2009), Women’s Education in Saudi Arabia: The Way Forward. Dubai, UAE: The Ideation Center, Booz & Company.
Alotaibi, F. T. (2020). Saudi Women and Leadership: Empowering Women as Leaders in Higher Education Institutions. Open Journal of Leadership, 9(03), 156.
Al-Rasheed, M. (2013) A Most Masculine State: Gender, Politics and Religion in Saudi Arabia. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Alsharif, F. L. (2019). Empowering Women: Educational Programs and Reforms in a Diversified Saudi Economy. Riyadh: King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies.
Al-Yousef, N. A. (2005). Participation of Saudi Woman in Labor Force: Reality and Challenges. Arab Economic Researches, 34, 149-180. 83
Bagilhole, B., and K. White. 2011. “Toward Interventions for Senior Women in Higher Education.” In Gender, Power and Management: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Higher Education, edited by B. Bagilhole and K. White, 192–205. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Broadbridge, A. 2009. “Sacrificing Personal or Professional Life? A Gender Perspective on the Accounts of Retail Managers.” The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research 19 (3): 289–311. doi:10.1080/09593960903234226
Broadbridge, A. 2010. “Women at the Top in British Retailing: Plus Ca Change?” The Service Industries Journal 30 (8): 1219–1243. doi:10.1080/02642060903580599.
Clough, P. & Nutbrown, C. (2007). A Student’s Guide to Methodology: Justifying Enquiry. London: SAGE Publications.
Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K. (2011) Research Methods in Education. 7th edition. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research Design Qualitative, Quantitative Mixed Methods Approaches. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications Inc.
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research Design Qualitative, Quantitative Mixed Methods Approaches. Sage publications.
Davidson, M., and R. J. Burke. 2011. “Women in Management Worldwide: Progress and Prospect: An Overview.” In Women in Management Worldwide: Progress and Prospects, edited by M. Davidson and R. J. Burke, 1–18. Farnham: Gower
DeVault, M., & Gross, G. (2007). Feminist Interviewing: Experience, Talk, and Knowledge. In S. N. Hesse-Biber & D. Piatelli (Eds.), Handbook of feminist research: Theory and praxis (pp. 173-198). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Effendi, A. (2003). Enable Workers: An Introduction to the Improvement and Continuous Development, The Arab Organization for Administrative Development. Riyadh: IPA.
Fatany, S. (2013) Modernizing Saudi Arabia. Create Space Independent Publisher
Gillham, B. (2000). The Research Interview. London: Continuum.
Gulf News (2017) 130% Spike in Saudi women Joining Workforce; 11.1 Million Expats in Private Sector. Retrieved from www.gulfnew.com
Hakem, L. (2017). The Challenges Saudi Women Face at Work. International Journal of Human Resource Studies, 7(1), 155-169.
Hand (2003). The Mentor’s Tale: A Reflexive Account of Semi-Structured Interviews. Nurse Research, 10, 15-27. 87
Human Rights Watch (2013). Saudi Arabia: Rights groups blocked from operating. Retrieved from Human Rights Watch, https://www.hrw.org/news
Human Rights Watch (2018). Saudi Arabia Growing Crackdown Woman’s Rights Activists. Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org.
Ibrahim, A. S. (2013). A Proposal to Overcome the Obstacles Facing the Saudi Working Woman. Arab Studies in Education and Psychology, 39(4), 251-280.
Jamali, D., Y. Sidani, and A. Safieddine. 2005. “Constraints Facing Working Women in Lebanon: An Insider View.” Women in Management Review 20 (8): 581–594. doi:10.1108/09649420510635213.
Jordan, R. W. (2013) ‘Women in the Workplace: Blending Traditional Values with a Modern Work Environment’, in Jeffreys, A. (ed.) The Report Saudi Arabia 2013. London: Oxford Business Group, pp. 178.
Kanter, R. M. 1977. Men and Women of the Corporation. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Kosine, N., & Lewis, M. (2008). Growth and exploration: Career development theory and programs of study. Career and Technical Education Research, 33(3), 227-243
Kubaisi, A. 2004. Knowledge Management and Development Organizations, Alexandria: Modern University Oce.
Lewis, S. 2002. “Work and Family Issues: Old and New.” In Advancing Women in Management: Progress and Prospects, edited by R. Burke and D. Nelson, 67–82. Oxford: Blackwell.
Mitchell, B., and Alfuraih, A. (2018). The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Achieving the Aspirations of the National Transformation Program 2020 and Saudi Vision 2030 Through Education. Journal of Education and Development, 2(3), p.36.
Naseem, S., & Dhruva, K. (2017). Issues and Challenges of Saudi Female Labor Force and the Role of Vision 2030. International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, 7(4).
Ritchie, J., & Lewis, J. (2003). Qualitative Research Practice: A Guide for Social Science Students and Researchers. London: Sage.
Sani, M. (2018). Women’s Representation in STEM Related Education and Careers: A Case Study of Female University Students in Saudi Arabia (Doctoral Dissertation, Staffordshire University).
Saqib, N. (2016). Women empowerment and economic growth: Empirical evidence from Saudi Arabia. Advances in Management & Applied Economics, 6(5).
Schensul, S. L., Schensul, J. J., & LeCompte, M. D. (1999). Essential Ethnographic Methods: Observations, Interviews, and Questionnaires. Walnut Creek: AltaMira Press.
Sidani, Yusuf M., and William L. Gardner. (2000). Work Values Among Lebanese Workers. The Journal of Social Psychology 140: 597–607. 91
Swaantje, M. (2018). Saudi Women and Their Role in the Labour Market under Vision 2030.
Tlaiss, Hayfaa A. 2014. Between the Traditional and the Contemporary: Careers of Women Managers from a Developing Middle Eastern Country Perspective. The International Journal of Human Resource Management 25: 2858–80.
Topal, A. (2019, September). Economic Reforms and Women’s Empowerment in Saudi Arabia. In Women’s Studies International Forum (Vol. 76, p. 102253). Pergamon.
Women Human Rights Defenders (2018, 23 May). Smearing Campaign report: Smear Campaign against woman human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia. Retrieved from https://whrdmena.org.
Authors
Copyright (c) 2026 The Arab Journal of Administration
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
