Perhaps for many in the United States thinking about the Middle East conjures us fears of terrorism due to the availability heuristic created by the 9/11 terrorist attacks (PSU World Campus 2018) but for me, as a woman running a business in a western country, my thoughts turn to women and their lack of rights compared to men in Saudi society. This is not a subjective view. The key tenets of the United Nations thirty articles that comprise core human rights are in direct contrast to the circumstances that women in the country face, most particularly in their lack of ability to make decisions for themselves without the permission of a male guardian, including decisions regarding employment, marriage, travel, and finances (UN.org). Although the country is making moves to progress in some areas, this remains the biggest barrier to true equality. It got me wondering, how do women in Saudi Arabia and in business feel about these limitations, and do they feel it impacts their ability to lead in the workplace?
A study by Hodges (2017) looked at the issues facing women in leadership in Saudi Arabia, and asked a number of open ended questions of women working in leadership positions regarding their experience and any obstacles they encounter. They confirmed that the biggest issues for career attainment and progression related to the attitudes within society regarding a women’s role, but were also impeded by the practical challenges of progression, including access to free travel and education. Elemin (2010) looked at the attitudes of men toward women in the workplace and found similar challenges, and that the biggest issue is patriarchal attitudes towards women from interpretations of religious texts regarding women’s position in the society and the socio-cultural set-up of the region. There were two green shoots of hope, however. The same study also found that single men, and educated men were the least likely to hold these fixed views (Elemin 2010) and so perhaps change is possible as the younger, more educated generation advances.
Change is the new mandate for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the vision outlined for Saudi Arabia by 2030, which includes reforms in women’s rights (vision2030.gov). In 2017 it was announced in Saudi Arabia that a driving ban for women, the last in the world, would be lifted by 2018 (HRW.org) Other reform efforts included giving women limited rights to vote in local elections and stand for local office in a limited capacity (Rajkhan 2014), which has had a profound impact on laws affecting women’s rights amongst others. There is a long way to go but these are good steps in the right direction.
As a Western woman I cannot imagine a world in which my 16-year old son has to give me permission to do my job and it is this lack of autonomy that contributes to Saudi Arabia ranking fourth from the bottom in terms of gender parity across a range of dimensions (World Economic Forum 2016) but in reviewing women’s own experiences, the practical day-to-day realities in the workplace of dealing with the deep-level diversity in one’s colleagues in which one’s beliefs, values, and attitudes are going to be varied is the same, we are just about a century further along from when women faced similarly intense opposition in the west. I hope that the promised reforms continue; it will be interesting to see what Saudi society looks like for women by 2030.
References
Alahmadi, Hanan. (2011). Challenges facing women leaders in Saudi Arabia. Human Resource Development International. 14. 149-166. 10.1080/13678868.2011.558311.
Hodges, J. (2017). Cracking the walls of leadership: women in Saudi Arabia. Gender in Management: An International Journal,32(1), 34-46. doi:10.1108/gm-11-2015-0106
Global Gender Gap | World Economic Forum-Global Gender Gap. The World Economic Forum | World Economic Forum-The World Economic Forum, www.weforum.org/issues/global-gender-gap/index.html.
Males attitudes towards working females in Saudi Arabia … (n.d.). Retrieved February 24, 2018, from https://www.bing.com/cr?IG=A206E02035504A8EAE076463677C4C47&CID=27D1DD1AA31168801077D6BAA2BE6944&rd=1&h=XFwR5w9lrY6GtSwYPWd9uJJhoFxyPUm4KPe5ZsHmMjk&v=1&r=https%3a%2f%2fwww.researchgate.net%2fpublication%2f235272629_Males%27_attitudes_towards_working_females_in_Saudi_Arabia&p=DevEx,5068.1
Our Vision: Saudi Arabia..the heart of the Arab and Islamic worlds, the investment powerhouse, and the hub connecting three continents. (n.d.). Retrieved February 24, 2018, from http://vision2030.gov.sa/en
Penn State University (2018). Leadership in Global Context – OLEAD 410. Lessons 1-3: Introduction to Leadership in a Global Context, Penn State World Campus, The Pennsylvania State University.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (n.d.). Retrieved February 24, 2018, from http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/
Women in Saudi Arabia Status, Rights, and Limitations. (n.d.). Retrieved February 24, 2018, from https://www.bing.com/cr?IG=3D9AD6965BBF44EFB99CC17A04D0EE28&CID=0B39252840DF6FB109562E8841706E2C&rd=1&h=jPj4etLCYPWlcpSr7aLf3qaRiikrePtDzJFXE1OWPnU&v=1&r=https%3a%2f%2fdigital.lib.washington.edu%2fresearchworks%2fbitstream%2fhandle%2f1773%2f25576%2fRajkhan%2520-%2520Capstone.pdf%3fsequence%3d1&p=DevEx,5068.1
The World Factbook: SAUDI ARABIA. (2018, January 23). Retrieved February 24, 2018, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sa.html
https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1916378/modules/items/23640519