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ABSTRACT Title of Thesis: WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN SAUDI ARABIA Economics Department, Master of Art, May 2017 Thesis Chair: s, Ph.D. The topic of women empowerment in Saudi Arabia has attracted international attention in recent years. Noticeably, women in Saudi Arabia still constitute less than 16 percent of the national workforce in spite of there being as many qualified women as men. There is a serious need for reforms in the political, law and labor market sectors. While putting emphasis on the importance of women’s contribution to progress and development, this thesis aims to study and analyze the factors influencing women empowerment in Saudi Arabia with regards to the fulfillment of the New Vision 2030. The extent to which entrepreneurship is possible for women in Saudi Arabia is also looked into and its capability to enhance Saudi’s financial independence, social-cultural autonomy, and general welfare. Since the study wants to establish about women empowerment in Saudi Arabia, 70 women in institutions of higher education have given the questionnaires. For this study, the secondary sources were from the World Bank. The study endeavored to attain the following objectives: to investigate the influence of social factors on the position of women in the society, to establish how religious factors influence women empowerment, to examine the influence of policy factors on women empowerment and lastly to explore the influence of ideological factors on women empowerment. The most important part of the finding was the involvement of women in the labor force still low but increasing. the government should give more opportunities to the female and to give male and female same treatments in term of education and employment. The data collected is sometimes not statistically significant and need to undergo extra testing or a larger sample size is required for the results to be more applicable. WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN SAUDI ARABIA by s A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the degree Master of Arts Morgan State University May 2018 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN SAUDI ARABIA by s has been approved December 2018 THESIS COMMITTEE APPROVAL: __________________________, Chair s, Ph.D. __________________________ s, Ph.D. __________________________ s, Ph.D. DEDICATION To my father and my mother who encouraged me to reach my goal. To my wife, my sisters and brothers, I appreciate their faith in my abilities. Table of Contents List of Tables ............................................................................................................................ 7 List of Figures .......................................................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER ONE..................................................................................................................... 10 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 10 1.0 Background Information ............................................................................................ 10 1.1 Statement of the Problem ......................................................................................... 11 1.2 The Purpose of the Study ......................................................................................... 12 1.3 Research Objectives .................................................................................................. 12 1.4 Research Questions................................................................................................... 12 1.5 The Significance of the Study ................................................................................... 12 1.6 Limitations of the Study ............................................................................................. 13 1.7 The Scope of the Study ............................................................................................. 13 1.8 Assumptions of the Study ......................................................................................... 14 2.0 Operational Definition of Terms ............................................................................... 14 CHAPTER TWO .................................................................................................................... 15 LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................................... 15 Introduction......................................................................................................................... 15 Human Development in relation to education and employment ................................ 18 CHAPTER THREE ................................................................................................................ 19 3.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ................................................................................ 19 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 19 3.2 Source of Data ............................................................................................................ 19 3.3 Place of Survey ........................................................................................................... 19 3.4 Respondents ............................................................................................................... 20 3.5 Sample Design ............................................................................................................ 20 3.6 Sample Size ................................................................................................................ 21 3.7 Research Instruments ................................................................................................ 21 3.8 Data Analysis .............................................................................................................. 22 3.8.1 Quantitative Data Analysis..................................................................................... 22 3.9 Variables ...................................................................................................................... 23 3.10 Dependent variable .................................................................................................. 23 3.11 Independent variables ............................................................................................. 24 3.12 Statistical Methods ................................................................................................... 24 CHAPTER FOUR .................................................................................................................. 26 4.0 DATA TABULATION AND ANALYSIS .................................................................... 26 4.1 Trends of Employment and Education .................................................................... 26 4.2Frequency Tables ........................................................................................................ 33 4.3 Cross-Tabulation ........................................................................................................ 39 4.3.1 Employment Status vs. marital status .............................................................. 40 4.3.2 Employment status vs. level of education ....................................................... 41 4.3.3 Response Scale of Selected Statement Related to Job Opportunity vs. Marital Status ................................................................................................................. 42 4.3.4 Response Scale of Selected Statement Related to Job Opportunity vs. Level of Education......................................................................................................... 49 4.4 Logistic Regression .................................................................................................... 56 4.4.1 Binary logistic regression of employment status ............................................ 56 4.4.2 Ordinal Logistic Regression............................................................................... 57 CHAPTER FIVE .................................................................................................................... 58 SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION ........................................... 58 5.2 Summary of the Findings .......................................................................................... 58 5.4 Policy Recommendation ............................................................................................ 61 5.5 Recommendation for Further Research ................................................................. 61 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................... 62 List of Tables TABLE 2. 1 SUMMARY OF WOMEN PROGRESS REPORT AS FROM 1970 AND 2014 ............................................ 17 TABLE 4.2.1 PERCEPTION RESPONSES ON SOCIAL FACTORS ................................................................................................ 33 TABLE 4.2.2 PERCEPTION RESPONSES ON RELIGIOUS FACTORS........................................................................................... 34 TABLE 4.2.3 PERCEPTION RESPONSES ON POLICY FACTORS ................................................................................................ 35 TABLE 4.2.4 PERCEPTION RESPONSES ON IDEOLOGICAL FACTORS ........................................................................................ 37 TABLE 4.17 CROSSTAB BETWEEN MARITAL STATUS AND EMPLOYMENT STATUS ............................................... 40 TABLE 4. 18 CROSSTAB BETWEEN LEVEL OF EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT STATUS ....................................... 41 TABLE 4. 19 CROSSTAB BETWEEN JOB OPPORTUNITY VS. MARITAL STATUS .......................................................................... 42 TABLE 4. 20 CROSSTAB OF MARITAL STATUS ON ‘WOMEN CAN SUCCESSFULLY LEAD ORGANIZATIONS’ .......... 43 TABLE 4. 21 CROSSTAB OF MARITAL STATUS ON ‘ISLAM RELIGION HAS HELPED IN UPLIFTING WOMEN’............ 44 TABLE 4. 22 CROSSTAB OF MARITAL STATUS ON ‘RELIGIOUS LEADERS DO NOT GIVE WOMEN A CHANCE TO LEAD IN THE MOSQUES’ ............................................................................................................................... 45 TABLE 4. 23 CROSSTAB OF MARITAL STATUS ON ‘WOMEN ARE NOW PERMITTED TO DRIVE VEHICLES’ ............ 46 TABLE 4. 24 CROSSTAB OF MARITAL STATUS ON ‘WOMEN’S EDUCATION IS KEY TO ENSURING DEVELOPMENT IN THE SOCIETY ............................................................................................................................................... 47 TABLE 4. 25 CROSSTAB OF MARITAL STATUS ON ‘THE NEW VISION 2030 DOES NOT HAVE GREATER IMPACT AS FAR AS WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN SAUDI ARABIA IS CONCERNED’........................................................... 48 TABLE 4. 26 CROSSTAB OF LEVEL OF EDUCATION ON’ WOMEN AND MEN HAVE EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES IN EMPLOYMENT’ ............................................................................................................................................. 49 TABLE 4. 28 CROSSTAB OF LEVEL OF EDUCATION ON ‘ISLAM RELIGION HAS HELPED IN UPLIFTING WOMEN’ .... 51 TABLE 4. 29 CROSSTAB OF LEVEL OF EDUCATION ON ‘RELIGIOUS LEADERS DO NOT GIVE WOMEN A CHANCE TO LEAD IN THE MOSQUES’ ............................................................................................................................... 52 TABLE 4. 30 CROSSTAB LEVEL OF EDUCATION ON ‘WOMEN ARE NOW PERMITTED TO DRIVE VEHICLES.’ ......... 53 TABLE 4. 31 CROSSTAB OF LEVEL OF EDUCATION ON ‘WOMEN’S EDUCATION IS KEY TO ENSURING DEVELOPMENT IN THE SOCIETY’ ................................................................................................................. 54 TABLE 4. 32 CROSSTAB OF LEVEL OF EDUCATION ON ‘THE NEW VISION 2030 DOES NOT HAVE GREATER IMPACT AS FAR AS WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN SAUDI ARABIA IS CONCERNED’......................................... 55 TABLE 4. 33 BINARY LOGISTIC REGRESSION OF EMPLOYMENT STATUS ON SELECTED VARIABLES ................... 56 TABLE 4. 34 ORDINAL REGRESSION OF WOMEN AND MEN HAVE EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES IN EMPLOYMENT ON SELECTED VARIABLES ................................................................................................................................. 57 List of Figures Figure 3. 1 Figure 4.1 Labor Force of Male and Female with Education Figure 4.2 Labor Force of Male and Female with Education Figure 4.3 Labor Force Participation and Employment of Male and Female Figure 4.4 Labor Force Participation and Employment of Male and Female Figure 4.5 Gross Enrollment of Male and Female in College Level ABBREVIATION AND ACRONYMS CEDAW - Convention of Eliminating Discrimination against Women. UN – United Nations TEVT – Technical Education & Vocational Training UNIDO – United Nations Industrial Development Organization GAStat – General Authority for Statistics CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.0 Background Information Since time immemorial, women have been demeaned, dehumanized, secluded, marginalized, silenced and subjugated. Ostensibly, the topic of women empowerment in Saudi Arabia has attracted global attention in recent years. Despite the significant increase in females’ involvement as active members of the community within the complex communal context of the region, there are several difficulties that come with it. The topic of entrepreneurship with respect to women’s rights and their experiences in the ownership of businesses has been important in academic discourse. Women across different parts of the globe undergo various challenges including financial obstacles and biases in favor of male counterparts. However, the case is kind of intense in Saudi Arabia as the females face extremely incredible challenges in conducting business as the owners and even networking with other business owners and interacting with clients. The reason for the challenges can be attributed to the insufficient government aid and financing, the absence of business enlightening chances and hurdles based on cultural and religious factors. For instance, a major legal challenge is the fact that females need a male guardian’s go ahead to travel or work which is attributed to religious and cultural doctrines. Such acts affect women’s opportunities to start their own enterprises or even secure employment away from home vicinity. Women's education in Saudi Arabia is majorly organized based on the principles of Islam, which is the fundamental and official religion of the country. The history of education of women is dated back to 1956 when the first girls' school was introduced. The girls' school referred to as Dar alHanan and few girls had the opportunity to be enrolled in school. Following this was the first state-run school for girls which was introduced in 1960. Until around 2002, the women education at all levels – primary, high school, secondary and university, was controlled by Department of Religion whereas for men it was controlled by the ministry of education (Bowen, 2014). The major reason as to why girls' school was regulated by the department of religion was to ensure that women were taught in line with the principles of Islam. It was also choreographed to make women loyal to the religion and also to men. In addition, women are not permitted to work in similar jobs as men as most Saudi men and women regarding the nature of women to be different from that of men. This societal take explains the reason as to why only particular jobs such as nursing and teaching are open to females as opposed to jobs like engineering. The topic of empowering women to work in the various fields to boost the Saudi Arabian economy has been a subject of debate for many years (Smith & Abouammoh, 2013). According to a study conducted by Welsh et al (2014) to examine the benefits of educating women in Saudi Arabia, it revealed that educating the women led to 55 percent of women owning businesses in the country. With the increase in a number of women owning their own businesses, the economy has subsequently grown by more than 20 percent in the last one decade. Reforms on the empowerment of women in Saudi Arabia have been given the most attention in the nation and, by large, it has been incorporated in the 10th Saudi Development Plan (2015-2019) as one of its key goals. The plan has an in-depth illustration of how women are to be empowered which is the first time women’s agenda has been stated and discussed in a development plan in Saudi Arabia. 1.1 Statement of the Problem Ostensibly, there has been a rise in the creation of awareness to empower Arabian females through initiatives such as the Tenth Development Plan (2015-2019) and the New Vision 2030 of Saudi which give consideration to women empowerment. However, there still exist hardships in attaining equality for women in Saudi Arabia as there are no detailed research and studies to give Arabian women, researchers, Non-Governmental Organizations, academia and non-Muslims the necessary steps to be taken to aid with ensuring gender balance within Saudi Arabia. There seems to be a conflict in differentiating religious rights, cultural rights and constitutional rights in the predominantly Muslim nation. The confusion of distinguishing the three rights has led to most women accepting traditional patriarchy within the community in spite of seeking for gender balance. Over time, Arabic women have come to learn about the benefits and importance of feminism which has subsequently led to a gender balance manifestation. However, most Saudi women are reluctant on engaging in the fight against gender inequality due to the following reasons: differences in sex obligations, the individual family set up, personification against the robust organization, and the varying legal position for Arabic women (Badran, 2002). Whereas some researchers have related the gender inequality in Saudi Arabia to be caused by majorly religion and the nature of women in a society, little is known of the factors influencing women empowerment in Saudi Arabia. It was, therefore, crucial to look at the aspects that influence women empowerment in Saudi Arabia among them being religion, social, policy, and ideological factors. 1.2 The Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study was to examine the factors influencing women empowerment in Saudi Arabia and to give an in-depth and comprehensive description of the past experiences of women in Saudi Arabia. Also, the study aimed at illustrating on how the New Vision 2030 will enhance women empowerment and how the Saudi women would help the economy to achieve their goal by 2030. 1.3 Research Objectives The Objectives of the study included: ❖ To investigate the influence of social factors on women empowerment in Saudi Arabia. ❖ To determine how religious factors influenced women empowerment in Saudi Arabia. ❖ To examine the influence of policy factors on women empowerment in Saudi Arabia. ❖ To explore the influence of ideological factors on women empowerment in Saudi Arabia. 1.4 Research Questions This thesis was guided by the following questions: ❖ What social factors do Arabians consider when it comes to women empowerment in Saudi Arabia? ❖ How do religious aspects influence women empowerment in Saudi Arabia? ❖ To what extent do policy aspects influence women empowerment in Saudi Arabia? ❖ Which Ideological factors influence women empowerment in Saudi Arabia? ❖ Will women empowerment help the economy of Saudi Arabia? If yes how? 1.5 The Significance of the Study This study stands pivotal in contributing knowledge not only to the Saudi Arabian government at large but also to the women of Saudi Arabia especially in regards to the labor market department. The findings of the study might help the government understand the factors that influence women empowerment in Saudi Arabia and thereby ensuring that the initiatives and policies employed to enhance women empowerment in Saudi Arabia do not lose their intended purposes. The study may also help the Arabian community to appreciate the importance of women towards boosting the economy of Saudi Arabia and how the women will help achieve the New Vision 2030. From the research findings, the women in Saudi Arabia might be informed of the ideological and social factors that may be contributing to the confusion of distinguishing cultural rights, religious rights, and constitutional rights. 1.6 Limitations of the Study Given that various labor markets in Saudi Arabia have different views on the role of women, generalization will be made cautiously. A study of the required qualifications for both the male and female gender thus needs to be carried out separately. Secondly, the study is focused on women who have advanced to a higher level of education and beyond and thereby making a generalization of the other categories of women in Saudi Arabia not to be possible. Thirdly, the study area is in an urban setting and this may limit comparative analysis with the rural setup, which could give the study a complete framework on the factors that influence women empowerment in Saudi Arabia. In such a case, therefore, a study of both urban and rural set up would be applicable ideal for comparative analysis. Since the study is also limited to Saudi Arabia, it cannot, therefore, be generalized to other Arabic or Muslim nations. The study was focused on social, religious, policy, and ideological factors and not any other potential factors that may bring in a better analysis for the study. Lastly, the study faced limitations with regards to time and finances which was overcome by organizing additional sources of funds and time out of the busy schedule. 1.7 The Scope of the Study The study focused on the urban areas of Saudi Arabia and was restricted to the factors influencing women empowerment in Saudi Arabia. Among the factors considered in this thesis included the social, policy, religious and ideological aspects in Saudi Arabia. The respondents of the study were 70 individuals with higher education academic qualifications and above. 1.8 Assumptions of the Study This research was underlined by the following assumptions: ❖ That both women and men have met the minimum qualifications to participate in the labor market. ❖ That all labor market industries and agencies have sound management practices and competent managers. ❖ That all the respondents gave accurate and honest information. ❖ That all potential participants consented to be included in the study ❖ That all stakeholders involved in women empowerment programs have some consideration in mind when handling the topic. 2.0 Operational Definition of Terms Factors: These are issues that influence the decision-making process. Influencing: The ability to have the power to change a course of action. Social Factors: These are issues based on the cultural, traditional and ethical practices and beliefs of a community that influence women empowerment. Religious Factors: These are issues related to the country’s predominant religious practices and beliefs that affect women empowerment. Policy Factors: These are aspects related to government and labor market industry policies together with the administrative operations that may impact on women empowerment. Ideological Factors: Just like religious and social factors, these are values such as political affiliations that affect women empowerment. Patriarchy: Refers to a group of social connections within men which have a solid foundation and enable them to have interdependence and unity, through the hierarchy, and subsequently dominate women. Women Empowerment: Refers to the creation and enhancement of an economic, legal, social, and political environment that is favorable to women to ensure gender equality and make the women have confidence in claiming for their rights for both their personal gains and the society at large. CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction Saudi Arabia is a desert country that runs over 8,000 square miles with cities such as Medinah, Jeddah, Makah, Riyadh, and Dhahran. The country is a monarchy, led by the royal family of Al Saud with a council of ministers. The country’s current state is attributed to its deep rootedness in tribal and religious history. Back in the mid-1990s, most of the Arab nations had extremely low literacy levels. According to statistics by UNESCO (1995), the illiterate lot in the Arabic countries constituted between one-fifth and one-half of the total nation’s population (Mazawi, 2002). Ostensibly, the level of illiteracy according to Mazawi (2002) is more prevalent among females, especially in rural regions. The Al Saud family has intensely directed funds and efforts in education for more than fifteen years now to curb the prevailing situation for the women. Much emphasis has been put to promote higher education for women by King Abdullah and currently, 58 percent of Saudi Arabia’s university students are females (Minkus-McKenna, 2009). Noticeably, most women are now enrolling for management and business courses in such fields as health care and finance (Eid, 2005). However, due to cultural and religious practices in Saudi Arabia, women undergo several challenges pertaining to their educational development (Kayed & Hassan, 2010). As a result of the segregation of women, only 15 percent of the Saudi labor industry is comprised of women. For there to be the socio-economic development of women there need to be the presence and accessibility of standard advanced education. Women’s poverty level significantly impact a country’s economic status since on average they constitute one-half of the population (Alsuwaigh, 1989; Abdul Aziz Alsahlawi & Gardener, 2004). Most institutions of higher learning lack the social empowerment that is essential for the women’s learning exposures in spite of allowing the females to enroll for advanced education and graduate studies in Saudi Arabia. In most of the institutions, there is the practice of sex segregation where classrooms are classified depending on gender (Mtango, 2004). Even so, facilities belonging to the females are, in most cases, of lower quality as compared to those of males and the sizes of class for the women are bigger as compared to their male counterparts. According to Mtango (2004), the tutors in male universities are more educated and trained “with more than 34 percent of the professors at the men’s universities holding doctorates, as compared with only 3 percent of their counterparts at women’s universities.” In some instances, accessing vital institutional facilities is regulated as a result of gender segregation policies. For instance, according to Mtango (2004), females at King Saud University in Riyadh are allocated less time a week as compared to their male counterparts. Besides, most universities have fewer numbers of female tutors and professors. As things stand, it is difficult for women seeking to start entrepreneurship as a result of lesser quality education. The central factor of community and family life is education. The education of women in Saudi can be dated back in the past 1500 years, a period when Khadija, the wife of Prophet Muhammad, was her own employer and owned her own caravan which was successful. Following the demise of the prophet, the position of women in the country gradually began to decline and by early 1900’s, female’s status had been reduced to the level of non-education and oppression (Ahmed, 1992). In Saudi Arabia, women’s education begun informally with the Kuttab schools which basically, taught the key aspects of Islam and the basics of arithmetic, reading, and writing. King Abdul Aziz would then initiate an extensive program to start up schools in the Kingdom by 1945. By 1951, Saudi Arabia had a record of 29,887 students enrolled in 226 schools (Collins, 2005). In 1943, the first private female school was set up in Makkah by a group of people who sought to teach their daughters the basics of mathematics, writing and reading (Al Salloom, 1989). In 1960, the public elementary education for the girl child commenced with only 518 female students enrolled in the 15 schools that had 127 classrooms. This would then be followed by public education at intermediate and secondary levels in 1963. At that particular time, Al Salloom (1989), records that there were 4 school buildings for the intermediate level and only one for the secondary level. Soon, the Saudi families realized that there was no harm posed to family life and in the traditional role of females in society by educating the girl child. Female students would then begin to enroll for education at all levels which led to the expansion and establishment of more schools. Kathleen (1991) records that the number of females who had enrolled for higher education had gone up from 400 in 1990 to 48,000 by 1970. The latest education annual reports indicate that number of women has risen from 13 in 1970 to 21, 721 in 1999 (Smith & Abouammoh, 2013). The increase girl child enrolling to school can be attributed to sensitization programs to encourage parents in the society to allow women enroll to school. In 1953, the number of women employed was less than 50, but recently in 2017, there are more than 15000 women employed by the government. Women in the past were only allowed to participate in domestic activities. In 1970, women in sport and Olympic were less than 20, but in 2014, the number has increased to more than 1596. In stock exchange market, the percentage of women participating in the trade has increased from 4 percent in 1970 to 12 percent in 2014 this according to Bloomberg report. Table 2. 1 Summary of women progress report as from 1970 and 2014 Activity Before After Schooling In 1949, there were no women In 1999, number of women enrolled in any girls' school was 21, 721 In 1953, the number of women In 2017, there are more than employed was less than 50 15000 women employed by the Work opportunities government Sports and Olympic Stock Exchange Market In 1970, women in sport and In 2014, the number has Olympic were less than 20 increased to more than 1596 In 1970, women compose less In 2014, women compost more than 4 percent of total than 12 percent of total employees in stock exchange employees in stock exchange market. market. Ms. Sarah Alsohaimi elected Chairman of the board of the Saudi Stock market. The orientation of any society is largely dependent on traditional and cultural factors alongside political and economic systems. The number of well-known Saudi women in leadership is very low which is attributed to the pronounced gender segregation and discrimination against the girl child. This study aims at exploring the discriminative government and judicial systems in Saudi Arabia which have placed restrictive laws to women and barred them from pursuing leadership roles. The irony about the whole scenario is that females are more than males in Saudi Arabia though the females are not allowed to work. The society still looks down upon employed women and it is only in the past ten years that women have been acknowledged as part of the labor sector. Such thoughts show the absence of labor market open to females in the country. Human Development in relation to education and employment There has been a huge debate, based on ideological, theoretical, empirical and epistemological aspects, on the relationship that exists between economic and social values. Perhaps, it is imperative to understand that human development does not in any way imply the cell and organ development of a human being in this context but rather the social nature of basic needs such as a sense of dignity and security obtained from the work. In most communities, certain jobs are associated with class and improving level of dignity in a rural agrarian context. Of the complexities imposed towards human development is unemployment as it not only affects the demand and incomes of an individual but also the social cohesion and dignity. The situation can be further worsened by placing policies which forces people to accept substandard employment not proportional to their skills and qualifications. Education comes in as a tool to enable one expand one’s skills or learn new skills thereby resulting in enhanced social mobility, self-confidence and ultimately income. When one has the right skills and opts for self-employment, one gets linked to a status of well-off persons which entails having a source of social security and dignity. Other utilitarian arguments that monetary market value of a social life does not significantly impute its value does not hold grounds in a world where people are forced to do a job and don’t have the freedom to pull out following the lack of a good labor market bargain. Such a lack of good base of labor market bargain can lead to exploitation. According to the Journal of Education and Work Volume 20, (2007) “an educational institution contributes to expanding its graduates' basic functionalities such as being able to acquire knowledge, being able to get a job in a short time, being able to change jobs and thus to improve earnings, being able to search for better opportunities.” Education quality influences the quality of a person’s capital and therefore there exists great need to expand the education sector of a girl child in Oman so that their opportunities become spread too. It is also evident that there exists unequal employment opportunities in Oman for females as compared to the males. Such an indifference leads to devastation of the female gender which makes them have a limited scope of developing and empowered. CHAPTER THREE 3.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction This chapter highlights on how the data was sourced, processed and analyzed. It contains information on research design, study area, target population, sample and sampling procedure, the research instruments, validity and reliability of instruments, the trustworthiness of qualitative instrument, data collection, data analysis, and ethical considerations. The qualitative data were analyzed using only descriptive statistics. The descriptive data was used to describe and summarize the statistics in the form of charts, tables, frequencies, and percentages. For the qualitative data, a thematic analysis approach was used. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 22 was used to analyze the data. 3.2 Source of Data This study applied both primary and secondary methods of data collection. Primary data can be referred to as raw information which is costly to come by and for this study will include questionnaires. Since the study wants to establish about women empowerment in Saudi Arabia, 70 women in institutions of higher education will be given the questionnaires. Secondary data can be referred to as data that is already existing that has been already researched on. For this study, the secondary sources will include literature books, journals, educational sites, organization site and government sites. 3.3 Place of Survey This study was conducted in the urban areas of Saudi Arabia which has a population of approximately twenty million and an area of about two million kilometers. Saudi Arabia is one of the Arabic countries found in the East and is the fifth largest state in Asia and second largest in the Arab world. The state is bordered by Iraq and Jordan to the North, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain to the East, Yemen and Oman to the South. Most of its terrain consists of mountains and arid desert and it is the only country having both a Persian Gulf coast and a Red Sea coast. The nation has centuries-old attitudes and traditions mostly derived from Arab civilization. This culture has been heavily influenced by the Wahhabi form of Islam which came about in the eighteenth Century and now dominates the country. Its command economy is petroleum-based with approximately 90% of export earnings and 75% of its budget revenues generated from the oil industry. Amongst the biggest challenges facing Saudi Arabia’s economy is enhancing education, diminishing inequality and corruption and reversing or halting the decline in per capita income. Fair enough, education is free at all levels. 3.4 Respondents The respondents in this study will be entirely women in Saudi Arabia since the study is based on women empowerment in Saudi Arabia. Questionnaires of both closed and open-ended questions will be given to 70 women in institutions of higher learning in Saudi Arabia. 3.5 Sample Design A research design can be thought of as the structure or the glue that holds all the elements in research. It is the scheme, outline or plan that is used to generate answers to research problems (Orodho, 2003). The study on women empowerment in the urban areas of Saudi Arabia adopted a descriptive survey design. This model gave the researcher confidence that results can be generalized to the target population (Yin 2003). The reason is that it is involved in a field where the researcher went out and described the chief variables affecting the reverse logistics practices. According to Kerlinger (1999), descriptive survey methods are not only restricted to fact findings but often result in the formulation of important principles of knowledge and solutions to significant problems. They present data in a meaningful form thus help to understand the characteristics of a group in a given situation. Further, survey method is capable of providing generalized information on a variety aspects of women empowerment. Data collected through survey were therefore essential in advancing our understanding of what influences women empowerment in Saudi Arabia especially in the labor market. Being an efficient means of gathering information about a population, (Bryman, 2008). Education Social Factors Religious Factors Employment Human Development = Women Empowerment Ideological Factors Policy Factors Figure 3. 2 3.6 Sample Size A sample is a small part of a statistical population whose properties are studied to gain information about the whole (Orodho and Kombo, 2002). From the target population, both purposive and stratified random sampling was used to give the study sample. Purposively, the researcher drew the sample from individuals in higher education (and beyond) and the private sector in the ratio 5:1. According to Newman (2003) stratified random sampling is used when the population is not homogenous and in this case, there were individuals both from monetary agencies and higher levels of learning. Stratified random sampling method would ensure inclusion in the method subgroups which otherwise could entirely be omitted by other sampling methods due to their small numbers which were considered. 3.7 Research Instruments The study used the following instruments: ❖ Questionnaires According to Orodho (2004), a questionnaire comprises of a written set of questions to be completed by individual respondents. It is always accompanied by general information of what is expected from the respondents and instructions on how to complete the questionnaire. According to Mugenda and Mugenda (2003), questionnaires give a detailed answer to complex problems. Questionnaires are also a popular means of data collection in deduction because of their relative ease and cost-effectiveness of construction and administration. The questionnaire is a powerful scientific instrument for measuring different variables as in the case of this study (Bryman, 2008); and was the best method to deal with such a large number of respondents who were geographically dispersed in various regions, since they were sampled using random sampling technique. The questions used in this research were mainly closed to ensure that the respondents were directed to the specific area of research and this provided most valid and reliable information needed to arrive at a conclusion. The first part of the individuals’ questionnaire dealt with demographic information on family background. The second part had questions on different aspects of the factors influencing women empowerment in a Likert scale and this was used to further enhance reliability. 3.8 Data Analysis Data analysis was both quantitative and qualitative. 3.8.1 Quantitative Data Analysis Quantitative data from questionnaires were edited hence provided the opportunity for identification and correction of wrong entries, errors in responses, omissions and other inconsistencies. Open ended questions were grouped into themes or sub-themes then coded. The final data was corrected in preparation for coding and tabulation according to major variables included in the questionnaire. The coding system was incorporated in the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 22 data analysis software. According to Wolverto (2009), descriptive analysis involves a process of transforming a mass of raw data into tables and charts with frequency distribution and percentages. Data Analysis involved the application of the two types of statistical techniques namely descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics were used to compute percentages, means, frequency distribution and correlation. This analysis was conducted according to the research questions. The data was primarily presented using frequency distribution, tables, graphs and pie charts for quick reference. Inferential statistics such as Pearson correlation and regression analysis were used to analyze the quantitative data. 3.8.2 Qualitative Data Analysis The study followed the principles of thematic analysis according to Braun and Clarke (2006). Thematic analysis, according to the two individuals, is a method for identifying and analyzing patterns within data. It minimally organizes and describes data set in details. Furthermore, thematic analysis interprets various aspects of research. Thematic analysis was found appropriate for this study because it is not grounded on any particular theoretical and epistemological framework and can, therefore, be applied across a wide range of qualitative research approaches, making it flexible. Thematic analysis has the merits and demerits. The merits it accommodates the large data sets and flexibility which allows researchers to test multiple theories across the board. Thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data and focused on the discussion of the themes. The analysis emphasized on the organization of data which was rich in descriptive data set. It went further in creating themes developed on each objective of the study, from which questions are developed. Thematic analysis has merits and demerits with the merits including its suitability for large data sets and flexibility which allows researchers to test various theories. Demerits of thematic analysis are that its flexibility makes it complicated since it brings forth various aspects of data to be worked on. The interview and data analysis were used in order to determine the monetary agency individuals’ perception of the factors that influence women empowerment in Saudi Arabia. 3.9 Variables A variable can be referred to as a unit which impacts or is impacted by another unit. In this study, the variables are education, employment, social factors, religious aspects, ideological aspects, policy factors and human development/women empowerment. This study tries to assess how women empowerment/ human development is impacted by education and employment. 3.10 Dependent variable These are the variables that the researcher is concerned about and are affected by the other variables. The changes that come about due to these variables are the point of interest for the researcher. For our study, the dependent variables are education and employment which are a measure of human development and women empowerment. 3.11 Independent variables These are the variables that are changed or controlled in a research proposal to test the effects on the dependent variable. In this study the independent variables are social, policy, ideological and religious factors that impact on human development/ women empowerment. 3.12 Statistical Methods 1) Descriptive Statistics Descriptive statistics such mean, variance, minimum and maximum values, provides fundamental information on the selected variables in order tto make decision for application of those in in advanced level of statistical analysis. 2) Cross-tabulation Cross-tabulation has been considered to use in order to find the association between teo qualitative variables. The strength of the association is assessed by the Pearson chi-square. Pearson Chi-square Pearson chi-square test used to assess the relationship in cross-tabulation. The formula of this is: r c  =  2 i =1 j =1 (Oij − Eij )2 Eij where Oij is observed frequency, and Eij is expected frequency, which is compared with critical chisquare at α level of significance and (r-1)(c-1) degrees of freedom. 3) Binary Logistic Regression Dependent variable: a) Whether employed or unemployed Y = 1 employed, and 0 = unemployed b) Whether women and men have equal opportunities in employment Y=1, if agree on it; otherwise Y = 0. Independent variables: Age, marital status (single =1, ever-married =0 ) and education level The expression of binary logistic model )logistic regression function) is presented here with n observations and p predictors. The probability p is modeled as: p = Pr(Y = 1| X 1 = x1 ,..., X p = x p )  0 + 1 x1 +  2 x2 + ,..+  p x p e =  1+ e 0 + 1 x1 +  2 x2 + ,.. +  p x p The odds ratio for the event is p , and 1− p p  +  x +  x + ,..+  x =e 1− p The logit transformation of the odds ratio is: 0 1 1 2 2 p p  p  ln   =  0 + 1 x1 +  2 x2 +,.. +  p x p , 1 − p   which is linear function of the parameters  0 , 1 ,..,  p 4) Ordinal Logistic Regression Y = Whether men and women have equal opportunities in employment 1= strongly agree, 2= agree, 3= partly agree,4 =neutral, 5 = partly disagree, 6= disagree 7 = strongly disagree The expression of the model with n observations and p parameters is given below. The response variable falls into k categories (1, 2, …, k) in order. Let Y denote the response variable. The cumulative distribution for Y is Fj ( xi ) = Pr(Y  j | X i = xi1,..., X p = xip ); j = 1,2,...,( k − 1) The proportional odds model is given by,  F j ( xi )  L j ( xi ) = ln  =  0 j + 1 j x1i +  2 j x2i + ... +  pj x pi  1 − F j ( xi )    for j=1, 2, ..., (k-1) CHAPTER FOUR 4.0 DATA TABULATION AND ANALYSIS 4.1 Trends of Employment and Education Figure 4.1 Labor Force of Male and Female with Education The chart shows that the percentage of males in labour force with secondary education has been on the rise over the years, which now stands at around 30%, while the percentage of females in labour force with secondary education has been on the decline and is just above 18%. This means that more women with secondary education are not in the labour force. Figure 4.2 Labor Force of Male and Female with Education The chart shows that by 2014, 40% of the women in the labour force have tertiary education. More women have been acquiring tertiary education hence entering the labour force. On the other hand, females with tertiary education in the labour force have been growing at a low pace as compared to females and are below 20% of the total population of men. Figure 4.3 Labor Force Participation and Employment of Male and Female The labour force participation rate for men in Saudi Arabia has remained high, above 70%, though it has slightly declined. On the other hand, the participation rate for females in the country has been low and has grown at a low rate. The participation rate for the female gender is below 20%, but has been growing positively over the years. Figure 4.4 Labor Force Participation and Employment of Male and Female The female employment in the industrial sector has remained below 10%, while in the service sector; the employment rate has been over 90% for the period in study. This is as compared to men where the employment in the service sector has remained below 30% but in the industrial sector, the rate has been above 60%. This shows that men are more likely to be employed in the industrial sector but not women. Figure 4.5 Gross Enrollment of Male and Female in College Level The female enrollment rate to colleges in the 1970s to 1980s was below that of men which were all below 20% of the total population. The enrollment for women was above that of men from 1990s to 2010. Currently, both genders have similar enrolment rate to colleges. Overall, the enrollment rate to colleges for both genders has been on the rise. Table 4.1 Employment status by marital status Employment status Unemploye .Marital Ever-married d Employed Total % % % 22.2 53.6 41.3 (4) (15) (19) 77.8 46.4 58.7 (14) (13) (27) 100.0 100.0 100.0 (18) (28) (46) status Single Total Pearson Chi-Square = 4.441a ; degrees of freedom = 1 p < 035 22.2% of those who have ever married are unemployed while 77.8% of those who are single are unemployed. 53.6% of those employed have ever married while 46.4% of those who are single are employed. This tells that more married people are in the labour force, but this would be explained by the fact that many youths who have no jobs are also single. Table 4.2 Employment status by level of education Employment status Level of Unemployed Employed % % High School education College Certificate Bachelor's degree Postgraduate Total Total % 16.7 7.1 10.9 (3) (2) (5) 11.1 25.0 19.6 (2) (7) (9) 44.4 28.6 34.8 (8) (8) (16) 27.8 39.3 34.8 (5) (11) (16) 100.0 100.0 100.0 (18) (28) (46) Pearson Chi-Square = 3.205; degress of freedom = 3; p < .361 34.8% of the population has a bachelor’s degree while 34.8% have a postgraduate degree. Out of those employed, 7.1% have a high school education, 25% have a college education, 28.6% have a bachelor’s degree and 39.3% have a postgraduate degree. This shows that the higher or the more an individual (s) is educated, the greater the chances of being employed. Nonetheless, there are some individuals with higher education and not employed yet. Table 4.3 Binary Logistic regression of employment status on selected variables Variable B Age t level of education Marital status Women are more qualified than men in terms of S.E. Wald df Sig. Exp(B) .123 .081 2.315 1 .128 1.130 -.227 .456 .247 1 .619 .797 -1.053 .865 1.482 1 .223 .349 .356 .221 2.588 1 .108 1.427 -2.929 2.378 1.517 1 .218 .053 labor skills requirements. Constant Dependent variable : Employment status (employed =1, and unemployed = 0) -2 Log likelihood = 48.046; Cox & Snell R Square = .230; Nagelkerke R Square = .310; ; Chi-square = 11.488, df = 4, p =.022 Age and skills of women positively lead increased chances of being employed in Saudi Arabia. On the contrary, the education level and marital status negatively influence the chances of being employed. However, the variables only explain 31% of the factors that influence employment as per the Nagelkerke R Squared and 23% as per Cox and Snell R squared. There are other factors not in the model that would influence chances of being employed. 4.2Frequency Tables In Table 4.2.1 “Women are more qualified than men in terms of labor skills requirements.” The participants were instructed to indicate whether they “strongly agree,” “agree,” “partly agree,” are “neutral,” “partly disagree,” “disagree,” or “strongly disagree” with the statement. A total of 53 people responded. Out of these, a total of 11 agreed (of which 9 strongly agreed, and 2 agreed). In addition, 7 people partly agreed. Altogether, 18 people indicated some degree of agreement with this statement. A similar number of respondents remained neutral – 21 people. Only 6 people disagreed or disagreed strongly, while 8 people disagreed partly. Thus, the number of people who indicated some degree of disagreement with this statement is 14, which is smaller than the number of people who agreed to some degree. Thus, we can conclude that there is nearly 1/3 of the sample who agreed in some form; however, a majority of those sampled to not believe that women are more qualified than men in labor skills. The difference between the number of people who agreed and the number who disagreed also does not seem large enough to suggest that there is a strong support for this point of view in the sample. Table 4.2.1 perception responses on Social Factors Statement SA A PA N PD D SD Women are more qualified than men in terms of labor skills requirements. 16.4 3.6 12.7 38.2 14.5 3.6 7.3 (9) (2) (7) (21) (8) (2) (4) 3.7 14.5 21.1 12.5 3.8 27.2 (2) (18) Women and men have equal opportunities in employment Women can successfully lead organizations 7.1 (4) (2) (7) (12) (6) 29.1 5.5 12.7 21.8 10.9 9.1 7.3 (16) (3) (7) (12) (6) (5) (4) Strongly agree (SA)Agree (A)Partly agree (PA)Neutral (N)Partly Disagree (PD)Disagree (D)Strongly Disagree (SD) “Women are more qualified than men in terms of labor skills requirements.” The participants were instructed to indicate whether they “strongly agree,” “agree,” “partly agree,” are “neutral,” “partly disagree,” “disagree,” or “strongly disagree” with the statement. A total of 53 people responded. Out of these, a total of 11 agreed (of which 9 strongly agreed, and 2 agreed). In addition, 7 people partly agreed. Altogether, 18 people indicated some degree of agreement with this statement. A similar number of respondents remained neutral – 21 people. Only 6 people disagreed or disagreed strongly, while 8 people disagreed partly. Thus, the number of people who indicated some degree of disagreement with this statement is 14, which is smaller than the number of people who agreed to some degree. Thus, we can conclude that there is nearly 1/3 of the sample who agreed in some form; however, a majority of those sampled to not believe that women are more qualified than men in labor skills. The difference between the number of people who agreed and the number who disagreed also does not seem large enough to suggest that there is a strong support for this point of view in the sample. “Women can successfully lead organizations.” Many respondents strongly agreed with this statement: 16 people in strong support. In addition, 3 people agreed, and 7 people agreed partly. Thus, a total of 26 people agreed that women can successfully lead organizations. Fifteen people disagreed in some form, of which only 4 disagreed strongly, and 6 disagreed partly. Twelve respondents remained neutral. Thus, a total of 27 respondents either remained neutral or disagreed with the statement that women can successfully lead organizations. This is nearly half of the total number of respondents. Thus, the number of respondents who agreed is similar to that of those who disagreed OR were neutral. Out of those who agreed, a greater part agreed strongly. About one fourth of those sampled expressed strong support. Although the statement has positive terminology, the support for it is not overwhelming. We would need to check different variations of the message, in order to see whether other wordings draw the same amount of support from the population. The lack of overwhelming support may be due to cultural factors, although there are also very few people, who strongly oppose the idea of women's leadership. Table 4.2.2 perception responses on Religious Factors Statement Islam religion has helped in uplifting women Religious leaders do not give women a chance to lead in the mosques Islam religion has positive contribution to women in carrying leadership in both private and public sectors. SA A PA N PD D SD 40.0 10.9 5.5 10.9 3.6 7.3 18.2 (22) (6) (3) (6) (2) (4) (10) 30.9 3.6 5.5 25.5 7.3 9.1 12.7 (17) (2) (3) (14) (4) (5) (7) 32.7 12.7 5.5 23.6 5.5 5.5 9.1 (18) (7) (3) (13) (3) (3) (5) Strongly agree (SA)Agree (A)Partly agree (PA)Neutral (N)Partly Disagree (PD)Disagree (D)Strongly Disagree (SD) “Islam religion has helped in uplifting women.” The participants were instructed to indicate whether they “strongly agree,” “agree,” “partly agree,” are “neutral,” “partly disagree,” “disagree,” or “strongly disagree” with the statement. A total of 53 people responded. Out of these, a total of 28 people agreed (of which 22 strongly agreed, and 6 agreed). Additionally, 3 people partly agreed. Altogether, 31 people indicated some degree of agreement with this statement. Only 6 people remained neutral. In addition, 14 people disagreed or disagreed strongly, while 2 people disagreed partly. Thus, the number of people who indicated some degree of disagreement with this statement is 16, which is visibly smaller than the number of people who agreed to some degree. Thus, we can conclude that a clear majority, 31 people, agreed in some form with the idea that Islam religion has helped in uplifting women. The difference between the number of people who agreed and the number of people who disagreed is large enough to suggest that there is a strong support for this point of view in the sample. This seems to fall in line with strong respect for religion present in the country. “Religious leaders do not give women a chance to lead in the mosques.” The participants were instructed to indicate whether they “strongly agree,” “agree,” “partly agree,” are “neutral,” “partly disagree,” “disagree,” or “strongly disagree” with the statement. Seventeen people strongly agreed with this statement, while 2 agreed, and 3 agreed partly. Thus, a total of 22 people agreed with this statement in some form. We can see that slightly fewer than the majority of respondents supported this statement. A total of 16 people disagreed with this statement. Of these, 7 people disagreed strongly, 5 people disagreed, and 4 people disagreed partly. Fourteen people were neutral. Thus, nearly comparable amounts of people disagreed and remained neutral to the idea that religious leaders do not give women a chance to lead in the mosques. A little below half of the respondents agreed with the statement in some form. Thus, we can conclude that opinions regarding this statement vary, although there is a certain amount of support for the idea. However, a fairly large amount of people remained neutral. This may be due to the fact that they do not understand or are not familiar with this issue. “Islam religion has positive contribution to women in carrying leadership in both private and public sectors” was presented to 52 subjects, 18 people agreed strongly. In addition, 7 people agreed, and 3 agreed partly. Thirteen people remained neutral. Five people disagreed strongly, while 3 people disagreed, and 3 disagreed partly. Thus, an majority of those sampled, a total of 28 people, supported the statement in some form. Less than one fourth of the sample disagreed, a total of 11 subjects, while a similar number remained neutral. We can conclude that there was support for the idea that Islam religion has positive contribution to women in carrying leadership in both private and public sectors, while the group of people who disagree is very small. This is the smallest number of people in disagreement we have seen so far, among all tables analyzed. The support of this statement may be due to the deeply ingrained religious views in the population. It may be helpful to test other variations of this statement to assess the effect of the wording on the degree of support, as well as to run statistical tests, in order to determine whether the results are statistically significant. Table 4.2.3 perception responses on Policy Factors Statement The level of women participation in politics, economy, and public life is good in general. There are transportation policies that directly affect women in Saudi Arabia. Women are now permitted to drive vehicles. There should be policies implemented to ensure the status of women in Saudi Arabia is improved. Most women in Saudi do not know their rights. SA A PA N PD D SD 9.1 5.5 10.9 36.4 12.7 10.9 9.1 (5) (3) (6) (20) (7) (6) (5) 52.5 9.1 10.9 27.3 9.1 5.5 7.3 (14) (5) (6) (15) (5) (3) (4) 41.8 10.9 9.1 12.7 7.3 3.6 10.9 (23) (6) (5) (7) (4) (2) (6) 38.2 10.9 9.1 10.9 3.6 12.7 9.1 (21) (6) (5) (6) (2) (7) (5) 29.1 9.1 9.1 12.7 14.5 1.8 20.0 (16) (5) (5) (7) (8) (1) (11) Strongly agree (SA)Agree (A)Partly agree (PA)Neutral (N)Partly Disagree (PD)Disagree (D)Strongly Disagree (SD) “The level of women participation in politics, economy, and public life is good in general.” Very few people strongly agreed with this statement: 5 people in strong support. In addition, 3 people agreed, and 6 people agreed partly. Thus, a total of 14 people agreed that the level of women participation in politics, economy, and public life is good in general, in some form. Eighteen people disagreed in some form, of which 5 disagreed strongly. An unusually large level of neutrality was observed: 20 respondents remained neutral. Thus, a total of 38 respondents either remained neutral or disagreed with the statement. Slightly below half of the total number of respondents remained neutral. The number of respondents who agreed is nearly one fourth of the entire sample, and slightly lower than that of those who disagreed in some form. This is the strongest level of neutrality towards a statement that we have seen among the tables analyzed so far. The split between those who agree and those who disagree can be called roughly even. The high level of neutrality may be due to the idea that many people are uncomfortable or afraid of answering this question. It may be a good idea to check different variations of the message, to see whether the wording can sway people to answer one way or another. “There are transportation policies that directly affect women in Saudi Arabia.” The participants were asked to indicate whether they “strongly agree,” “agree,” “partly agree,” are “neutral,” “partly disagree,” “disagree,” or “strongly disagree” with the statement. A total of 25 people agreed with the statement in some form. Most of these 25 people agreed strongly (14 subjects), while 5 of the subjects agreed and 6 agreed partly. This is a fairly high amount of support for this statement, as it includes nearly half of the given sample. Fifteen people were neutral. Thus, more people were neutral than had strongly agreed with the statement, and it is a fairly high count of the neutrally-minded, as compared with the remaining questions. Five people partly disagreed, 3 people disagreed, and 4 people disagreed strongly. Thus, about 12 people showed some form of disagreement altogether. Clearly, more people agreed with the statement than disagreed, and while the neutrality factor was high. These results seem to indicate that most people agree that there are transportation policies that directly affect women in Saudi Arabia. In addition, a large amount of people agree strongly (about as many as the total for disagreement in any form). “Women are now permitted to drive vehicles.” Their options were to indicate whether they “strongly agree,” “agree,” “partly agree,” are “neutral,” “partly disagree,” “disagree,” or “strongly disagree” with the statement. A total of 23 people strongly agreed with the statement, while 6 respondents agreed, and 5 partly agreed. Thus, 34 people out of 53 agreed with the statement in some manner. As for those who disagreed, 4 people disagreed partly, while 2 disagreed, and 6 disagreed strongly. Thus, a total of 12 people disagreed with this statement in some form, which constitutes about one fourth of the sample. Seven people remained neutral. Since a majority of people indicated some form of agreement with the statement, we can conclude that most people support the view that women are now permitted to drive vehicles. However, we do not know whether this majority was statistically significant, and would need to run tests, such as the t-test to determine the significance of these findings. Still, the support for this idea among those sampled is not overwhelming, as 19 people either remained neutral or disagreed with this statement. The wording of the statement is straightforward, though the word “now” may carry some implication that would affect the respondents' answers. “There should be policies implemented to ensure the status of women in Saudi Arabia is improved.” The participants were instructed to indicate whether they “strongly agree,” “agree,” “partly agree,” are “neutral,” “partly disagree,” “disagree,” or “strongly disagree” with the statement. A total of 52 people responded. Out of these, a total of 27 people agreed (of which 21 strongly agreed, and 6 agreed). Additionally, 5 people partly agreed. Altogether, 32 people indicated some degree of agreement with this statement. Only 6 people remained neutral. In addition, 12 people disagreed or disagreed strongly, while 2 people disagreed partly. Thus, the number of people who indicated some degree of disagreement with this statement is 14, which is visibly smaller than the number of people who agreed to some degree. Thus, we can conclude that a large majority, 32 people, agreed in some form with the idea that there should be policies implemented to ensure the status of women in Saudi Arabia is improved. The difference between the number of people who agreed and the number who disagreed is large enough to suggest that there is a strong support for this point of view in the sample. “Most women in Saudi Arabia do not know their rights.” The participants were instructed to indicate whether they “strongly agree,” “agree,” “partly agree,” are “neutral,” “partly disagree,” “disagree,” or “strongly disagree” with the statement. Sixteen people strongly agreed with this statement, while 5 agreed, and 5 agreed partly. Thus, a total of 26 people agreed with this statement in some form. We can see that slightly fewer than the majority of respondents supported this statement. A total of 20 people disagreed with this statement. Of these, 11 people disagreed strongly, one person disagreed, and 8 people disagreed partly. Only 7 people were neutral. Thus, nearly comparable amounts of people agree and disagree that most women in Saudi Arabia do not know their rights overall, though a slightly higher number agree. A greater amount of people agree strongly than disagree strongly. Thus, we can conclude that opinions regarding this statement vary greatly, although there is a certain amount of support for the idea. The wording of this statement seems a little ambiguous, which may also have led to the division of opinions among the respondents. It could either be seen as women need to learn more about their rights, or as women do not care to know their rights Table 4.2.4 perception responses on Ideological Factors “Women’s education is key to ensuring development in the society” was presented to 52 subjects again, 28 people agreed strongly. Only 5 people agreed, and 3 agreed partly. A small group of subjects, only 5 people, remained neutral. Eight people disagreed strongly, while 3 people disagreed. Thus, an overwhelming majority of those sampled, a total of 36 people supported the statement in some form. Less than one fourth of the sample disagreed, a total of 11 subjects, while only 5 remained neutral. We can conclude that there was continuing support for the idea that women's education is key to ensuring development in the society, with a small group of people that disagree, and disagree strongly at that. This may be a group of people with strongly held conservative views, although this group is fairly small. The support by the statement may be due to simple and positive terminology that juxtaposes education and development, both of which are positive concepts to most people. It may be helpful to test other variations of this statement to assess the effect of the wording on the degree of response, as well as to run statistical tests, in order to determine whether the results are statistically significant. “The new Vision 2030 does not have greater impact as far as women empowerment in Saudi Arabia is concerned.” The participants were instructed to indicate whether they “strongly agree,” “agree,” “partly agree,” are “neutral,” “partly disagree,” “disagree,” or “strongly disagree” with the statement. A total of 13 people agreed with the statement in some form. Most of these 13 people only partly agreed (7 subjects), while 4 subjects agreed strongly and 2 just agreed. This is not a high amount of support for this statement, as it is only about one fourth of the given sample. Also, both of the preceding statements received a higher amounts of support. Fifteen people were neutral. Thus, more people were neutral than agreed with the statement. Five people partly disagreed, eight people disagreed, and eleven people disagreed strongly. Thus, about nineteen people either disagreed or disagreed strongly. Clearly, more people disagreed with the statement than agreed, and even more disagreed in some form, including partly. These results seem to indicate that most people do not agree that the new Vision has a greater impact on women empowerment in Saudi Arabia. In addition, a large amount of people disagree strongly (about as many as the total for agreement in any form). Statement SA A PA N Women’s education is key to ensuring development in the society. 52.7 3.6 5.5 (29) (2) The new Vision 2030 does not have greater impact as far as women empowerment in Saudi Arabia is concerned 7.3 Women can help steer the New vision 2030 of Saudi Arabia when empowered PD D SD 14.5 3.6 14.5 (3) (8) (2) (8) 3.6 12.7 27.3 9.1 14.5 20.0 (4) (2) (7) (15) (5) (8) (11) 32.7 12.7 9.1 14.5 9.1 5.5 9.1 (18) (7) (8) (8) (5) (3) (5) Strongly agree (SA)Agree (A)Partly agree (PA)Neutral (N)Partly Disagree (PD)Disagree (D)Strongly Disagree (SD) “Women’s education is key to ensuring development in the society” was presented to 52 subjects again, 28 people agreed strongly. Only 5 people agreed, and 3 agreed partly. A small group of subjects, only 5 people, remained neutral. Eight people disagreed strongly, while 3 people disagreed. Thus, an overwhelming majority of those sampled, a total of 36 people supported the statement in some form. Less than one fourth of the sample disagreed, a total of 11 subjects, while only 5 remained neutral. We can conclude that there was continuing support for the idea that women's education is key to ensuring development in the society, with a small group of people that disagree, and disagree strongly at that. This may be a group of people with strongly held conservative views, although this group is fairly small. The support by the statement may be due to simple and positive terminology that juxtaposes education and development, both of which are positive concepts to most people. It may be helpful to test other variations of this statement to assess the effect of the wording on the degree of response, as well as to run statistical tests, in order to determine whether the results are statistically significant. “The new Vision 2030 does not have greater impact as far as women empowerment in Saudi Arabia is concerned.” The participants were instructed to indicate whether they “strongly agree,” “agree,” “partly agree,” are “neutral,” “partly disagree,” “disagree,” or “strongly disagree” with the statement. A total of 13 people agreed with the statement in some form. Most of these 13 people only partly agreed (7 subjects), while 4 subjects agreed strongly and 2 just agreed. This is not a high amount of support for this statement, as it is only about one fourth of the given sample. Also, both of the preceding statements received a higher amounts of support. Fifteen people were neutral. Thus, more people were neutral than agreed with the statement. Five people partly disagreed, eight people disagreed, and eleven people disagreed strongly. Thus, about nineteen people either disagreed or disagreed strongly. Clearly, more people disagreed with the statement than agreed, and even more disagreed in some form, including partly. These results seem to indicate that most people do not agree that the new Vision has a greater impact on women empowerment in Saudi Arabia. In addition, a large amount of people disagree strongly (about as many as the total for agreement in any form). “Women can help steer the New vision 2030 of Saudi Arabia when empowered.” Their options were to indicate whether they “strongly agree,” “agree,” “partly agree,” are “neutral,” “partly disagree,” “disagree,” or “strongly disagree” with the statement. A total of 18 people strongly agreed with the statement, while 7 respondents agreed, and 5 partly agreed. Thus, 30 people out of 51 agreed with the statement in some form. As for those who disagreed, 5 people disagreed partly, while 3 disagreed, and 5 disagreed strongly. Thus, a total of 13 people disagreed with this statement in some form, which is about one fourth of the sample. A total of 8 people were neutral. Since a majority of people indicated some form of agreement with the statement, we can conclude that most people support the idea that women can help steer the New vision 2030 of Saudi Arabia. However, we do not know whether this majority was statistically significant, and would need to run tests, such as the t-test to determine this. Still, the support for this idea among those sampled is not overwhelming, as 21 people either remained neutral or disagreed with this statement 4.3 Cross-Tabulation The following crosstabs present association between qualitative variables and the differences in frequency or responses by levels of the variables. First, the association has been assessed between employment status, and marital status and level of education. Second, the association has been assessed between the Reponses of the statements related to women perception on job opportunity, and marital status and level of education. 4.3.1 Employment Status vs. marital status Table 4.17 Crosstab between marital status and employment status Employment status Unemployed .Marital status Ever-married Count % Single Total 15 19 22.2% 53.6% 41.3% 14 13 27 77.8% 46.4% 58.7% 18 28 46 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% Count % Total 4 Count % Employed Pearson Chi-Square = 4.441a ; degrees of freedom = 1 p < 035 This table evaluates whether the variables, the employment status and marital status, were independent. A total of 46 people were sampled for this test. Since the number of levels of each variable was 2, the degrees of freedom for the was 1. These variables turn out to not be independent, with  2 = 4.44 , and p
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Attached.

ABSTRACT

Title of Thesis:

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN SAUDI ARABIA
Economics Department, Master of Art, May 2017

Thesis Chair:

s, Ph.D.

The topic of women empowerment in Saudi Arabia has attracted international
attention in recent years. Noticeably, women in Saudi Arabia still constitute less than
16 percent of the national workforce in spite of there being as many qualified women
as men. There is a serious need for reforms in the political, law and labor market
sectors. While putting emphasis on the importance of women’s contribution to
progress and development, this thesis aims to study and analyze the factors
influencing women empowerment in Saudi Arabia with regards to the fulfillment of
the New Vision 2030. The extent to which entrepreneurship is possible for women in
Saudi Arabia is also looked into and its capability to enhance Saudi’s financial
independence, social-cultural autonomy, and general welfare. Since the study wants
to establish about women empowerment in Saudi Arabia, 70 women in institutions of
higher education have given the questionnaires. For this study, the secondary
sources were from the World Bank. The study endeavored to attain the following
objectives: to investigate the influence of social factors on the position of women in
the society, to establish how religious factors influence women empowerment, to
examine the influence of policy factors on women empowerment and lastly to
explore the influence of ideological factors on women empowerment. The most
important part of the finding was the involvement of women in the labor force still low
but increasing. the government should give more opportunities to the female and to
give male and female same treatments in term of education and employment. The
data collected is sometimes not statistically significant and need to undergo extra
testing or a larger sample size is required for the results to be more applicable.

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN SAUDI ARABIA

by

s

A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the
Requirements for the degree Master of Arts

Morgan State University

May 2018

i

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN SAUDI ARABIA

by

s

has been approved

December 2018

THESIS COMMITTEE APPROVAL:

__________________________, Chair
s, Ph.D.

__________________________
s, Ph.D.

__________________________
s, Ph.D.

ii

DEDICATION

To my father and my mother who encouraged me to reach my goal.
To my wife, my sisters and brothers, I appreciate their faith in my abilities.

iii

Table of Contents

List of Tables ............................................................................................................................ v
List of Figures ......................................................................................................................... vi
CHAPTER ONE....................................................................................................................... 1
INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 1
1.0 Background Information .............................................................................................. 1
1.1 Statement of the Problem ........................................................................................... 2
1.2 The Purpose of the Study ........................................................................................... 3
1.3 Research Objectives .................................................................................................... 3
1.4 Research Questions ..................................................................................................... 3
1.5 The Significance of the Study ..................................................................................... 3
1.6 Limitations of the Study ............................................................................................... 4
1.7 The Scope of the Study ............................................................................................... 4
1.8 Assumptions of the Study ........................................................................................... 5
2.0 Operational Definition of Terms ................................................................................. 5
CHAPTER TWO ...................................................................................................................... 6
LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................................................... 6
Introduction........................................................................................................................... 6
Human Development in relation to education and employment .................................. 9
CHAPTER THREE ................................................................................................................ 10
3.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ................................................................................ 10
3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 10
3.2 Source of Data ............................................................................................................ 10
3.3 Place of Survey ........................................................................................................... 10
3.4 Respondents ............................................................................................................... 11
3.5 Sample Design ............................................................................................................ 11
3.6 Sample Size ................................................................................................................ 12
3.7 Research Instruments ................................................................................................ 12
3.8 Data Analysis .............................................................................................................. 13
3.8.1 Quantitative Data Analysis..................................................................................... 13
3.9 Variables ...................................................................................................................... 14
3.10 Dependent variable .................................................................................................. 15
3.11 Independent variables ............................................................................................. 15
3.12 Statistical Methods ................................................................................................... 15
CHAPTER FOUR .................................................................................................................. 17
4.0 DATA TABULATION AND ANALYSIS .................................................................... 17

iv

4.1 Trends of Employment and Education .................................................................... 17
4.2Frequency Tables ........................................................................................................ 24
4.3 Cross-Tabulation ........................................................................................................ 30
4.3.1 Employment Status vs. marital status .............................................................. 31
4.3.2 Employment status vs. level of education ....................................................... 32
4.3.3 Response Scale of Selected Statement Related to Job Opportunity vs.
Marital Status ................................................................................................................. 33
4.3.4 Response Scale of Selected Statement Related to Job Opportunity vs.
Level of Education......................................................................................................... 40
4.4 Logistic Regression .................................................................................................... 47
4.4.1 Binary logistic regression of employment status ............................................ 47
4.4.2 Ordinal Logistic Regression............................................................................... 48
CHAPTER FIVE .................................................................................................................... 49
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION ........................................... 49
5.2 Summary of the Findings .......................................................................................... 50
5.4 Policy Recommendation ............................................................................................ 52
5.5 Recommendation for Further Research ................................................................. 53
REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................... 53

v

List of Tables
TABLE 2. 1 SUMMARY OF WOMEN PROGRESS REPORT AS FROM 1970 AND 2014 .............................................. 8
TABLE 4.2.1 PERCEPTION RESPONSES ON SOCIAL FACTORS ................................................................................................ 24
TABLE 4.2.2 PERCEPTION RESPONSES ON RELIGIOUS FACTORS........................................................................................... 25
TABLE 4.2.3 PERCEPTION RESPONSES ON POLICY FACTORS ................................................................................................ 26
TABLE 4.2.4 PERCEPTION RESPONSES ON IDEOLOGICAL FACTORS ........................................................................................ 28
TABLE 4.17 CROSSTAB BETWEEN MARITAL STATUS AND EMPLOYMENT STATUS ............................................... 31
TABLE 4. 18 CROSSTAB BETWEEN LEVEL OF EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT STATUS ....................................... 32
TABLE 4. 19 CROSSTAB BETWEEN JOB OPPORTUNITY VS. MARITAL STATUS .......................................................................... 33
TABLE 4. 20 CROSSTAB OF MARITAL STATUS ON ‘WOMEN CAN SUCCESSFULLY LEAD ORGANIZATIONS’ .......... 34
TABLE 4. 21 CROSSTAB OF MARITAL STATUS ON ‘ISLAM RELIGION HAS HELPED IN UPLIFTING WOMEN’............ 35
TABLE 4. 22 CROSSTAB OF MARITAL STATUS ON ‘RELIGIOUS LEADERS DO NOT GIVE WOMEN A CHANCE TO
LEAD IN THE MOSQUES’ ............................................................................................................................... 36
TABLE 4. 23 CROSSTAB OF MARITAL STATUS ON ‘WOMEN ARE NOW PERMITTED TO DRIVE VEHICLES’ ............ 37
TABLE 4. 24 CROSSTAB OF MARITAL STATUS ON ‘WOMEN’S EDUCATION IS KEY TO ENSURING DEVELOPMENT IN
THE SOCIETY ............................................................................................................................................... 38
TABLE 4. 25 CROSSTAB OF MARITAL STATUS ON ‘THE NEW VISION 2030 DOES NOT HAVE GREATER IMPACT AS
FAR AS WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN SAUDI ARABIA IS CONCERNED’........................................................... 39
TABLE 4. 26 CROSSTAB OF LEVEL OF EDUCATION ON’ WOMEN AND MEN HAVE EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES IN
EMPLOYMENT’ ............................................................................................................................................. 40
TABLE 4. 28 CROSSTAB OF LEVEL OF EDUCATION ON ‘ISLAM RELIGION HAS HELPED IN UPLIFTING WOMEN’ .... 42
TABLE 4. 29 CROSSTAB OF LEVEL OF EDUCATION ON ‘RELIGIOUS LEADERS DO NOT GIVE WOMEN A CHANCE TO
LEAD IN THE MOSQUES’ ............................................................................................................................... 43
TABLE 4. 30 CROSSTAB LEVEL OF EDUCATION ON ‘WOMEN ARE NOW PERMITTED TO DRIVE VEHICLES.’ ......... 44
TABLE 4. 31 CROSSTAB OF LEVEL OF EDUCATION ON ‘WOMEN’S EDUCATION IS KEY TO ENSURING
DEVELOPMENT IN THE SOCIETY’ ................................................................................................................. 45
TABLE 4. 32 CROSSTAB OF LEVEL OF EDUCATION ON ‘THE NEW VISION 2030 DOES NOT HAVE GREATER
IMPACT AS FAR AS WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN SAUDI ARABIA IS CONCERNED’......................................... 46
TABLE 4. 33 BINARY LOGISTIC REGRESSION OF EMPLOYMENT STATUS ON SELECTED VARIABLES ................... 47
TABLE 4. 34 ORDINAL REGRESSION OF WOMEN AND MEN HAVE EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES IN EMPLOYMENT ON
SELECTED VARIABLES ................................................................................................................................. 48

vi

List of Figures

Figure 3. 1
Figure 4.1 Labor Force of Male and Female with Education
Figure 4.2 Labor Force of Male and Female with Education
Figure 4.3 Labor Force Participation and Employment of Male and
Female
Figure 4.4 Labor Force Participation and Employment of Male and
Female
Figure 4.5 Gross Enrollment of Male and Female in College Level

vii

ABBREVIATION AND ACRONYMS
CEDAW - Convention of Eliminating Discrimination against Women.
UN – United Nations
TEVT – Technical Education & Vocational Training
UNIDO – United Nations Industrial Development Organization
GAStat – General Authority for Statistics

1

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION

1.0 Background Information
Since time immemorial, women have been demeaned, dehumanized, secluded, marginalized,
silenced and subjugated. Ostensibly, the topic of women empowerment in Saudi Arabia has attracted
global attention in recent years. Despite the significant increase in females’ involvement as active
members of the community within the complex communal context of the region, there are several
difficulties that come with it.
The topic of entrepreneurship with respect to women’s rights and their experiences in the
ownership of businesses has been important in academic discourse. Women across different parts of
the globe undergo various challenges including financial obstacles and biases in favor of male
counterparts. However, the case is kind of intense in Saudi Arabia as the females face extremely
incredible challenges in conducting business as the owners and even networking with other business
owners and interacting with clients. The reason for the challenges can be attributed to the insufficient
government aid and financing, the absence of business enlightening chances and hurdles based on
cultural and religious factors. For instance, a major legal challenge is the fact that females need a
male guardian’s go ahead to travel or work which is attributed to religious and cultural doctrines. Such
acts affect women’s opportunities to start their own enterprises or even secure employment away
from home vicinity.
Women's education in Saudi Arabia is majorly organized based on the principles of Islam,
which is the fundamental and official religion of the country. The history of education of women is
dated back to 1956 when the first girls' school was introduced. The girls' school referred to as Dar alHanan and few girls had the opportunity to be enrolled in school. Following this was the first state-run
school for girls which was introduced in 1960. Until around 2002, the women education at a...


Anonymous
Really useful study material!

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