WUNRN
http://www.arabnews.com/editorial/news/652751
SAUDI ARABIA – BREAK DOWN
BARRIERS & STEREOTYPES FOR SAUDI WOMEN WORK OPPORTUNITIES
31 October 2014 - Hiring expatriates to do work that can
perfectly well undertaken by Saudis is a waste of money. Much of the cash is
remitted to other countries. It is also a waste of opportunity. In terms of
dignity, self-esteem and the sustaining of a family, a job is essential.
Unemployment ultimately represents a social cost to the Kingdom.
The emerging role of women in the workplace is an important development. Among
the unemployed, there are currently four times as many women as there are men.
The Saudization policies should be benefiting females every bit as much as
males.
Though Saudi Arabia has not embraced the aggressive equal opportunities
legislation of Europe and North America, in many respects there is gender
egalitarianism. Certainly in education, a Saudi girl is given the same
opportunities as her brother or male cousins. In fact, as is evidenced in
schools around the world, girls tend to be more focused than boys in their
studies. With good teachers, they are likely to progress faster.
Nor does female education need to end with secondary school. The Princess Nora
bint Abdur Rahman University for women in Riyadh will take no less than 50,000
students on its exclusively female campus. The brightest and best young female
minds can also go to the ground-breaking King Abdullah University of Science
and Technology (KAUST).
Then there is a wide range of medical schools, teacher
training and vocational colleges where young Saudi women can receive world-class
training.
Work opportunities continue to increase. The classic roles are in exclusively
female service areas such as dedicated bank branches and in perfume, accessory
and clothing shops. But women are also taking increasingly important positions
in offices and call centers. There are female journalists, engineers, project
managers, architects and consultants. Key inspiration for the new female Saudi
work force comes from three sources. The appointment by Custodian of the Two
Holy Mosques King Abdullah of 30 women to his advisory Shoura Council has been
an active encouragement toward a greater role for females in Saudi society.
Women are standing for office in municipal elections where the franchise now
includes both sexes. Thirdly, female entrepreneurs and business women are
cutting themselves a more prominent role in private enterprise.
The barriers that still exist are financial and familial. Just as it costs more
for a business to employ a Saudi rather than a foreigner, so the physical
arrangements separating female and male employees are an extra expense. But
this outlay is not insuperable. The more difficult barrier is that of the
family’s perception of having a young woman go out to work.
The retail trade is considered demeaning. Family members, accustomed to being
served in shops by foreign women, recoil at the thought that their daughters or
sisters could actually be fulfilling that role. Unless it is out of pressing
economic necessity, such work seems unacceptable.
Moreover the whole process of a Saudi woman traveling to place of work can be
complex and difficult. One employment agency reported that it had 4,000 retail
jobs for women which it was currently unable to fill. A recent survey of young
women found that a quarter felt that they could not work because their families
would not approve. Five percent of respondents said that getting to work was
too much of a challenge.
Yet the stereotype of the home-bound Saudi woman continues to be broken down.
This week there was a report on female coffee vendors, working at female-only
events, such as wedding parties, birthdays and formal gatherings, including
conferences and forums. At first sight the job may seem insignificant. Yet Nora
Misfer, the owner of the firm confesses that she takes great pride in seeing
her staff going about their business. It is not simply that Saudis have emerged
in a profession that was once thought to be unsuitable for women and socially
humiliating; her employees are also earning a good wages, ranging between
SR3,000 and SR4,000, with more during very busy periods.
One coffee vendor confessed that when she first began in the job, she was
awkward and nervous. A significant anxiety was that someone she knew might
recognize her. Yet after a couple of months, her concerns were replaced by a
rising confidence. It was clear that she had begun to take pride in a valuable
and worthwhile job. Perhaps it was significant that she had been given
hospitality industry training. This of itself will have served to increase in
her own mind, the status of her work. Writ larger, this is a pointer to the
future important role that Saudi women will be playing in the Kingdom’s work
force.