Saudi Arabia is embracing the aspiring woman

This article highlights the present day status of Saudi women, their achievements, new and amended pro-change legislations, and the main policies that are bringing about new realities as reflected in reports by local and international entities.

It also refers to women whose names are gaining fame across all fields — from education and innovation to sports and entrepreneurship. 

The right to drive

In the 1980s, Saudi women's progress was slow, if not falling behind. They were denied nearly everything, with social constraints restricting their boundless ambitions.

One of the most internationally publicised issues was the right to drive. This was due to how basic that particular right was and how it served as a symbol of all other rights across various fields of development that had been denied to Saudi women.

Allowing women to drive in 2017 was a milestone in the empowerment of women as it marked a pro-women qualitative transformation and a symbolic step towards a new future where women are key partners and participants across all fields and sectors. 

It was marked by scenes of Saudi women rejoicing in the streets and flashing victory signs to one another — reflecting their shared ambitions and aspirations and emphasising their sense of unity and belonging.

Unlocking that right in the Kingdom has ushered in a new era in which women are part and parcel of the journey of realising their dreams. This is further reinforced by His Royal Highness Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, in his interview with The Atlantic where he says, "I support Saudi Arabia, and half of Saudi Arabia is women. So, I support women."

The role of education

When tracking Saudi women's progress, education is the obvious starting point. 

While state-run education services for boys were first introduced with the establishment of the first Directorate of Knowledge in 1926, an equal endeavour for girls only came 34 years later in 1960.

At the time, male-dominated society regarded female education as a deviation from the main responsibilities of women. However, the General Presidency for Girls' Education that was assigned the task of female education limited this education to certain subjects. 

According to a study by researcher Dr. Fahd Loay Al Ghaleb Asharif, published by the King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies, female education suffered for some time. But as oil prices surged in the 1970s, the government proceeded with expansive gender-equitable education initiatives.

Since then, a lot more attention has been given to quality education and educational facilities.

Oil revenues were also channeled into offshore scholarships at Western universities. As a result, the gender gap was bridged at the elementary, intermediate, and secondary level by 1994. 

Women leaped at the opportunity.

By 2000, female college and university students outnumbered their male counterparts. This was, in large part, due to King Abdullah's introduction of programmes for offshore gender-equitable scholarships. 

All of the above-mentioned efforts have played a key role in women's empowerment and stronger participation in the country's development — particularly as scholarships for female students rose from 16% in 2005 to 44% in 2017 in key specialties, including science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Women in the workforce

These changes are further reflected in the rising number of job opportunities in the Kingdom and also the percentages of female employment.

This is in stark contrast to Asharif's study which pointed to limited female employment numbers in 2011. Since then, the government launched the private sector-targeted Saudisation scheme of Nitaqat. 

Only six years later, more than 500,000 Saudi women accessed the public and private job markets by 2017, according to figures issued by the General Organisation for Social Insurance.

These changes coincided with allowing women to drive and the introduction of the highly attractive Wusul programme that covered 80% of transportation fees to and from work.

Those policies are in line with Saudi Vision 2030 targets of lowering unemployment rates from 11.6% to 7% and boosting women's job market share up to 30% by 2030. 

This progress has been enshrined in new laws and regulations that have been enacted in the country, including freedoms regarding marriage, applying for passports, traveling without a male guardian's permission, child custody, education, labour, and equal opportunity.

In so doing, Saudi women have achieved equity with men in all rights and employment opportunities. 

Female trailblazers

Women have remarkably proven their competence across all sectors of the labour market and many industries have noted that women professionals have higher standards of discipline, attentiveness, and enthusiasm in their jobs. 

As a result, the presence of women in fields such as accounting, retail, and media has significantly grown. Women have even landed key senior positions and are representing the Kingdom in international organisations and events. 

Some of the most prominent names are Reema bint Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi-appointed ambassador (with the rank of a minister) to the USA.

More names on the list include, Princess Haifa bint Abdulaziz Al-Mogrin, Saudi Arabia's permanent delegate to UNESCO; Amaal Al Mualimi, Ambassador to Norway; Einas bint Ahmed al-Shahwan, KSA ambassador to Sweden; Dr. Iman al-Mutairi, Vice Minister of Commerce (at the excellent rank); and Areej Mutbagani, the Chairperson of the first Olympic federation seeing her appointment as Chairperson of the board of directors of the Saudi Tennis Federation (STF). 

Saudi female scientists have also made impressive contributions at the international level. For example, being a holder of 10 patents in nanomedicine, Ghada Mutlaq al-Mutairi is a professor of pharmaceutical chemistry and a faculty member with the departments of bioengineering and nanoengineering at the Centre for Research and Excellence in Nanomedicine and Engineering at the University of California.

Meanwhile, Rayyana Barnawi, the First Female Saudi astronaut, joining a crew to the International Space Station.

Another prodigy, Mishaal Ashemimry is a Saudi aerospace engineer working for NASA. In 2010, Ashemimry created her own aerospace corporation for space rocket design, building, and research. 

Yara al-Hogbani is a Saudi tennis player who defeated her Russian top seed opponent Tamara Ermakova to win the J5 Isa Town tournament in Bahrain in October, making her the first-ever Saudi Arabian woman to win a professional tennis event. 

The above-mentioned examples are just some of the sports, cultural, and scientific achievements made by Saudi women, and there are several other awards and trophies won by Saudi women at the local and international levels that are too numerous to mention. 

In the beginning of this year, Saudi Arabia increased the number of women ambassadors, including Nesreen Alshebel and Haifa Al-Jedea.

Alshebel is now the ambassador to Finland and Al-Jedea is the President of the Saudi Delegation to the EU and to the European Atomic Energy Community. 

Al-Jedea and Alshebel were among 11 Saudi ambassadors who took their oath of office in the presence of King Salman.

Prior to her latest appointment, Al-Jedea worked as managing director at SRMG Think, one of SRMG's verticals which focuses on providing analysis about the Middle East and North Africa region.

Saudi women have also achieved remarkable success in entrepreneurship, small business enterprises, and the establishing and management of factories. Their boundless ambition has seen them excel in innovation and in the fields of cinematography, visual arts, music, fashion design, theatre arts, archeology, and linguistics. 

This is, in large part, due to the cultural scholarship programme that is sponsored every year by the Saudi Ministry of Culture (MoC) at prestigious colleges, institutes, and universities worldwide with the aim of creating specialist generations in all such sectors. 

Those generations are meant to make effective contributions to the future of a new Saudi Arabia. The number of female students in the MoC-sponsored scholarship programme now stands at 443, almost double of their male counterparts which stands at 240.

From steps to giant leaps 

Researchers and academics interested in women issues and empowerment have noted that progress is an indication of women's ability to overcome various challenges.

Dr. Khaled bin Mohamed Baterfi, a political writer and researcher, in an interview with Al Majalla, blamed the lack of Saudi women's participation in business and public/private enterprises over the last decades on several factors — most notably their restricted access to education as a result of outdated beliefs and traditions and access to financial support. 

Baterfi noted that, in the past, job opportunities for women were generally limited to teaching, certain healthcare services, self-employment, and female departments at government and private institutions. 

Education and training programmes have certainly come a long way. 

Indicatively, the numbers of students, graduates, and scholarship holders across national and international institutes and universities are now gender equitable. The government has also provided unprecedented support for women's training and qualification programmes, and female participation can now be seen in all fields including the diplomatic, security, and military fields. 

The Saudi Vision 2030 was able to turn steps towards progress and women empowerment into giant leaps.

Saudi Arabia has achieved the highest female employment growth rate in a matter of few years, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF), which lists the country as one of the five most-improved countries in achieving gender-equitable employment.

Women-led businesses grew from 21% to 45% in 2016, and the female job market share increased by 13% in just three years from 20% in 2019 to 33.6% in 2022. 

Incredibly, in mid-2022, female participation in the workforce exceeded the target set by the Saudi Vision 2030 — eight years before its intended goal.

Undoubtedly, government-backed programmes have played a critical role in reaching targets ahead of schedule, including the Wusul programme mentioned earlier, and the female entrepreneur empowerment programme in certain fields (such as cosmetology and childcare), the SMEs Monsha'at dashboard, the three-year incubator programme for females with monthly salaries less than SAR 6,000, to help them secure better positions or develop their own businesses, and a number of other credit and financial assistance programmes. 

Journalist Nahed Bashteh argues that women empowerment plans have existed since the establishment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as the founder, King Abdulaziz, showed interest in female education — an interest that was passed on to, and adopted by, successive kings.

In fact, female empowerment and boosting women's role in society were issues that were tackled by every leader.

Presently, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and His Royal Highness Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince, have been diligently championing women-related reforms that have managed to boost female participation in sectors across the board and achieve women empowerment at a level never seen before. 

The World Bank's Women, Business, and the Law (WBL) 2021 — a series of annual reports measuring the laws and regulations that affect women's economic opportunity in 190 economies, making the case for reform toward gender equality and highlighting the path towards a more equitable and prosperous world — ranked Saudi Arabia 80 out of 100, up from 70.6 in 2020 and leading all MENA countries. 

Meanwhile, the Kingdom achieved a perfect score in five out of eight main indicators measured by the World Bank report: mobility, pension, entrepreneurship, workplace, and pay. Regarding the other three indicators — marriage, parenthood, and assets — Saudi Arabia has kept pace with earlier advancements.

These new reforms are but milestones on a long journey of law and executive regulation reforms regarding the role of women in economic development. Without these reforms, such a strong and comprehensive empowerment wouldn't have been possible. 

Bashteh argues that the decision to allow women to drive has contributed to the economic and social empowerment of women.

She was visiting the United Kingdom when the decision was announced and recalls how the British press lauded the decision. Bashteh also says the decision helped boost the number of women in the workforce and usher in unprecedented social change.  

"Saudi women are ambitious, responsible, and innovators," she said.

 "The state is keen on ensuring that women have a say in decision-making. This cements the role and contribution of women across various sectors," she continued.

"With such diligence and perseverance, Saudi women's ambitions know no bounds, especially with the state's supportive measures that make women's social empowerment a reality."