Education, employment, and empowerment among Saudi women

Figures & data

Table 1. Women’s employment trends (2016–2019), adapted from Jawhar et al. (2022).

Job group	2016	2017	2018	2019	% Growth
Lawmakers, directors, and business managers	13.5	28.6	27.7	26.8	98.5
Specialists in professional, technical, & humanitarian fields	30.1	32.5	31.8	33.1	10.0
Technicians in professional, technical, & humanitarian fields	37.5	36.4	35.4	36.1	−3.7
Clerical	35.1	42.3	41.7	41.9	19.4
Sales	30.1	48.7	41.7	47.0	56.1
Services	7.5	14.3	15.3	16.3	117.3
Agriculture, animal husbandry & fishing	6.1	12.8	13.3	12.1	98.4
Industrial, chemical operations & food industries	19.5	23	20.6	18.9	−3.1
Supporting basic engineering	1.5	8.6	9.1	9.5	533.3

Figure 1. Labour force participation by gender (2010–2018), adapted from Jawhar et al. (2022).

Figure 2. Total college graduates by gender, KSA, adapted from MoE (2020).

Figure 3. Unemployment rate by gender, KSA, adapted from Jawhar et al. (2022).

Table

	Pseudonym	Education	Year of graduation	Social Status	No. of Children	Employment	Years of experience and Sector
1	Samah	Bachelor: Public Administration, Management & Administrative Development	2018	Single	0	Employed	6 months (Private, Saleswoman)
2	Mariam	Diploma: Office Management	2018	Engaged	0	Employed: (Unstable: Covid-19)	1 year (Private)
3	Leen	Bachelor: Chemistry	2006	Married	3	Unemployed	9 months (Private) 3 months (Temporary Contract, Public University)
		Master’s: Biological Sciences from Japan	2014
4	Nuha	Bachelor: English language	2016	Married	1	Employed (Unstable: Covid-19 & Freelancer)	In business, 3 months (Teaching Business) +- 1 year (Student Services)
5	Fareeda	Bachelor: Microbiology	2009	Married	2	Unemployed	3 years (Private and Semi-Public)
		Master’s: Molecular Microbiology	2019
6	Rawdah	Bachelor: Accounting Master’s student	2004	Engaged	0	Employed	15 years (Public)
7	Wardah	Bachelor: Medical Laboratory Technology	2008	Divorced	3	Employed	Not declared (Private sector)
		Master’s: Biomedical Science	2017
8	Mashael	Bachelor: Physics	2010	Married	3	Unemployed	6 months (Private)
		Master’s: Physics	2018
9	Malak	Bachelor: Electrical & Computer Engineering	2019	Single	0	Employed	1 year and 4 months (Private)
10	Wasan	Bachelor: Architecture & design	2019	Engaged	0	Employed	1 year (Private)
11	Fatmah	Bachelor: Computer Science	2016	Single	0	Unemployed	0
12	Sabreen	Bachelor: Biology	2015	Single	0	Unemployed	0
13	Solh	Bachelor: Computer Science	2015	Married	2	Unemployed	0
		Diploma: in Business Administration	2020
14	Waad	Bachelor: Nursing	2015	Single	0	Employed	5 years (Public)
15	Wejdan	Bachelor: Clinical Laboratory Sciences	2019	Single	0	Employed	4 months (Private)

Jawhar, S., S. Alhawsawi, A. S. Jawhar, M. E. Ahmed, and K. Almehdar. 2022. “Conceptualising Saudi Women’s participation in the Knowledge Economy: The Role of Education.” Heliyon 8 (8): e10256. doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e10256.

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MoE. 2020. “Statistics 2010–2018.” https://www.moe.gov.sa/en/education/highereducation/Pages/default.aspx.

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