Workplaces ‘need to be friendly to women’

Women in Saudi Arabia have transcended men in education by a 4 percent margin, according to a recent United Nations statistics.

The statistics revealed that 52 percent of university attendees are women, while men account for 48 percent.

The statistics also showed that women make up the larger part of university occupants in two thirds of Middle Eastern countries.

“This is a worldwide phenomenon,” said Saleha Abedin, associate professor of sociology and adviser to the president at Dar Al- Hekma College. “In terms of the number of students enrolled, especially in higher education, women exceed men and this is also true in Saudi Arabia.”

Abedin said that women get busy in forming and raising families for which they bear primary responsibility in almost all societies.

“Yet there is growing support and enthusiasm to make a place for women in the economy and new programs and policies are being developed to facilitate the integration of women in the labor force in the Kingdom,” says Abedin.

International media blame the culture and the background of Saudi society for both the high proportion of women in universities and their absence from the labor force. Inequality is caused by society's expectations and upbringing of girls.

A Financial Times report in 2012 said the private sector job growth rate in Saudi Arabia struggles with the deluge of new labor market applicants and that women are held back from competing for these jobs due to social and cultural factors.

However, many businessmen and women say that the social upbringing of girls is not a barrier for women anymore. They say the entrepreneur ecosystem needs to be customized to meet with the needs of women in Saudi Arabia.

Abedin says there is an increasing enthusiasm for women’s education in Saudi Arabia, not only among women themselves but also among their families with supportive fathers and husbands.

Dar Al-Hekma is one of the leading institutions for women only in the Kingdom, with approximately 300 students graduating from 11 undergraduate programs and an MBA program of international caliber.

The total student body of Dar Al- Hekma exceeds 1,400 and it has a talented pool of over 1,000 alumnae who are distinguished professionals in major local and international companies and corporations and who have become successful entrepreneurs and community leaders.