TITLE:
Increasing Women’s Employment Opportunities in Digitalizing Saudi Arabia’s Economy
AUTHORS:
Nailah Hassan Gadi
KEYWORDS:
Employment, Women, ICT, Digital Technology, Entrepreneur, Training
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Business and Management,
Vol.10 No.5,
September
30,
2022
ABSTRACT: While the Saudi Arabian government is looking for
options to diversify its economy through innovation and the use of digital
technologies to drive economic growth, likely in response to the global drop in
oil prices, the participation of women in digital technologies in religiously
conservative societies like Saudi Arabia is a poorly researched topic. Based on
a theoretical framework suggesting the applications and construction of
technological knowledge and skills for improving the prospects of women’s
employment in digital technologies, this study investigates the impact of
information and communication technology (ICT) skills on employment
opportunities in digital technologies for
women in Saudi Arabia. The structuration theory adopted in this study
explained how social structures, such as government institutions, academia, and businesses, play a key role in
regulating the interaction of agents (both insiders—organizational
employees and outsiders—potential job applicants) with technologies and, as a
result, the acquisition of digital competencies, which can be used to find
jobs, self-employ, or advance up the digital career ladder. The data gathering
tool was semi-structured interviews, which matches well with the qualitative
research approach utilized in this study. The study investigates the
perspectives of individuals who are directly involved in the employment,
knowledge, and training of Saudi Arabian women. Though participants from
government groups believe that suitable law for equal education, training, and
job opportunities is documented as part of Vision 2030, data does not provide
insight into how equal opportunities rules are implemented in the labour
market. The study’s findings suggest that the barriers to Saudi women’s
engagement in digital technologies can be reduced by enforcing the equal
opportunity norm within social institutions.