JEDDAH, 3 June 2004 — The recent approval of a nine-point plan by the Council of Ministers to create more jobs and business opportunities for women has been greeted by a mixture of applause and skepticism.
The plan includes opening women’s sections at government departments, allocating public land for women-only industrial areas, helping women work from home and allowing only women to hold jobs at shops dealing in women-specific goods. The Labor Ministry has been given a year to develop a full-fledged national plan for a female work force.
“It is a very positive step,” said Fatin Bundagji, director of women empowerment and research, Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “It shows there is official backing, recognition of the importance of activating women in the work force, and the need for proper training.”
According to Bundagji’s research, studies and recommendations on the issue of women’s employment have been provided since the 1980s. She believes it is good that something is finally being done. However, Bundagji recognizes that there are challenges ahead and a plan of action should be made and implemented quickly. These challenges include the need to invest in professional, standardized training in order to compete nationally and internationally. It is important to take into consideration the Kingdom’s diversity, which means local development must proceed without necessarily copying Western models. Bundagji added that it will of course be necessary for all agencies and ministries involved to put forward a blueprint and have a transparent relationship with the public.
In addition to all the other steps necessary for female employment to move forward, Bundagji talked about the need to re-evaluate the Saudi education system. She pointed out that this is something that applies to all the Arab nations.
“We focus more on memorizing and theories, when we should focus on critical thinking, creativity and research,” said Bundagji. “We have girls graduating who are highly educated in terms of theory and information but are not proactive or able to put their knowledge to practical use.”
These issues are becoming critical as thousands of new college graduates spill out in the job market. These young men and women are faced with the obstacles of not having the right qualifications, training and experience. They will add to the already high number of unemployed, especially women. While 2003 statistics indicate that women represent 52 percent of the college graduates, they occupy only five percent of the total work force with the majority being in the education sector.
Some economic analysts have suggested that female education is a bad investment because it costs the government billions of riyals and the return is almost zero. Currently, many expatriate men and women are employed in jobs, which Saudi women could perform and these expatriates are remitting millions of riyals outside the country. It is estimated that between 2004 and 2020, there will be twice as many female college graduates as male. The question is: Are they going to have equal job opportunities?
Right now with limited options, many female graduates are either unemployed or working part-time in jobs not related to their specialty and for a very low salary.
As of the year 2003, the highest percentage of graduates, 44.7 percent, had a degree in education. This was followed by 13.2 percent in engineering, 10.7 percent in business and economics, 7.2 percent in humanities, 6.7 percent in Islamic studies, 6.2 percent in natural sciences, 3.9 percent in social sciences and 1.2 percent in agricultural sciences. Only 4.4 percent specialized in medicine and 0.3 percent in law. Such a high concentration of graduates in education is reflected in the huge number of applicants for teaching jobs. Unfortunately, there are no more positions available except for science, English and math teachers.
While many graduates can’t find jobs as teachers, these women refuse to work in the private sector. Their reasons include long hours, low salaries and/or the mixed work place. Other issues raised by unemployed graduates are concerned with the bureaucratic system of applying for a job through the Ministry of Civil Services.
“Every time there is a posting for new jobs I have to reapply. There should be a regularly updated database for applicants so that when new jobs become available, they can be matched with the qualifications of applicants on the waiting list,” said Nawal, who has been unemployed for eight years.
Foziah wanted to know what happened to the system of early retirement proposed three years ago.
Reem hopes that more college specialties will become available for women and that there will be an expansion in the types of vocational education and training.
