WOMEN AND LEADERSHIP IN THE SPORT FEDERATION IN SAUDI ARABIA
Date
2023-11-08
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Saudi Digital Library
Abstract
Although Saudi Arabia has recently experienced significant changes that have
positively influenced the role of Saudi women in its society, little is known about the
empowerment of Saudi females to leadership positions within the sports federations of Saudi
Arabia. This research, therefore, sought to identify the main limiting factors that Saudi female
leaders face as well as possible measures to address gender inequality in Saudi sports
federations from Saudi female leaders’ own perspectives. Online individual semi-interviews
were conducted with five Saudi female leaders working in Saudi sports federations. Thematic
analysis of the qualitative data revealed five major limiting factors faced by Saudi female
leaders in Saudi sports federations: (1) family; (2) culture and traditions; (3) men; (4) other
women and (5) lack of experience. These findings support and extend the existing literature
by identifying new barriers related to sports domains such as appearing in the media or
wearing the abaya on the field. Thematic analysis also revealed two sources of support by
which these challenges might be overcome: (1) personal measures and (2) organisational
measures. Participants spoke about how strengthening female leaders’ self-confidence and
introducing a nominating committee can help to address inequality in the leadership positions
of Saudi sports federations. It is recommended that future research seeks to replicate the
current study on a larger sample to seek further verification of the findings. This exploratory
research has demonstrated that the empowerment of Saudi females to leadership positions
within Saudi sports federations is a rich topic that warrants further investigation.
Description
Keywords
Saudi women - Saudi Arabia - Female leadership - Saudi leaders - Saudi sport federation