WOMEN’S INTEGRATION AND EMPOWERMENT IN SAUDI ARABIA AND THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Abstract

Women integration has gained prominence across different countries over recent years. Empowering women socially and economically is essential in addressing the gender gap and inequalities in different social and economic aspects. Women empowerment is associated with benefits such as improving the country’s economic development, establishing a more stable society, contributing to human development, and enhancing the quality of life for communities. Historically, Saudi Arabian women have been marginalized by the government through different suppressive policies. However, the implementation of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 emerged as a significant government initiative to socially and economically empower women through different initiatives. Preliminary data indicates promising impacts of the Vision 2030 initiatives on women’s social and economic empowerment. The purpose of this research is to analyze the impact of women empowerment on the Saudi economy. An explanatory sequential mixed method will be utilized. Quantitative data will be collected through archival secondary data from Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Statistics and World Economic Forum database. Quantitative data that will be collected include workforce participation rates, global gender gap, economic participation and opportunities, unemployment rates, gender wage gap, women-owned businesses and entrepreneurship rate, educational attainment, and employment in leadership. This research study will be focuses on measuring women's advancement and participation in the economy and politics as the primary variable. This variable captures the progress that women have made in accessing and contributing to economic and political domains, which are key dimensions of empowerment. To measure this variable effectively, the study will use a combination of quantitative approaches, examining the changes over time in Saudi Arabia and comparing this progress with the neighboring country UAE.