Lived Experiences of Women in Leadership Positions in the Public Sector in Saudi Arabia Post- Promulgation of Vision 2030

Abstract

Women in leadership positions are growing in numbers in the globalized world. However, in developing and underdeveloped countries, the representation of women in senior positions is still low compared to men. This is especially true in the context of the Arabic world and Saudi Arabia specifically. The current study aimed to assess and analyse the experiences of Saudi women leaders and evaluate how their family dynamics, socio-cultural and policy-making environment country, the workplace experience may impact their leadership journeys, and develop suggestions for encouraging women aspirations toward leadership positions in the public sector organizations in Saudi Arabia by exploring the perspectives of both males and females. In doing so, it intends to efficiently attain the following objectives: o Conceptualizing female leaders’ family dynamics and the ways it has affected their journey in senior leadership roles o Exploring and investigating the role of social and cultural factors, and policy framework in reaching leadership position in Saudi Arabia o Investigating the influence of workplace environment and policies on the career progression and development of female employees to leadership level o To offer suggestions based on the findings of this research to encourage women in developing positive attitude toward leadership positions in Saudi Arabia The study adopted a pragmatic paradigm and employed a mixed methodology, which included semi-structured qualitative interviews of 10 women leaders purposively selected, a quantitative survey involving randomly selected 168 employees, and a thematic content using 25 media articles. The findings indicate that while a supportive early childhood and home environment helped shaped leadership qualities and aspirations, post-marriage support for balancing household responsibilities with work helped women leaders in career progression. It was also found that the traditional socio-cultural and religion-backed gender stereotyping led to discrimination, segregation, and lost opportunities, while the patriarchal work culture continued to prevent women leaders from obtaining equal pay, credit, training, and development opportunities. The research recommends making Vision 2030 policy changes implementation stricter and more targeted.