Women Entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia: A Portrait of Progress in the Context of Their Drivers and Inhibitors

Abstract

This study explores the barriers and challenges faced by Saudi women entrepreneurs along with the motivational forces that drives them towards entrepreneurship. This study employs a qualitative research design, and is based on the interview of 11 Saudi women entrepreneurs and includes a review of data on the motivational factors and challenges faced by them using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Research participants’ perspectives have been quoted for each distinct theme that emerged from the interview finding. The factors motivating Saudi women towards entrepreneurship have been identified as passion, identification of opportunity, dissatisfaction and family support. Barriers that are exclusive to Saudi women entrepreneurs are difficulty in maintaining work-life balance, lack of business networking, limited access to financial resources, lack of understanding of business-related tasks and functions, fear of deception, lack of trust, reservation about work-related travel, recruitment and training issues like lack of experienced and trained Saudi workers and negative attitude and non-willingness to work under female leadership. Decision-makers in government and other relevant organisations can develop a solid framework of focussed agendas, policies and measures to address the barriers identified in this study. Arab countries especially Saudi Arabia can use these results to fully utilise the entrepreneurial skills of Saudi women to boost economic growth and development. This pioneering study reveals the intricacy of Saudi women entrepreneurs’ experiences in the presence of gender-bias and internalising socio-cultural values and attributed gender roles during the formation of their entrepreneurial identities through a unique non-western viewpoint.

Saudi women’s leadership experiences in the healthcare sector: A qualitative study

“…Thus, the participants further clarified that when males neglect them, this is one problem, but the ignorance or fear expressed by female peers was a bigger issue as they often lacked the simple support of a female colleague. This finding confirms previous research that women’s underrepresentation in leadership positions is not due to women’s lack of desire to grow, but rather, compared to men, women are less optimistic due to interpersonal factors and less support from colleagues [ 23 ].…”

“…According to earlier research, women in medicine face the same challenges in advancing to leadership positions as other colleagues [ 21 – 23 ]. This study found that some women face prejudices that equate leadership with masculinity, preventing them from taking on higher positions.…”

“…This study found that some women face prejudices that equate leadership with masculinity, preventing them from taking on higher positions. This finding is especially pronounced in the Saudi community, where traditionally, roles in Saudi culture are patriarchal [ 22 , 23 ]. As shown in this study, some female leaders in this study were often hesitant to make decisive decisions and often tended to consult with their husbands and/or father, especially since most consider their husbands and/or fathers to be leaders in their industries.…”

How Tourist Experience Quality, Perceived Price Reasonableness and Regenerative Tourism Involvement Influence Tourist Satisfaction: A Study of Ha’il Region, Saudi Arabia

“…Theoretically, this study also utilizes the distinction between the country image and destination image of developing countries made by earlier studies [124][125][126] in order to link the tourist's experience in developing countries more closely to the destination than the country. This allows a developing nation to have favorable perception of its particular tourism locations when it comes to the quality of the visitors' experiences, regardless of what opinions the tourists may have of the nation as a whole.…”

Kebijakan Luar Negeri Arab Saudi Terkait Perempuan dalam Kerangka Visi 2030

“…Beberapa penelitian yang telah dilakukan seperti penelitian Adami & Mostaghi (2020) yang menggunakan pendekatan analitis, deskriptif, dan historis berdasarkan reformasi dalam negeri dan Visi 2030 untuk menyimpulkan bahwa kebijakan regional Arab Saudi berasal dari upaya Riyadh untuk kembali ke situasi sebelum tahun 2011, bukan dari revisionisme Saudi. Alreshoodi, et al (2022) menulis bahwa faktor-faktor yang memotivasi perempuan Arab Saudi dalam berwirausaha antara lain adalah hasrat, peluang, ketidakpuasan dan dukungan keluarga. Selain itu, penelitian Winarni & Permana (2022) yang menyatakan bahwa norma, reputasi Arab Saudi, sosial dan budaya politik, dan citra Muhammad bin Salma yang menjadi penghambat konstruksi identitas Arab Saudi.…”