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The Role of the Academic and Political Empowerment of Women in Economic, Social and Managerial Empowerment: The Case of Saudi Arabia

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  • Maleeha Mohammed Zaaf Al-Qahtani

    (College of Education, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Dilam 16213, Saudi Arabia)

  • Tarek Tawfik Yousef Alkhateeb

    (Department of Marketing, College of Business Administration, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj 11942, Saudi Arabia
    Department of Economics, Kafr Elshiekh University, Kafr Elshiekh 33511, Egypt)

  • Haider Mahmood

    (Department of Finance, College of Business Administration, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj 11942, Saudi Arabia)

  • Manal Abdalla Zahed Abdalla

    (College of Education, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj 11942, Saudi Arabia)

  • Thikkryat Jebril Obaid Talalah Qaralleh

    (College of Education, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj 11942, Saudi Arabia)

Abstract

Women may be considered to have hidden, unutilized potential for the economy and society, if not utilized at their full capacity, i.e., with effective educational, social and political policies. Allowing women to participate fully in an economy may contribute to the sustainable development of the country in question. The empowerment of women may be accelerated if women are educated for this purpose; as a result, the political authorities in Saudi Arabia have proposed a comprehensive framework to empower women. The empowerment of women is essential in the academic sector to develop educational policies for women’s capacity-building. The empowerment of women in the political process is also very important, so they can suggest appropriate policies, rules and laws that favor the empowerment of women in all sectors of the economy and society. The present research aims at testing the effects of academic and political empowerment on the economic, social and managerial empowerment of women, and opens a new horizon of debate in the practical and theoretical domain of female empowerment in Saudi Arabia. To this end, we utilized structural equation modeling due to the endogenous nature of relationships among the hypothesized variables. Perception-based data were collected on the political, academic, economic, social and managerial empowerment of women through a well-structured questionnaire. The data were collected during the period from October 2019 to January 2020 through a simple random sampling method. Then, we tested the direct effect of political empowerment, and its indirect effects through academic empowerment, on the economic, social and managerial empowerment of women. We found that political empowerment has a positive direct effect on economic and managerial empowerment, but an insignificant effect on social empowerment. Further, political empowerment has a positive direct effect on academic empowerment, which, in turn, has positive effects on economic, social and managerial female empowerment. Moreover, these indirect effects are found to be magnitudes larger than the direct effects of political empowerment. This study recommends improving the economic, social and political status of women through political and academic policies, to accelerate sustainable development.

Suggested Citation

  • Maleeha Mohammed Zaaf Al-Qahtani & Tarek Tawfik Yousef Alkhateeb & Haider Mahmood & Manal Abdalla Zahed Abdalla & Thikkryat Jebril Obaid Talalah Qaralleh, 2020. "The Role of the Academic and Political Empowerment of Women in Economic, Social and Managerial Empowerment: The Case of Saudi Arabia," Economies, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-19, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jecomi:v:8:y:2020:i:2:p:45-:d:366495
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Dr.Thresiamma Varghese, 2011. "Women Empowerment in Oman: A study based on Women Empowerment Index," Far East Journal of Psychology and Business, Far East Research Centre, vol. 2(3), pages 37-53, February.
    2. Bargain, Olivier & Boutin, Delphine & Champeaux, Hugues, 2019. "Women's political participation and intrahousehold empowerment: Evidence from the Egyptian Arab Spring," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    3. Naeem Akram, 2018. "Women’s Empowerment in Pakistan: Its Dimensions and Determinants," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 140(2), pages 755-775, November.
    4. Yasmin, Nazia & Grundmann, Philipp, 2020. "Home-cooked energy transitions: Women empowerment and biogas-based cooking technology in Pakistan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
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    1. Hawazen Zam Almugren & A. C. Muhammadu Kijas & Masahina Sarabdeen & Jawaher Binsuwadan, 2024. "Does Quality Education and Governance Matter for Women’s Empowerment? The Role of Structural Factors and Governance in the MENA Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-18, November.
    2. Mahmood, Haider & Chaudhary, A. R., 2013. "Impact of FDI on Income Inequality in Pakistan," MPRA Paper 109460, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Abu Elnasr E. Sobaih & Ahmed E. Abu Elnasr, 2024. "Challenges to Cracking the Glass Ceiling among Saudi Women in the Tourism Industry," Tourism and Hospitality, MDPI, vol. 5(1), pages 1-22, March.
    4. Ajay Singh & Harman Preet Singh & Fakhre Alam & Vikas Agrawal, 2022. "Role of Education, Training, and E-Learning in Sustainable Employment Generation and Social Empowerment in Saudi Arabia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-25, July.
    5. Al-Qahtani, Maleeha Mohammed Zaaf & Alkhateeb, Tarek Tawfik Yousef & Mahmood, Haider & Abdalla, Manal Abdalla Zahed & Mawad, Ghada Shihata Ebrahim & Alkhatib, Maha Ahmed Hussein, 2020. "Exploring the Level of Managerial, Political, Academic, Economic and Social Women Empowerment in Saudi Arabia," MPRA Paper 109447, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Shivangi Bhatia & Gaurav Dawar, 2024. "The Impact of Financial Inclusion on Social and Political Empowerment: Mediating Role of Economic Empowerment," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(3), pages 13727-13744, September.
    7. Rasis Alanazi & Claire Alkouatli, 2023. "Sources of Wellbeing Amongst Saudi Arabian Women Academic Leaders: An Explorative Study," Societies, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-14, April.
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