Reassessing cultural capital: access to employment for women with disabilities in Saudi Arabia

• Date: 16 April 2018
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-08-2017-0156
• Published date: 16 April 2018
• Pages: 265-282
• Author: Dimity Jane Peter,Sarah Alem,Barbara Knabe
• Subject Matter: HR & organizational behaviour,Employment law,Diversity, equality, inclusion

Reassessing cultural capital:

access to employment for women

with disabilities in Saudi Arabia

Dimity Jane Peter, Sarah Alem and Barbara Knabe

School for Global Inclusion and Social Development,

University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Abstract

Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to give voice to the experiences of women with disabilities in the

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) who have accessed employment, to highlight the structural barriers to

employment and to identify the skills they used to obtain work.

Design/methodology/approach –This is a phenomenological study conducted in KSA. Themesfrom the

interviewsof women with disabilitieswere explored using Yosso’s(2005) cultural capital conceptualframework.

Findings –The participantshad work and career aspirations,persisted in their job search,navigated barriers,

and had familialsupport and emotional supportfrom their social networks,but lacked instrumental assistance

in accessing work.KSA policies to support women and peoplewith disabilities to obtain employment are not

adequately enforced, and negative attitudes toward people with disabilities are widespread.

Research limitations/implications –The sample size is small, but these preliminary findings justify the

necessity for additional research and policy development specifically focused on women with disabilities.

Practical implications –There is an urgent need for existing policy enforcement and a need for a national

strategy promoting the employment of women and the needs of women with disabilities should be specifically

included in this agenda.

Originality/value –There is no extant research or policy literature regarding employment and women with

disabilities in the KSA. This study applies Yosso’s (2005) theory of cultural capital to women with disabilities,

demonstrating its applicability outside of race/ethnicity studies and suggests that “community”is not an

essential factor in building employment success.

Keywords Employment, Women, Qualitative research, Saudi Arabia, Disabilities, Cultural capital

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

The status of women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has gained social and political

attention within and outside of the country. The education and employment of women

havebeenvitalissuesinchartingtheroleofwomeninthefutureofthecountry.However,

mostly absent from this discussion is a dialogue about employment for women with

disabilities who remain invisible in the dominant discourses regarding education and

work. This study demonstrates how women with disabilities are uniquely disadvantaged

regarding employment within KSA society. The purpose of this paper is to give voice to

some of the job-seeking experiences of women with disabilities in the KSA and through

this highlight some of the structural inequalitiestheparticipantshavenegotiatedasthey

confronted a complex array of barriers to find work. This paper uses a conceptual

framework for analysis proposed by Yosso (2005), who has expanded on the notion of

cultural capital articulated by Pierre Bourdieu (1977), to understand the labor

market challenges women with disabilities negotiate (Bourdieu, 1977; Bourdieu and

Passeron 1990; Bourdieu, 2005).

Literature review

Overview of the KSA context

Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy. However, the King must abide by Sharia (Islamic) law.

The Quran and the Sunnah (the traditions of Muhammad) represent the country’s constitution.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

An International Journal

Vol. 37 No. 3, 2018

pp. 265-282

© Emerald PublishingLimited

2040-7149

DOI 10.1108/EDI-08-2017-0156

Received 2 August 2017

Revised 5 November 2017

3 February 2018

Accepted 5 February 2018

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

www.emeraldinsight.com/2040-7149.htm

265

Employment

for women

with

disabilities

The KSA is a diverse and complex country demographically. It is undergoing a rapid process of

urbanization. The wealthy royal, tribal and business elite co-exist with the economically

disadvantaged urban Bedouin and relocated traditional oasis dwellers (Heck, 2007).

The geography, culture and economic circumstances of the family shape the experience of

women with disabilities (Hamdan, 2005).

The cultural context of employment for women in the KSA is complex and rapidly

changing. Le-Renard (2014) notes that there are two primary but somewhat conflicting

discourses that pervade Saudi society and influence employment. The first is gender-based

segregation, which is promoted as a central element of the Saudi identity as Islamic. This

discourseupholds the critical notionof “Islamic femininity”aspractices consistent with Sharia

Law. Culturally, education and employment of women are permitted if it is consistent with

their “female nature”and domestic obligations and if strict segregation of the sexes is

maintained (Hamdan, 2005). On the other hand, Le-Renard (2014) argues that in this era,

young Saudi’sare urged to acquire an educationto build careers in the privatesector, and thus

participate in the country’s national development, a policy called Saudization. Saudi women

are not excluded from this discourse, and everyone is encouraged to participate in education

and the job market to contribute to the nationalization of jobs, especially professional jobs,

replacing non-Saudis with Saudi citizens for the sake of national prosperity (Ministry of

Higher Education,KSA, 2010). Al-Rasheed (2013) describes this paradox as a “commitmentto

two sometimes contradictory projects: modernity through education and commitment to the

purity of the religiousnation”(p. 101). The KSA has ratifiedthe United Nations Conventionon

the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women that calls for amongst other

things equal economic opportunities (Al-Munajjed, 2010). There is a dearth of research

literature relating to women with disabilities in employment in the KSA, the review of the

literaturewill examine the policy and researchrelating to women in the KSAand then discuss

the same for people with disabilities.

Women in the KSA

Over the last 20 years, the KSA has witnessed a rapid and impressive journey toward

women’s participation in all levels of the education sector. The current national development

policies of the KSA encourage its citizens to pursue education from early childhood to higher

education by providing access to schools and universities, at almost no cost (Smith and

Abouammoh, 2013). These opportunities are intended to be equally available to men

and women with and without disabilities. Such opportunities are, however, mediated by

family expectations and the educational institutions ( Jamjoon and Kelly, 2013). The literacy

rate for all females in the KSA aged 15-24 years (2008-2012) was 96 percent, a significant

increase from less than 5 percent in 1972 (UNICEF, 2014).

Women’s participation in higher education has also been high. Al-Rasheed (2013) notes

that with the encouragement to send girls to school beginning in the 1970s, there was an

urgent need for competent teachers. She describes the initial goals of the first women’s

colleges, to produce qualified teachers, faithful Muslims, effective housekeepers and ideal

wives. Al-Rasheed (2013) notes that “arguments in favor of women’s education rarely

invoked education as a path to economic contribution, employment or a career […] Writers

commenting on women’s education were still endorsing the view that this education should

be geared towards making Saudi women better mother’s and wives rather than

economically active citizens”(p. 102). This perception of education of women still lingers,

although it is arguably being eroded with the impact of the Saudization agenda.

Jamjoon and Kelly (2013) report that from 1990 to 2004, female enrollments in Saudi

universities saw an astounding 512 percent growth rate which is one of the highest

worldwide. At the graduate studies level, the female enrollment rate in Saudi higher

education is among the highest in the world at 48 percent and almost equivalent to that of

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