Women's education in Saudi Arabia

Women's education in Saudi Arabia is, as with several other aspects of daily life, organized according to the principles of Islam, which is the official religion of the country. The form of Islam practiced in Saudi Arabia is Wahhabi Islam, which is a fundamentalist Islamic religion that puts an emphasis on the importance of knowledge, study, and understanding. The religion believes that obtaining knowledge is the only way to gain true understanding of Wahhabi Islam, and as such encourage both males and females to study.^[1] According to Peter Hobday, women's education in Saudi Arabia can be understood by the very deep belief that men have a superiority over women because Allah has made men superior to women, and because men spend their wealth to maintain women.^[2] The way of practicing Wahhabi Islam has therefore led to segregation in education in Saudi Arabia, and in turn has created segregation in political, economical, and labor force environments. With the Segregation issue in Saudi Arabia, much has been done to bring about equality and acceptance of women's education. With the current struggle of social norms and laws, women have made great strides to obtain education in Saudi Arabia. However great these strides may be, there are consequences to the economy that by not allowing women to have access to equal education, there could be economical struggle.

History

The first ever school for girls in Saudi Arabia, called the Dar al-Hanan School, opened in 1956, and until then, few girls had an opportunity to get an education of any kind. The first state run school was then opened in 1960/61.^[3] Until 2002 different departments regulated education for males and females, as women's education was controlled through the Department of Religious Guidance while men's education was overseen by the Ministry of Education. The reason the Department of Religious Guidance remained control of education for women was to ensure that the women were educated in accordance with the principles of Islam as interpreted in Saudi Arabia, which traditionally espoused that women take roles that would be considered to be gender appropriate such as motherhood, housewifery, teaching, or nursing.^[4] According to Natana Delong-Bas, the apparent oppression of women's education by contemporary Wahhabi regimes is due to the adherence to the interpretation of the Wahhabi Islam.^[1] Mona AlMunajjed explains how within the last 40 years the government has built an educational program that is succeeding in increasing school and university enrollment for women. Improvements in reducing illiteracy rates has also been a success in building the educational infrastructure in Saudi Arabia. Over the years basic education has been offered for children, both male and female, and has been of high quality education. Over the history for women's education in Saudi Arabia, women have received basic literacy and numeracy skills, and have completed primary school on time.^[5]

Segregation in social life

Norms of Education

The government has put together systems where women are second to men. Male guardians are responsible for making many decisions for women in Saudi Arabia. Women in Saudi Arabia need permission to study. The social norm of guardianship has eliminated many resources and materials that women cannot access for educational reasons. Many women have limited visiting times to public libraries, of which their male guardian would need to be present, and that is if there are visiting hours at all to these types of public libraries. Most of the time women are only allowed into libraries specific to women. This causes for a huge gap in educational materials women are allowed to view and obtain.^[6] Not much has been written about the Wahhabi Islamic religious establishments position on women's education. What is usually written about is the determined effort to keep the traditional religious values and norms of the Saudi Arabian society. Some religious establishments battle against the modern state education system to ensure that social norms are followed. Most of these educational norms root from Wahhabi Islam.^[3]

Laws

In Saudi Arabia, officials may ask women for their male guardians' consent. This can happen even when no law or guideline requires such consent. Current practices assume women have no power to make their own decisions. This can have a huge impact on how women can receive education in Saudi Arabia. One example of how women are checked for guardian consent is in many airports, officials ask women of all ages for written proof that their guardian has allowed them to travel. Many women have to receive consent to travel, even for educational reasons. Although the government has taken some steps to limit the power of guardians, there is little support showing that officials are backing down from guardian consent.^[6]

Enrollment and Segregation in Education

The struggle for women's education is an ongoing battle in Saudi Arabia. Teaching of girls has taken place in private tutorials, and these teachings have occurred in the homes of professional male or female Quran readers. The reason for these types of teachings is to ensure that women continue learning what is required to make them good wives and mothers. Education for girls once stopped at the beginning of puberty. There is no schooling that allows men and women to be in the same class. There was more openness to educating women at the beginning of Saudi Arabia's history. However, education of women seems to have gone in the other direction, and segregation of men and women’s education has been part of Saudi Arabia’s culture for much of the twentieth century. Abdul Aziz, the founder of the Saudi Kingdom wanted and showed his support for women’s education. However, Abdul Aziz supported the cause of education for women, educational resources have seemed to have been dedicated mainly to boys. Women have struggled to obtain equality at every level of education in Saudi Arabia.^[7] At the University level, women are allowed to view lectures given by a male professor through a monitor. These women can then choose to ask questions over the telephone.^[8] There are however higher enrollment rates allowing for gender equality among school students. Statistics show that an increase from 272,054 female enrollments in 1974-75 to 2,121,893 in 2004-05. That is a level increase of 33 percent to 48 percent in 30 years.^[5] However classes and even entire schools are segregated, there is a movement in the right direction for enrollments.

Consequences of Educational Segregation

Labor market segregation

Women in Saudi Arabia continue to be marginalized almost to the point of total exclusion from the Saudi workforce. Saudi Arabia has one of the lowest rates of working women in the world.^[9] Women account for only 4% of the total workforce and 10.7% of the labor force. In recent years there has been an issue that has intensified for the need of a larger labor force, and allowing women out of the home and into the economy. There has been integration of women in the work force, but under religious customs, and there for keeping women secluded from men.^[10] In Saudi Arabia, there are no female judges, or prosecutors. The government enforces sex segregation in all workplaces with the exception of hospitals. If the government discovers unlawful mixing of the sexes, they are authorized to arrest the violators and bring them to the nearest police station where they can be criminally charged. The Saudi Labor Code does not include anything that requires sex segregation in the workplace. However, there is little evidence that this has in any way affected the current work environment. The issue of guardianship is introduced and employers in both the private and public sector require female staff to obtain the permission of a male guardian in order to be hired. When women reach working age, employers often do not ask for permission, however the government requires teachers to provide such permission.^[6]

Political participation

Saudi Arabia is governed by sharia law. With Sharia law, it is open to many interpretations, but it does not usually encourage women to hold prominent positions. In 2005 Saudi Arabia held its first nationwide elections. Women who make up more than 50% of the population did not participate. They were not permitted to vote or run as candidates in the elections.^[11] With the conclusion of political participation, Abdulaziz Al-Heis talks about how women will not be able to participate and find a platform to have their voice heard for equality and demands. There needs to be a push forward and renewal of institutions for religious ideas so the political economy can include both men and women.^[12] Since 2015, women are allowed to vote and elect themselves as candidates for the country's municipal elections.

Progress in Women's Education

The number of males graduating annually from university rose from 795 in 1970 to 21,229 in 1999, while the number of female graduates rose from 13 to 21,721 – ending in a total that slightly exceeded the number of male graduates. The number of Saudi women graduating from university has grown at an average rate 2.5 times that of male graduates during the last decade.^[13] Very few girls had the opportunity to receive education in public or even private settings before 1960, and there was a compromise between the government and the Wahhabi religious body. This compromising for women's education was unaccepted by some religious circles, however, women have overcome the inequality of education to then be allowed formal education in Saudi Arabia.^[3] With progress in women's education more needs to be done by the government to allow women equal opportunities in education and to allow women the best education and training. If the government creates an educational reform strategy for women at an early age that incorporated changes in the educational system that will help address the high demands and priorities of the Saudi Arabian economy. If this policy was directed towards tackling the social and economical changes affecting Saudi Arabia, they could start to go away from the oil rich economy they are built on, and become independently successful as a society. How Saudi Arabia invests in all of the members in their society, not just men, there will be a greater chance of success. As women develop skills, that will lead to the development of human capital, and that starts with equality in education. The education system in Saudi Arabia has pushed women to become graduates and seek employment. By strengthening the education system for women and girls at all levels, and improving the access to high quality education, women will tend to participate in labor force, political, and social opportunities. In the end, Saudi Arabia will be ready for any global challenge.^[5]

List of Universities That Enroll Women

All of these universities are from http://www.4icu.org/sa/

- King Saud University - King Abdulaziz University - King Faisal University - Umm Al-Qura University - King Abdullah University of Science and Technology - Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University - Institute of Public Administration - Taibah University - King Khalid University - Alfaisal University - Qassim University - Najran University - Jazan University - Majmaah University - Taif University - Princess Nora bint Abdulrahman University WOMEN ONLY - University of Ha'il - King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences - Prince Sultan University - Salman bin Abdulaziz University - University of Dammam - Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University - Al Jouf University - University of Tabuk - Shaqra University - Baha University - Effat University - WOMEN ONLY - Northern Borders University - University of Business and Technology - Dar Al Uloom University - Al Yamamah University - Fahad Bin Sultan University - Dar Al-Hekma University - WOMEN ONLY - Ibn Sina National College for Medical Studies - Riyadh College of Dentistry and Pharmacy - batterjee medical college

References

1. Delong-Bas, Natana (2004). Wahhabi Islam. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016: Oxford University Press, Inc. p. 194.
2. Hobday, Peter (1978). Saudi Arabia Today. London: The macmillan Press LDT. p. 90.
3. Yizraeli, Sarah (2012). Politics and Society in Saudi Arabia, The Crucial Years of Development, 1960-1982. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 227.
4. Hamdan, Amani (March 2005). International Education Journal 6 (1): 42. Missing or empty |title= (help)
5. AlMunajjed, Mona (2009). Women's Education In Saudi Arabia. USA: Booz&Company. p. 2.
6. Human Rights Watch, Perpetual Minors - Human Rights Abuses Stemming from Male Guardianship and Sex Segregation in Saudi Arabia, 20 April 2008, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/480c3dd72.html [accessed 22 March 2014]
7. Hamdan, Amani (March 2005). International Education Journal 6 (1): 61. Missing or empty |title= (help)
8. Metz, Helen (1993). Saudi Arabia A Country Study. Federal Research Division Library of Congress. p. 96.
9. Samiuddin and Khanam (2002). Muslim Feminism and Feminist Movement. India: Global Vision Publishing House. pp. 48–49.
10. Lackner, Helen (1978). A House Built on Sand - A political economy of Saudi Arabia. London: Ithaca Press. p. 208.
11. Kramer, Ann (2007). Human Rights: who decides. Heinemann Library a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. Chicago Illinois. p. 28.
12. Al-Heis, Abdulaziz. "Women Participat ion in Saudi Arabia's Political Arena" (PDF).
13. Citation: Baki, R., (2004, June 17). Gender-segregated education in Saudi Arabia: Its impact on social norms and the Saudi labor market. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 12(28). Retrieved [Date] from http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v12n28/.