Males' attitudes towards working females in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to fill a gap in the literature on women who work in the Arab Muslim context, reflecting on the experience of Saudi Arabia. Design/methodology/approach -A sample of 301 male participants completed the newly developed multidimensional aversion to women who work scale (MAWWWS). Findings -The paper reveals that Saudi males report very traditional attitudes towards working females. Moreover, the single, unemployed, young and educated Saudi males report less traditional attitudes towards working females compared with married, employed, old, and less educated ones. Age was found to the most important predictor of the males' attitudes towards working females. Originality/value -The paper contributes to the knowledge in several grounds. First, it validates the MAWWW scale in a Muslim Arab country, Saudi Arabia. Second, it contributes to the knowledge of the topic of women's employment in Saudi Arabia, which is understudied in academia.

Saudi Arabian Mothers’ Child Feeding Practices, Autonomy, and Concern about Child Weight

“…In the past, the father or the breadwinner made most major family decisions [20]. However, modernization changed the role of women, and provided them with more opportunities [20,21]. Women's autonomy is important to ensure healthy child outcomes.…”

“…Cultural influences impact parenting beliefs, goals, and values, which in turn influence parenting styles and practices [10,19]. In Saudi communities, women's role is primarily as housewives and child caregivers [20][21][22]. In the past, the father or the breadwinner made most major family decisions [20].…”

Female Leadership Capacity and Effectiveness: A Critical Analysis of the Literature on Higher Education in Saudi Arabia

“…The findings of the study (Elamin & Omair, 2010) demonstrated that Saudi men present traditional attitudes toward Saudi women in the workplace. The authors indicated that the participants presented strongly held beliefs on gender stereotypes that view men as capable of taking on leadership roles, whereas women were prescribed to domestic and child rearing responsibilities.…”

“…Thus, justifying men's authority over women (Metcalfe, 2011). However, such an explanation tends to overlook the fact that such cultural and social processes exploit Islam's spirit and ideals to legitimize the defined submissive roles of Muslim women (Elamin & Omair, 2010;Kauser & Tlaiss, 2011).…”

“…In recent years, there has been an increasing amount of literature on women's limited career advancement in the Middle East, particularly in the GCC states (Al-Ahmadi, 2011;Elamin & Omair, 2010;Kauser & Tlaiss, 2011;Madsen, Kemp, & Davis, 2014;Metcalfe, 2006Metcalfe, , 2007Metcalfe, , 2008Metcalfe, , 2011Sperling et al, 2014). These studies brought attention to context-specific factors that impede opportunities for women in the region to take on leadership roles.…”