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

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. Themes from the interviews of women with disabilities were explored using Yosso’s (2005) cultural capital conceptual framework. Findings The participants had work and career aspirations, persisted in their job search, navigated barriers, and had familial support and emotional support from their social networks, but lacked instrumental assistance in accessing work. KSA policies to support women and people with 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.

Emerging Themes on Factors Influencing Career and Employment Decisions: Voices of Individuals with Disabilities from Four Gulf Countries

“…Similar results are reported in Western studies which confirms the disadvantages faced by jobseekers with disabilities, particularly women (Hendricks 2010;Seltzer and Krauss 2002;Vogeley et al 2013;Goldberg et al 2003). While shunned in many places in society, IWD are more likely to be supported by close family and friends (Kadi 2018;Peter et al 2018). They receive familial and emotional support from their social circle with mothers having the most influence on their career and employment decisions, followed by fathers and friends (Kadi 2018;Peter et al 2018).…”

“…While shunned in many places in society, IWD are more likely to be supported by close family and friends (Kadi 2018;Peter et al 2018). They receive familial and emotional support from their social circle with mothers having the most influence on their career and employment decisions, followed by fathers and friends (Kadi 2018;Peter et al 2018). However, Abusukkar (2019) reports opposing information; he observed that family members and the broader society in Saudi Arabia did not support the employment of individuals with disabilities, which negatively impacted their career decisions.…”

“…Negative attitudes toward individuals with disabilities are still prevalent in the Arab-Gulf countries and broader Arab region. Despite claims saying otherwise (Al Tarawneh 2016;Kadi 2018;Mansour 2009;Peter et al 2018), the implications suggest that individuals with disabilities have low productivity and work performance, frequent absences, poor communication, and an inability to take on additional responsibilities (Al Tarawneh 2016;Ghaly 2010;Mansour 2009). It is common to find individuals with disabilities in the Arab gulf region employed in jobs where career progression is limited or altogether kept out of the workforce (Al Tarawneh 2016;Mansour 2009) and around the world (Loja et al 2013;Ozawa et al 2016;Yardimci and Bezmez 2018).…”

“…The authors sought to gain an in-depth understanding of the experiences of individuals with disabilities in the Arab-Gulf as they made decisions about future employment. Our work was guided by the self-determination theory (SDT; Deci and Ryan 2008) as well as the work carried out by Peter et al (2018) on self-determination to determine the degree to which self-determination can overcome employment obstacles in Saudi Arabia. These frameworks were used to guide the analysis of qualitative data.…”

Inequalities, barriers, intersectionality, and facilitators of careers of women with disabilities: Themes and future research agenda from a scoping review

“…Several recurring themes emerged while the researchers read and reviewed each publication more closely, guided by the key words and topics that emerged in the bibliometric map. Specifically, the themes identified were: Theme 1 -Career inequalities for women (vs. men) with disabilities (Reed, 2002; see Keim et al, 2002;Heydemann and Johnson, 2019;Ballo, 2020), which falls under the red cluster in Figure 2; Theme 2-Barriers to careers for women with disabilities (see Nosek and Bennett, 1996;Runte, 1998;Reed, 1999;Haq, 2003;Noonan et al, 2004;Conyers et al, 2014;Peter et al, 2018;Hanlon and Taylor, 2022;Scott, 2022), which falls under the green cluster in Figure 2; Theme 3-Educational/curriculum intervention to improve career motivations and opportunities for women with disabilities (see Lindstrom, 2000;Lindstrom and Benz, 2002;Lindstrom et al, 2008Lindstrom et al, , 2012Lindstrom et al, , 2013Lindstrom et al, , 2004Lindstrom et al, , 2019Wehmeyer et al, 2009;Miesch, 2011;Pham et al, 2020;Walden et al, 2021;Hirano et al, 2022), which falls under the green cluster in Figure 2; Theme 4-Facilitators/strategies for careers/career development of women with disabilities (see Nosek and Bennett, 1996;Runte, 1998;Reed, 1999;Keim et al, 2002;Haq, 2003;Noonan et al, 2004;Conyers et al, 2014;Hampton et al, 2015;Valtonen, 2017;…”