Dimity Jane Peter, Sarah Alem and Barbara Knabe
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…
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.
Details
Keywords
Discusses the communist system, based on an èlite Partyand the privileged nomenklatura which executes its orders. Anubiquitous secret police, whose tentacles reach into the most…
Abstract
Discusses the communist system, based on an èlite Party and the privileged nomenklatura which executes its orders. An ubiquitous secret police, whose tentacles reach into the most private spheres of the citizens, kills any opposition in its bud. The people are constantly indoctrinated with Marxist‐Leninist ideology which also justifies the total power of the Party. The ideals of egalitarianism and open‐ended social obligation, inculcated from early childhood on, led to “apathy, indifference, and the disdain of honest work” (Shmelev) as well as widespread dishonesty. The population was kept ignorant by hermetically sealed borders and subjected to constant humiliation. Advancement depended not on hard work, but on Party loyalty. Laws served only a decorative function. The mafia has flourished under these conditions, once clandestinely, now for all to see. The result is a moral vacuum, a spiritual and physical decline of the citizenry who, unfamiliar with self‐responsibility and freedom, feel threatened by change.