The challenges and opportunities faced by Saudi Arabian women leaders in education during a period of rapid change in the Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia

This research examines the challenges and opportunities faced by Saudi Arabian women leaders in education at a time of rapid change in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As one of the largest oil-exporting countries in the world, Saudi Arabia has benefited from an insatiable global demand for oil but has also been impacted by rapid changes, which started in the 1970s as a result of the oil revenues. Change has permeated all aspects of political and economic life in Saudi Arabia with transformative social effects, not least a growing demand for gender equality, in what was hitherto a deeply conservative country. However, with the realisation that it cannot rely on oil revenues indefinitely, Saudi Arabia has begun to invest in the development of human capital, including women’s participation in the labour market, which is crucial in this process, leading to a debate about their importance in the development of society. Nonetheless, the changes have given rise to conflicts and contradictions between men and women in Saudi Arabia, not least because of Saudi society’s tribal and conservative, patriarchal culture. The study’s findings support the claim that a relationship connects Saudi Arabia’s legal patriarchal system, the politics of reputation and resistance to change. This relationship is the origin of many obstacles confronting Saudi women education leaders in both their professional and personal lives. Additionally, the study’s findings highlight issues arising from the gendered division of labour in women’s family lives, frequently leading to a sense of powerlessness among many women leaders, which they regarded as an obstacle to their career development. However, the study also revealed that women education leaders viewed the rapid economic and social change currently transforming Saudi Arabian society as a welcome, but a long-overdue positive development for themselves, their families, the Saudi education sector and Saudi society more broadly