Saudi women have achieved remarkable advancements across various sectors, encompassing employment, education, health, technology, and art, as highlighted by the latest report from the Kingdom’s General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT).
The Saudi Women’s Report 2022, released on Wednesday, draws insights from nationwide surveys focusing on women aged 15 and above, reported by Alarabia News Agency.
The Vision 2030 economic reform plan has firmly positioned women’s empowerment, achieved through labour force engagement, education, and enhanced living standards, as a central tenet.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has consistently emphasized the significance of “empowering women and youth” as critical foundations for achieving sustainable economic growth.
This sentiment was echoed by King Salman bin Abdulaziz during Saudi Arabia’s G20 Presidency in 2020, underscoring women’s pivotal role in driving societal reforms and effecting historical transformative decisions.
Recent years have ushered in notable opportunities for Saudi women in public and private domains, including historically male-dominated fields such as law and the military.
This shift has contributed to the decline in the unemployment rate among Saudi women, which currently stands at 15.4 per cent, Alarabia reported.
Moreover, the proportion of employed Saudi women within the population has risen to 30.4 per cent in 2022, up from 27.6 per cent in 2021.
Education constitutes a fundamental component of Vision 2030’s mission to empower women and bolster their participation in the workforce, as per GASTAT’s analysis.
Notably, Saudi women now comprise nearly 50 per cent (49.99 per cent) of the overall count of higher education students, pursuing degrees spanning Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD programs.
GASTAT’s findings affirm that female graduates span various disciplines within higher education. Business, management, and law courses boasted the highest number of female graduates, trailed by arts and humanities.
Furthermore, within the Ministry of Education, female instructors constitute a substantial 51.8 per cent of the total instructional staff, marking a significant step towards gender inclusivity within the educational sector.
Saudi Arabia’s recent pivot towards fostering physical health and sports has garnered amplified enthusiasm from both genders. The participation rate in sports among men and women has surged from 13 per cent in 2015 to nearly 50 per cent in 2022, as the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
In a noteworthy development, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia has announced the establishment of a female-focused health and well-being enterprise led by Princess Reema bint Bandar.
This initiative resonates with Vision 2030’s overarching aim of promoting active lifestyles to enhance people’s overall quality of life.
