Article Title
‘Open the Gates!’ Barriers Facing Saudi Women Academics
Abstract
The purpose of my research is to explore Saudi women’s experiences in academia. This research offers new insights into the nature of the challenges that Saudi women academics face in advancing their careers. In-depth interviews were undertaken with three Saudi women academics working at three different universities located in different Saudi cities and data were analysed thematically. The findings indicate that gender segregation regulations and male guardianship laws greatly shape the experiences of Saudi women academics. My research is significant as it contributes to academic literature on Saudi women, which remains under-researched. It provides profound descriptions of Saudi women’s realities in academia rarely glimpsed and offers new insights into the role that politics and religion play in the structure of academia and how this enhanced, or hindered gender equality.