Perceived and real barriers to workplace empowerment among women at Saudi universities: A cross-sectional study.

Academic women in the Arab world, especially Saudi women, have numerous barriers inhibiting their leadership power at the workplace. The current study explores the perceived and real barriers to workplace empowerment among women at Saudi universities. A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out at 15 Saudi governmental universities. A multistage cluster sampling technique was followed to select (5587 participants) The data collection started from the beginning of April to the beginning of September 2020. SPSS 23.0 was used to analyze data using descriptive statistics. Multiple linear regression was used to identify the real barriers to women empowerment at the workplace. The study showed that 52.1% of the study participants had moderate workplace empowerment, and only 10.2% have a low level. Regarding perceived barriers to workplace empowerment, 42.6% of the participants agree that male dominance was a barrier. Moreover, 36.2% of the participants agreed and strongly agree that the customs and traditions are a barrier to women empowerment at the workplace. Multiple linear regression showed that age, followed by years of experience (p <0.000), were the most significant demographic predictors of women empowerment at the workplace. Moreover, positive attitude, high self-esteem, and good knowledge (p <0.000) were considered other variables that positively predict women's empowerment at the workplace. The experience of gender-based violence (p <0.000) was a negative predictor of women empowerment at the workplace. The study concluded that around 62.3% of Saudi female academics and administrative staff have moderate or low workplace empowerment at Saudi Universities. Male dominance is perceived as the highest barrier.

The role of self-esteem and self-efficacy in women empowerment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study.

The study aimed to explore the role of self-esteem and self-efficacy in women empowerment among academic and administrative staff at Saudi universities. A cross-sectional design was carried out at 15 governmental universities. A multistage cluster sampling technique was used to select 5587 participants. Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the predictive relation. Data collection included socio-demographic variables, Rosenberg self-esteem scale, general self-efficacy scale, and women empowerment scale. The results indicated that study participants' self-esteem was equally distributed between moderate (49.8%) and high (50.2%). Also, 66.9% of the participants had high self-efficacy, and 86.8% had high total women's empowerment. Regression coefficient showed that self-esteem (B=0.521, b=0.127, t=13.785 and p <0.001) and self-efficacy (B=2.388, b=0.702, t=76.049 and p <0.001) are important predictors of the total women empowerment. However, self-efficacy was observed to be the most dominant predictor (t=76.049). The total model summary shows that 73.4% of the women empowerment level can be predicted through self-esteem and self-efficacy. The study results can be used as a base to build women empowerment programs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and help to achieve the 2030 KSA vision regarding women empowerment.