Enhancing Career Choices and Opportunities for Saudi Women
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Pepperdine University Pepperdine Digital Commons Theses and Dissertations 2018 Enhancing career choices and opportunities for Saudi women Walaa Albahoth Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/etd Recommended Citation Albahoth, Walaa, "Enhancing career choices and opportunities for Saudi women" (2018). Theses and Dissertations. 1027. https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/etd/1027 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by Pepperdine Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Pepperdine Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]. Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology ENHANCING CAREER CHOICES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR SAUDI WOMEN A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education by Walaa Albahoth December, 2018 Ronald Stephens, Ed. D. – Dissertation Chairperson This dissertation, written by Walaa Albahoth under the guidance of a Faculty Committee and approved by its members, has been submitted to and accepted by the Graduate Faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION Doctoral Committee: Ronald Stephens, Ed. D., Chairperson Leo Mallette, Ed. D. Omar Ezzeldine, Ed. D. © Copyright by Walaa Albahoth (2018) All Rights Reserved TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................. vii DEDICATION.........................................................................................................................viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .......................................................................................................... ix VITA .......................................................................................................................................... x ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. xi Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 Background ..................................................................................................................... 1 Present Statistics.............................................................................................................. 4 Problem Statement .......................................................................................................... 5 Purpose of the Study........................................................................................................ 8 Significance of the Study ................................................................................................. 8 Research Questions ......................................................................................................... 9 Limitation ..................................................................................................................... 10 Key Assumptions .......................................................................................................... 10 Definitions .................................................................................................................... 11 Organization .................................................................................................................. 11 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 12 Chapter 2: Literature Review .................................................................................................... 14 Current State of Saudi Women’s Education and Employment ........................................ 18 Theories of Career Choice ............................................................................................. 28 Internal Factors Affecting Female Career Choices ......................................................... 31 External Factors Affecting Female Career Choices ........................................................ 35 Strategies That Can Support Saudi Women in Their Career Choices.............................. 40 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 53 Chapter 3: Research Methodology ............................................................................................ 54 Restatement of the Purpose............................................................................................ 54 Restatement of the Research Questions ......................................................................... 55 Research Design ............................................................................................................ 55 Population and Sample .................................................................................................. 56 Survey Instruments ........................................................................................................ 57 Variables of the Study ................................................................................................... 60 v Page Validity and Reliability of the Survey Instrument .......................................................... 61 Data Collection ............................................................................................................. 62 Data Analysis ................................................................................................................ 63 Human Subject Consideration ....................................................................................... 64 Ethical Considerations ................................................................................................... 65 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 66 Chapter 4: Findings ................................................................................................................... 67 Description of the Sample ............................................................................................. 67 Answering the Research Questions ................................................................................ 71 Additional Findings ....................................................................................................... 77 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 80 Chapter 5: Conclusions and Recommendations ......................................................................... 82 Study Overview ............................................................................................................. 82 Problem Statement ........................................................................................................ 82 Statement of Purpose ..................................................................................................... 82 Research Questions ....................................................................................................... 83 Methodology ................................................................................................................. 83 Discussion of Key Findings ........................................................................................... 84 Other Findings............................................................................................................... 89 Additional Key Points ................................................................................................... 92 Limitations of the Study ................................................................................................ 92 Conclusion and Implications ......................................................................................... 93 Recommendations for Action ........................................................................................ 94 Recommendation for Future Research ........................................................................... 96 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 97 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................... 99 APPENDIX A: Site Approval ................................................................................................. 107 APPENDIX B: Survey Questionnaire ..................................................................................... 108 APPENDIX C: Survey Questionnaire—Arabic Version .......................................................... 113 APPENDIX D: CITI Program Certificate ................................................................................ 117 APPENDIX E: Informed Consent Form .................................................................................. 118 APPENDIX F: Informed Consent Form—Arabic Version ...................................................... 120 APPENDIX G: Approval for Human Research ......................................................................