337Saudi Arabia was installed in 2006. Later, King Saud University in Riyadh founded
the post of vice-president for female students in 2010. This may go in line with
Hamdan’s ( 2005 ) argument that women can excel more in a female-only environ-
ment. In fact, in segregated, co-educational institutions, female under representation
on management and decision-making levels is notable. It is not socially accepted in
these institutions that women can be deans of academic colleges or sometimes can-
not be chairs of academic departments. The usual position for females in these insti-
tutions is that of vice-chairman for the female section in a department or vice-dean
for female students. In an interesting survey, conducted by Al-Ahmadi ( 2011 ), it
was shown that leadership challenges, such as structural, cultural and personal chal-
lenges, a lack of empowerment and a lack of resources are the main barriers towards
the advancement of women in Saudi Arabia. It has always been argued that women
are less experienced than their male colleagues, even if they have a higher academic
rank. This argument can only be proved wrong if women are given equal opportuni-
ties and the same responsibilities and confidence as their male colleagues.
Nursing in Saudi hospitals is mainly a female-dominated sector. Until a decade
ago, very few Saudi women chose nursing as a profession, whereas, for many years,
there has been a lot of competition for university places in medicine and dentistry
among Saudi women. Recently, the Ministry of Health has had to upgrade its former
nursing qualification, which was equivalent to a two-year post high school diploma
to a bachelor’s degree. It did so by offering bridging courses to improve its services
and to comply with the World Health Organization (WHO), which requires people
to have a bachelor’s degree as the entry requirement for working in most hospital
professions. Lamadah and Sayed ( 2014 ), as well as Gazzaz ( 2009 ) among others
considered the challenges facing nursing education in Saudi Arabia. They presented
some international experience in preparing nurses to dome health systems. Nurses
are mainly trained rather than educated, and thus some of their qualification pro-
grammes are hospital based. The nursing profession and training and practices are,
for the most part, controlled by medicine. Senior Saudi nurses either have little or
no command of the English language. The transportation from and to the hospital is
always an issue in a country where women are not allowed to drive. All nursing col-
leges use to be training institutes governed by the Ministry of Health; it has only
been in the last 5 years that they have been affiliated to the nearest university. The
academic university set-up is not always appropriate for practical or technical col-
leges that link education strongly with training. Their bridging programmes and
in-service training are difficult for working mothers, who need childcare almost at
any time of the day and night, which is not easily available in Saudi Arabia.
To be fair to the political leadership in Saudi Arabia, there are no rules or by-laws
that limit the development of women in higher education. On the contrary, most firm
initiatives for women’s participation have come from the government. These initia-
tives included the appointment of a female deputy to the education minister, reserv-
ing one-third of the seats in the Majlis Ash-Shura (appointed Saudi Parliament) for
women, encouraging the full participation of women in elections and their member-
ship of municipality elections and growing their representation in government high
committees and in Saudi delegations in the international arena.
19 The Regeneration Aspects for Higher Education Research in the Kingdom of Saudi...