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Introduction
Gender equality in employment is a topic of increasing interest for researchers and practitioners worldwide (e.g. Al-Asfour et al., 2017; Teelken and Deem, 2013). However, Arab countries have been greatly understudied since conducting research in the Middle East has been found to be difficult (Lages et al., 2015), especially when studying complex issues such as gender equality (Kalliny and Benmamoun, 2014). Saudi Arabia has a population exceeding 28 million and a sizeable GDP of $1.756 trillion (CIA, 2017). The country is known to have major gender gaps not only in the workplace but also in wider society. According to Global Gender Gap Report (WEF, 2017), Saudi Arabia is one of the most gender unequal countries in the world and is ranked at 138 out of total 144 countries reflecting high gender gaps in economic and political empowerment. For instance, wage inequality for similar work shows that women are worse off by at least 40 per cent and women’s labour market participation is only 21 per cent against 80 per cent for men (WEF, 2017). While the country has experienced significant improvement in terms of female literacy rate in recent decades (96.5 per cent of male and 91 per cent of female adults are literate), progress in female economic activity has been somewhat slow. While Saudi women are now better qualified than men, this has not translated to women’s participation in paid work. The female to male ratio in terms of labour force participation rate is 0.26 (WEF, 2017). Generally characterised as conservative, Saudi Arabia is a complex society where norms, values and traditions are influenced by ultraorthodox Islamic teachings as well as a highly patriarchal local culture. While Islam is the state religion, formal and informal laws and practices are equally affected by local Bedouin culture and tribal customs. However, despite some recent changes in legislation and efforts to improve gender equality (e.g. with respect to women’s right to vote and right to drive), women continue to experience barriers to equality in employment. If organisations want to tap into this potential labour force and if the government wants to use this asset to develop its economy, more insights into the lived experiences of female employees in this country are needed. This paper...