Education

Abstract

Education in Saudi Arabia is the area in which women have experienced the greatest progress. The widespread availability of female education that came with the oil boom of the early 1970s led to considerable development in the status of Saudi women both socially and intellectually. Education gave Saudi women knowledge, skills and a way of recognising — but not necessarily exercising — their own social and economic power in society. As a 36 year old single woman with an MA in sociology put it: ‘Education opened my eyes, widened my horizons and made me feel that I am a real human being able to understand and communicate with others… it also made me a better thinker, and a better person whom people respect.’