The Saudi women participation in development index

Abstract

We present a composite index that measures the participation of Saudi women in national development through certain broad dimensions of measurements, to be employed on Saudi Arabian datasets. In terms of method and technique, the composite index consists of 5 pillars from selected weighted variables chosen by experts, in order to provide a well representative index that measures local priorities and development needs. Construction of the index goes through stages, such as data allocation, national surveys, data normalizing, weight assignment, focus groups, pilot testing, and finally measurement of the index and its components. The index incorporates 54 indicators to capture the complexity of national development and ranks regions in Saudi Arabia according to calculated components and the gender gap between women and men in five key areas: health, education, economy, social engagement, and legislative structure to gauge the state of gender equality in the country. The index will be beneficial to decision makers to allocate necessary strategic policies that will help increase women participation in development in order to play their anticipated role in achieving the goals of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.