Third International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

This is a quantitative research that explores the perception of Saudi women living abroad on the issue of social media’s usefulness as an economic empowering tool. The review of the literature, as well as the interviewing method, emphasize the challenges Saudi females face when they return to their home country and are job seeking. The paper identifies the challenges women face, such as limited education majors, limited job chances, and cultural intolerance of working in a mixed environment with men, and identifies what drive them in terms of start-up business accounts on social media and why. Also, the study assesses how Saudi-educated women perceive social media in term of economic empowerment and their experiences or plans of using it to start-up their businesses. Through an online survey with a sample of 139 Saudi females aged over eighteen. Findings show that the Saudi females living overseas have positive perceptions about social media as a tool of economic empowerment and they are aware of its positive impacts on their economic situation. However, they show no intention to start online businesses through these platforms due to the many reasons clarified in details through the paper.