IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i20p14919-d1260744.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Challenges to Female Engineers’ Employment in the Conservative and Unstable Society of Taiz State, Yemen: A Survey Study

Author

Listed:
  • Halah Abdalnour

    (Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, Taiz University, Taiz 6803, Yemen
    Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, Al Janad University for Science and Technology, Taiz 6803, Yemen)

  • Laila Abdulkhaliq

    (Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, Taiz University, Taiz 6803, Yemen
    Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, Al Janad University for Science and Technology, Taiz 6803, Yemen)

  • Atef M. Ghaleb

    (Department of Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, Alfaisal University, Riyadh 11533, Saudi Arabia)

  • Mokhtar Ali Amrani

    (Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, Taiz University, Taiz 6803, Yemen
    Department of Renewable Energy Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Philadelphia University, Amman 19392, Jordan)

  • Fahd Alduais

    (Department of Accounting, Faculty of Business, Philadelphia University, Amman 19392, Jordan)

Abstract

Typically, the underrepresentation of female engineers in education, employment, and leadership is a worldwide social issue. The present study investigates the critical employment challenges and barriers for female engineers in Yemeni’s unstable, conservative, and poor society. The quantitative methodology was based on two constructed questionnaires targeting female engineering graduates from 2012 to 2021 at Taiz University and executive HR managers. The results indicated that the ongoing civil war, employability attributes, personal attitudes, low wages, the conservative society, and marriage–family beliefs are the most apparent barriers to female engineers’ employment in Yemen. Nearly 40% of female engineers are frustrated with not having a job, almost the same percentage stopped seeking a job, and about two-thirds did not register with government employment offices. This study prompts engineering colleges to frequently update their programs to cope with rapid developments and to include employability courses in their curricula. Furthermore, this study advises female engineers to consult experts before enrolling in engineering programs and to practice training and employability skills immediately after graduation. We want to encourage such social studies in Yemen that are concerned with female issues to underpin their participation in society and to make use of unutilized resources.

Suggested Citation

  • Halah Abdalnour & Laila Abdulkhaliq & Atef M. Ghaleb & Mokhtar Ali Amrani & Fahd Alduais, 2023. "Challenges to Female Engineers’ Employment in the Conservative and Unstable Society of Taiz State, Yemen: A Survey Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-23, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:20:p:14919-:d:1260744
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/20/14919/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/20/14919/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Giovanni Busetta & Fabio Fiorillo & Giulio Palomba, 2021. "The impact of attractiveness on job opportunities in Italy: a gender field experiment," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 38(1), pages 171-201, April.
    2. Abdel Latif Sellami & Abdulla Al-Ali & Amani Allouh & Saleh Alhazbi, 2023. "Student Attitudes and Interests in STEM in Qatar through the Lens of the Social Cognitive Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-16, May.
    3. Lu Xin & Fangcheng Tang & Mengyi Li & Wenxia Zhou, 2020. "From School to Work: Improving Graduates’ Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-16, January.
    4. Eunju Jung & Ja Young Eunice Kim, 2020. "Women in Engineering: Almost No Gap at University but a Long Way to Go for Sustaining Careers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-20, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Atef M. Ghaleb & Laila Abdulkhaliq & Halah Abd Al-nour & Mokhtar Ali Amrani & Hanaa A. Hebah & Sobhi Mejjaouli, 2025. "Perceptions of Work–Family–Engineering Relationships Among Employed Female Engineers in Yemen: A Survey Study," Societies, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-23, January.
    2. Atef M. Ghaleb & Mokhtar Ali Amrani & Raad Abdo M. Al Selwi & Hanaa A. Hebah & Mogeeb A. Saeed & Sobhi Mejjaouli, 2024. "Socioeconomic Status as a Predictor of the Academic Achievement of Engineering Students in Taiz State, Yemen," Societies, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-20, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ataullah Kiani & Jingjiang Liu & Usman Ghani & Anastasia Popelnukha, 2020. "Impact of Future Time Perspective on Entrepreneurial Career Intention for Individual Sustainable Career Development: The Roles of Learning Orientation and Entrepreneurial Passion," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-18, May.
    2. OWUNNA, R & AJOBI, A.O & Akintoke, V. A., 2025. "Enhancing Academic Performance through Social Interaction: A Theoretical Exploration of Social Cognitive Theory," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 9(3s), pages 2656-2666, April.
    3. Shi Chen & Yan Xue & Huaruo Chen & Hairong Ling & Jiajing Wu & Xueying Gu, 2021. "Making a Commitment to Your Future: Investigating the Effect of Career Exploration and Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy on the Relationship between Career Concern and Career Commitment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-17, November.
    4. Xinyuan Zhang & Emmanuel Nketiah & Victor Shi & Jinfu Cheng, 2023. "Who Will Save Energy? An Extension of Social Cognitive Theory with Place Attachment to Understand Residents’ Energy-Saving Behaviors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-21, December.
    5. Philip Hallinger & Sujitra Jayaseelan & Mark W. Speece, 2024. "The Evolution of Educating for Sustainable Development in East Asia: A Bibliometric Review, 1991–2023," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-23, October.
    6. Rania Bou Saad & Ariadna Llorens Garcia & Jose M. Cabre Garcia, 2025. "Sustainable STEM Education in Arab Countries: Features and Challenges," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(14), pages 1-21, July.
    7. Shi Chen & Huaruo Chen & Hairong Ling & Xueying Gu, 2021. "How Do Students Become Good Workers? Investigating the Impact of Gender and School on the Relationship between Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy and Career Exploration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-14, July.
    8. Wenjie Yang & Xiaomin Su, 2025. "Influence of family social capital on career calling: moderated mediation effect of family socioeconomic status," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-12, December.
    9. Schaerer, Michael & du Plessis, Christilene & Nguyen, My Hoang Bao & van Aert, Robbie C.M. & Tiokhin, Leo & Lakens, Daniël & Giulia Clemente, Elena & Pfeiffer, Thomas & Dreber, Anna & Johannesson, Mag, 2023. "On the trajectory of discrimination: A meta-analysis and forecasting survey capturing 44 years of field experiments on gender and hiring decisions," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    10. Maura A. E. Pilotti, 2021. "What Lies beneath Sustainable Education? Predicting and Tackling Gender Differences in STEM Academic Success," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-15, February.
    11. Chung-Jen Wang & Hsin-Yun Hsieh, 2022. "Effect of Deep Learning Approach on Career Self-Efficacy: Using Off-Campus Internships of Hospitality College Students as an Example," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-17, June.
    12. Shehu Rabiah Na-Allah & Noor Hazlina Ahmad, 2022. "Entrepreneurial Orientation and Venture Creation in Nigerian Context: Assessing Mediating and Moderating Roles of Self-Efficacy and Entrepreneurial Support among Graduates," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-25, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:20:p:14919-:d:1260744. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.