This study examines how formal and informal institutions shape women’s workplace experiences and the extent to which organisations in Saudi Arabia are developing their HRM policies and practices (recruitment, promotion, training, pay and working conditions) to respond to labour legislation and whether women perceive the working environment as supportive of them.
Through the lens of institutional theory, a qualitative case study design was adopted. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews with 36 employees and 8 managers in two private sector organisations, one Saudi-owned, with a segregated working environment and the other international, with a mixed working environment.
The findings show that institutions including regulatory authorities, and organisations’ own policies and practices gave opportunities to women and provided privileges and protections to mothers. However, women’s experiences of employment differed in relation to equality with men, the extent and effectiveness of women’s voice, and organisations’ supportiveness of female employees, with those working in the Saudi organisation perceiving less equality and more constraints. In both organisations, women’s behaviour, experiences and work life balance were affected by the informal institutional influence of cultural norms and expectations.
Through the use of an institutional lens, the study contributes to an understanding of the factors influencing women’s position in organisations, within Saudi Arabia. A gender perspective contributes to an area often neglected in institutional theory. The study also highlights informal institutional influences (culture, family and religion) which are often overlooked in Western studies. In so doing, it provides insights into the way in which organisation policies, practices and environments reflect interaction, and sometimes conflict between formal and informal institutions, simultaneously reinforcing and subverting efforts to improve the position of woman.
