Affirmative Action policy and Labour Market Structure: Evidence from Saudi Arabia
type: CreativeWork
description: Few public and social policy subjects have attracted as much attention as Affirmative Action Policy (AAP) in social sciences. AAP’s main aim is to eliminate or prevent past discrimination against disadvantaged groups and to enhance their position in society. Its role has become controversial around the world. In Saudi Arabia, despite changes and improvements in laws and strategies, over past decades, to tackle the age-old issue of native unemployment, the problem is still deeply ingrained in society. This research has investigated the role, effectiveness and consequences of AAP on Saudi labour market structure. The research has employed a pragmatic methodology over three phases of analysis. The first phase has been based on an interpretive paradigm, and been conducted through semi-structured interviews with labour market experts, to identify and understand the policy. The interviews have been analysed using a thematic analysis technique. The findings of this phase contributed significantly to the understanding of AAP’s legislative nature and role. Two different historical versions of AAP (pre- and post-2011) have been identified. The earlier version (pre-2011) was found to be a non-strategic and vague policy that made no real impact on natives’ employment, while the new version (post-2011) has been positive in increasing native employment (relatively), but it has been associated with serious unintended consequences due to its stricter enforcement. The second phase has been based on a positivist paradigm, and been conducted through time-series analysis (2004-2014), to examine policy effects on labour market structure. The results have indicated that, in addition to the continuing issue of the high inward flow of expatriates, AAP has failed to either improve the distribution of job opportunities across the country, or enhance structural issues with some occupations in the private sector. The third phase has also been based on a positivist paradigm, and was carried out…
abstract: Few public and social policy subjects have attracted as much attention as Affirmative Action Policy (AAP) in social sciences. AAP’s main aim is to eliminate or prevent past discrimination against disadvantaged groups and to enhance their position in society. Its role has become controversial around the world. In Saudi Arabia, despite changes and improvements in laws and strategies, over past decades, to tackle the age-old issue of native unemployment, the problem is still deeply ingrained in society. This research has investigated the role, effectiveness and consequences of AAP on Saudi labour market structure. The research has employed a pragmatic methodology over three phases of analysis. The first phase has been based on an interpretive paradigm, and been conducted through semi-structured interviews with labour market experts, to identify and understand the policy. The interviews have been analysed using a thematic analysis technique. The findings of this phase contributed significantly to the understanding of AAP’s legislative nature and role. Two different historical versions of AAP (pre- and post-2011) have been identified. The earlier version (pre-2011) was found to be a non-strategic and vague policy that made no real impact on natives’ employment, while the new version (post-2011) has been positive in increasing native employment (relatively), but it has been associated with serious unintended consequences due to its stricter enforcement. The second phase has been based on a positivist paradigm, and been conducted through time-series analysis (2004-2014), to examine policy effects on labour market structure. The results have indicated that, in addition to the continuing issue of the high inward flow of expatriates, AAP has failed to either improve the distribution of job opportunities across the country, or enhance structural issues with some occupations in the private sector. The third phase has also been based on a positivist paradigm, and was carried out…
author: Alothman, Abdullah
language: eng
keywords: Affirmative Action, Saudi Arabia, Government Policy, Labour Market Structure, Saudisation, Nitaqat
date published: 2017-01-01T08:00:00Z
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:50:03Z
provider: University of Plymouth
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Plymouth