Fatima Muhammad Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — The main challenge facing Saudi female graduates is that they do not want to work in mixed environments. And in some cases, several families have shown reluctance to allow their wards to work along side their male counterparts. Laila Zayan, dean of graduate affairs department at King Abdulaziz University, stressed this point while elaborating that the job market now is more open and many of the job opportunities offered by the private sector are in mixed environments. Answering a Saudi Gazette question whether the university will reduce the number of students heading to theoretical majors and increase acceptance in practical majors, Zayan said: “The university has launched three new colleges including engineering, nursing and law, and this step was taken to meet the demand of the job market.” “We also have simultaneously worked on correcting the flow of theoretical majors by adding new specializations. For example we have added tourism major under the department of history, and we have added new languages at the department of linguistics. We are working on meeting the demands of the job market but there are certain procedures which are outside our reach,” she explained. Zayan was speaking at a press conference marking the fifth King Abdulaziz University Career Forum held at Prince Faisal Center for conferences at the university. Through these annual forums, the university hopes to meet the demand of the job market and create a platform where graduates can meet prospective employers. The forum provides private sector booths a chance to display any job opportunities, while it also gives workshops related to writing CVs, improving one's skills to pass interviews, and steps to start one's own business or be an entrepreneur. “Students at their graduation year are confused and are in need of support and encouragement to be able to achieve their ambitions and fulfill their dreams. Through these forums we hope to give them the support they need,” added Zayan. When asked how many students have been employed through these forums she said that they have difficulty documenting graduates who got employed due to absence of cooperation from the companies who employ these graduates. Two graduates who passed out from the university a year ago showed up at the forum and are still hunting for jobs. Both said they have applied both at the private sector and public sector and still did not get jobs. “The problem is that the long procedures in different organizations delay our acceptance, and the other basic factor is that if you do not know someone inside, there is no chance of getting employed,” said an X-ray specialist graduate.
