An increasing number of women are traveling to Saudi Arabia due to their careers. As they do so, they are encountering some laws and traditions that limit their physical mobility while in Saudi Arabia. For example, according to the U.S. Department of State (2017), women must be met by a sponsor when they arrive in Saudi Arabia. Otherwise they can experience long delays before being allowed to enter the country. Married women (including non-Saudis) must have permission from their husbands before they leave the country, and unmarried women must have permission from their father or male guardian (U.S. Department of State, 2017).

This raises the question of whether businesswomen from other parts of the world can work well in a society where laws are different. According to Nancy J. Ruddy, co-founder of the New York architectural firm CetraRuddy, the answer is yes, but it takes planning and agility. Ruddy has been working on a large project in Saudi Arabia to design a five-star business hotel and retail center. When asked if there were other hurdles for women to doing business in Saudi Arabia, Ruddy shared several examples of situations she encountered (Sharkey, 2015).

According to Ruddy, many of her business meetings with the client that hired her architecture firm to design the new hotel and retail center took place in a modern, 23-story office building (Sharkey, 2015). “But there was no ladies’ room, which was totally shocking to me,” she said.
Because there are almost no women in the Saudi Arabian workforce, there are no ladies’ rooms in the office buildings. Whenever Ms. Ruddy needed to use the restroom, she had to take a 15-minute walk back to her hotel, accompanied by a man. The problem regarding the restroom was ultimately solved by placing a sign on one of the restrooms in the building for Ms. Ruddy’s use. The male executives had private restrooms, and she asked if she could have one restroom designated for her use in the building (Sharkey, 2015).
The Saudi Embassy advises female travelers to dress conservatively, which means ankle-length dresses and long sleeves, not pants. In many areas, women should wear a full-length black covering called an abaya (McCombe, 2015). “A woman traveling with a man who is not her husband, sponsor or a male relative can be arrested” (Mann, 2017). According to the publisher of Smart Women Travelers, Carol Margolis, “Saudi women keep pushing for change and, as a result, travel into their country by Western women will become easier” (Sharkey, 2015).
Discussion Questions:
1. Do you think that the presence of Western women in Saudi Arabia will help obtain more freedom for the Saudi women? Please explain.
2. In what ways could Saudi Arabian companies make some changes to allow foreign businesswomen to conduct business more effectively while in their country?
3. Whose responsibility is it when women travel to Saudi Arabia to see to it that these women can do their jobs effectively? Should it be the responsibility of the women travelers to accommodate all traditions?
Should the company seek some accommodations to accommodate female colleagues? Should the government intervene and make some concessions for companies in order to facilitate foreign business coming to their country?