Age: 21 years
Last Degree: Bachelor of Medicine
Current year: Third year
Years left to complete university: 2
Question: What motivates you for coming to college?
Answer: I wanted to acquire higher education since no female from my family has ever gone to the university. I will be the first one to have a university education, and that will be very prestigious.
Question 2: What do you want to do on completing university?
Answer: I would want to go back to my community and serve my people. I want to be a career woman who positively impacts the lives of other women and girls in my society
Question 3: Where do you see yourself after five years of time?
Answer: In five years I will be a doctor and a researcher. I believe my career will have picked and perhaps I will be back to class furthering my education.
Question 4: What extent do you believe that would influence your decision?
Answer: Once I will have chosen academics, then I might as well pursue lecturing. But as a researcher I know my studies will be going on for a very long time, and I will remain a student forever.
Question 5: What role might family play in the decision you made?
Answer: If I get married to a man who objects to my academic success then I might as well continue building my career. Because I am highly religious, I will like to uphold my society’s belief system in matters concerning the role of a woman and wife. If I get a supportive spouse, then I know I will go far in as far as academics are concerned.
Age: 20 years
Degree course: Education (Arts)
Current year of study: Year 2
Years left to complete University: 2 years
Question1: What motivates you for coming to university?
Answer: I want to acquire a university degree that will enable me to get a good job.
Question 2: What do you want to do on completing university?
Answer: I want to secure a job as a teacher.
Question 3: Where do you see yourself after five years of time?
Answer: I will be in employment, as a teacher and will be serving my people. I am passionate about teaching and changing lives. That makes me look forward to my graduation and future career.
Question 4: What extent do you believe that would influence your decision?
Answer: I want to be a successful career teacher and serve my community in the best way possible. Also, I would wish to see other young people attain higher education and become successful. Through that, the entire society will have become educated and empowered.
Question 5: What role might family play in the decision you made?
Answer: My decisions to pursue my career in future will be influenced by the man who will marry his family and me as well. Some men from my community would rather they have trophy women and work hard to provide for them. If I find myself in such a situation, I may not have much of a choice. But then I will endeavor to change the lives of other women and girls within my family.
Age: Rukan Mohamed
Degree course: Environmental Sciences
Current year of study: year 2
Years left to complete university: 2
Question1: What motivates you for coming to university?
Answer: My father wants all her girls to be highly educated because he values education for girls. It is something that is close to his heart, and he has always talked me into working hard in my studies and making him proud. That is partly the reason I am pursuing my degree
Question 2: What do you want to do on completing university?
Answer: I will want to work with various groups to see to it that my community achieves a lot on matters of protecting and conserving the environment.
Question 3: Where do you see yourself after five years of time?
Answer: In five years time, I would want to be running a nongovernmental organization that calls for a sustainable environment and conservation.
Question 4: What extent do you believe that would influence your decision?
Answer: I am passionate about the environment and my potential to work in this field depends on my mission and ambition to see to it that I achieve my dreams. If I ever have an organization to run then, I will be on the right track towards achieving my goals.
Question 5: What role might family play in the decision you made?
Answer: My family has always been in support of my academic pursuit and achievement. I know I will get support from my family as it has always been the case but in case they object I will still pursue my goals.
Age: 22
Degree course: Journalism
Current year of study: year 3
Years left to complete university: 1
Question1: What motivates you for coming to university?
Answer: I want to empower myself considering I come from a community that does not value higher education for girls. I just want to let everyone know that even girls can go to university and have a promising career just like boys.
Question 2: What do you want to do on completing university?
Answer: I want to become a journalist. I am here to get educational empowerment so that I chase my dream career.
Question 3: Where do you see yourself after 5 years of time?
Answer: I want to be in a position where I can empower young girls from my community to embrace higher education. I also want to be a testimony that with a better education any women can change their society.
Question 4: What extend do you believe that would influence your decision?
Answer: My decision to change the world will rely on what I do after I graduate from college. I would like to positively impact my society and that will depend on the work I will do after graduating from college.
Question 5: What role might family play in the decision you made?
Answer: I value family and whatever decision they will make concerning my life, I will ask to have a say in it. I will request that I be allowed to follow my dreams, and I will not compromise my traditional role as a wife and mother.
Data analysis
All of the four women are focused on the empowerment of the self and their communities.
The different interviewees indicate different reasons and aims for wanting to complete university education. It turns out that it is never easy to pursue higher education for girls and having joined college the young women have made great strides and achieved a lot. It is because of that that all of them make it look like they have attained a milestone that many of their kinsmen do not reach, almost all of them want to prove to their society and the world as a whole that it is possible for a Saudi girl to go to university.
Besides, they acknowledge that university education is a ticket to a good job. One of them said she went on to pursue university education because her academic achievements will enable her to get a job as a teacher. They are motivated by the fact that they will have careers just like their male counterparts. That will put them on a platform that will equal them to men in as far as academics and careers are concerned.
Also, from their answers it seems as though the Saudi society is opening up to the possibility of having a girl- child empowered society. One of the students stated that her father has always wanted her daughters to be highly educated. Apparently, this could be the situation where women are beginning to receive equal opportunities as men. None of the girls want to receive their educational accolades for selfish purposes and personal growth. All of them identify the problems women face in their society and would wish to join others in bringing positive change to their communities. They say they want to empower the girl child and ensure they are part of the support system that will see to it that more girls pursue education.
