A number of female academics and engineers have called for female students to be allowed to enroll at King Fahd University for Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in Dhahran. They have argued that there are no religious restrictions preventing females from studying at the university and that they will not mingle with males because they could have separate sections. Dr. Hassa Aal Al-Sheikh, Dean of the Women's College at Al-Yamamah University in Riyadh, said females will benefit significantly from studying at KFUPM because it is one of the most important and prestigious universities regionally and internationally. “It has a good reputation for the high academic standards of its graduates. The question which can be posed is, ‘why does this university not open its doors to females?'” She said that KFUPM cannot offer the excuse that the courses on offer are not suitable for women when these same courses are offered at other universities. “Therefore, females must be given room at this prestigious university.” She believes that officials at the university do not want to raise these issues because they do not want Saudi women to be decision-makers at the level of higher education. She said that it must be understood that women are a large part of society and they should be allowed to make their own decisions on educational matters. She said the Shoura Council has even asked the Ministry of Higher Education to allow women to participate in all decision-making regarding the education process. Women's rights Dr. Maryam Bubshait, Supervisor General for Bubshait Center for Educational Consultations, said: “The presence of many specialties at KFUPM does not mean that this university should be limited to males.” In fact this should be the reason for officials to open the doors for females to enroll, she said. “It is a woman's right to benefit from education services at this university.” If females are allowed to attend established universities in the Eastern Province, this could solve the problem of having to build more universities in the region, she said. “Moreover, there is nothing that prevents women from working in petroleum engineering and management or planning. Consider that there are some Saudi women who have graduated from foreign universities who are working in the field of petroleum such as oil exploration.” “It is not surprising that a Saudi woman is a head of a Petroleum Section at Aramco. Our judicious leadership always tries to provide opportunities for Saudi women in different areas, including education and other fields.” Fruitful initiative Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Ossayyil, Professor of Political Science at KFUPM, supports women's enrollment in all areas of education, at all universities, even in oil exploration engineering. He said it would be good for women to learn all the engineering specialties, including genetic engineering. He said society should cater for both men and women. “KFUPM is a specialized university. Therefore, the idea of establishing a women's section at the university would be a fruitful and good initiative. Not only this, but other universities with the same level of education should be opened (to women) and also have all sections for the engineering sciences. The equality of Saudi men and women in education is very important.” He said nothing is stopping KFUPM from making this decision. Not university's plan Engineer Alaa Al-Hariri also believes KFUPM should open its doors to females, especially in the engineering field. “Sometimes we hear justifications that this is not included in the university's plan. What's wrong in allowing Saudi women to study engineering at this university especially if we know that there are many Saudi female students who travel abroad to study the same specialties taught at KFUPM? If this is the case, why are Saudi females not allowed to study these specialties in their own country? I think it is wise to allow women to select these specialties. This does not conflict with Islamic teachings which encourage people to seek education, even in China, which at one time was very far away,” she said. Dr. Alaa Al-Aqtass, a lecturer at the Faculty of Education at KFUPM, said that if the excuse is being used that some specialties do not suit the nature of conservative women, then “why doesn't the university open sections which suit these women, like architecture, in which women have achieved great success?” Saudi females should be given an opportunity to study such specialties at KFUPM, she said. Too early One man who does not believe that woman should study these subjects is Dr. Omar Al-Khouli, a professor of law at King Abdulaziz University. “Every university has a council that determines the university's needs as well as labor market requirements. This is also the case at KFUPM, which teaches some specialties such as oil exploration. I need not mention that this specialty is too tough for women since men face hardships in this profession. Therefore, the university should devise specialties that suit women such as management, administrative, medical and research engineering. I believe that it is too early for the university to enroll females in petroleum engineering, but they can study industrial management and other specialties suiting their nature,” he argued.
