This study examines the role of information practices in shaping research capacity building (RCB) among female academics in highly segregated higher education environments, with a focus on the Middle East. Building on the workplace information practices (WIP) framework as a theoretical lens, the study investigates the challenges and opportunities that influence female academics’ trajectories and identifies strategies to enhance equality of opportunity and research outcomes. The study draws on semi-structured interviews with 57 female academics across four groups: those studying overseas, those returning from overseas study, those studying locally and those employed in research departments. The findings reveal three interrelated categories of challenge: cultural (primarily gender discrimination), social (notably family responsibilities) and academic (including limited language competence, research skills and information literacy). Interviewees also identified opportunities at individual, professional and institutional levels that strengthen RCB, including targeted research training, enhanced facilities, reduced workloads and knowledge transfer informed by international best practices. This study makes two key contributions. First, it extends the WIP framework by incorporating the specific dynamics of gender segregation and cultural constraints, offering a contextualised understanding of information practices in marginalised academic communities. Second, it develops a new, empirically grounded information practices framework tailored to the Saudi higher education context. By foregrounding the lived experiences of female academics, the study provides original insights into the intersection of gender, culture and institutional structures, offering a practical and theoretical model for advancing research capacity and enabling gender equity in higher education.
GibneyE.Teaching load could put female scientists at career disadvantage. London, UK: Nature, 2017.
2.
AlsubaieAJonesK.An overview of the current state of women’s leadership in higher education in Saudi Arabia and a proposal for future research directions. Adm Sci2017; 7(4): 1–15.
3.
AlasfourATlaissAKhanA, et al. Saudi women’s work challenges and barriers to career advancement. Career Dev Int2017; 22(2): 184–199.
AlmansourSKempnerK.The role of Arab women faculty in the public sphere. Stud High Educ2016; 41(5): 874–886.
6.
SavolainenRThomsonL.Assessing the theoretical potential of an expanded model for everyday information practices. J Assoc Inf Sci Technol2022; 73(4): 511–527.
7.
HoldenLPagerSGolenkoX, et al. Validation of the research capacity and culture (RCC) tool: measuring RCC at individual, team and organisation levels. Aust J Prim Health2012; 18(1): 62–67.
8.
OlssonMLloydA.Being in place: embodied information practices. Inf Res2017; 22(1).
9.
AlsudairyH.Modern woman in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: rights, challenges and achievements. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2017, p. 150.
10.
WidénGSteinerováJVoiseyP.Conceptual modelling of workplace information practices: a literature review. Inf Res2014; 19(4).
11.
CaidiNAllardDQuirkeL.Information practices of immigrants. Ann Rev Inf Sci Technol2010; 44(1): 491–531.
12.
LloydA.Framing information literacy as information practice: site ontology and practice theory. J Doc2010; 66(2): 245–258.
13.
LloydA.Trapped between a rock and a hard place: what counts as information literacy in the workplace and how is it conceptualized?Libr Trends2011; 60(2): 277–296.
14.
MoringCLloydA.Analytical implications of using practice theory in workplace information literacy research. Int Electron J2013; 18(3): n3.
15.
WillsonRStewart-RobertsonOJulienH, et al. Academic casualization, precarity, and information practices: a scoping review. Proc Assoc Inf Sci Technol2022; 59(1): 833–836.
16.
HepworthMWaltonG. Developing people’s information capabilities: fostering information literacy in educational, workplace and community contexts. Bingley, UK: Emerald Group, 2013.
17.
LindahlJCollianderCDanellR.The importance of collaboration and supervisor behaviour for gender differences in doctoral student performance and early career development. Stud High Educ2020; 2(46): 1–24.
18.
WillsonRGivenLM.‘I’m in sheer survival mode’: information behaviour and affective experiences of early career academics. Libr Inf Sci Res2020; 42(2): 101014.
19.
DeutschFMYaoB.Gender differences in faculty attrition in the USA. Community Work Fam2014; 17(4): 392–408.
20.
SheltzerJMSmithJC.Elite male faculty in the life sciences employ fewer women. Proc Natl Acad Sci2014; 111(28): 10107–10112.
21.
AistonSJungJ.Women academics and research productivity: an international comparison. Gend Educ2015; 27(3): 205–220.
22.
OpesadeAFamurewaKF.Gender divergence in academics’ representation and research productivity. J High Educ Policy Manag2017; 39(3): 341–357.
23.
AlomairM.Female leadership capacity and effectiveness: a critical analysis of the literature on higher education in Saudi Arabia. High Educ J2015; 4(4): 81–93.
24.
MisraJKuvaevaAO’MearaK, et al. Gendered and racialized perceptions of faculty workloads. Gend Soc2021; 35(3): 358–394.
25.
JessaniNValmeekanathanABabcockC.Academic incentives for enhancing faculty engagement with decision-makers from School of Public Health. Humanit Soc Sci Commun2020; 7: 1–13.
26.
LazonderAWHarmsenR.Meta-analysis of inquiry-based learning: effects of guidance. Rev Educ Res2016; 86(3): 681–718.
27.
KahwaEEdwardsNMortleyN.Research capacity building: a literature review and the theoretical framework. In: EdwardsNKasejeDKahwaE (eds) Building and evaluating research capacity in healthcare systems. Ottawa, ON, Canada: International Development Research Centre, 2016, pp. 1–260.
28.
CompaoréRBrizuelaVKhisaA, et al. ‘We always find things to learn from’. Lessons from the implementation of the global maternal sepsis study on research capacity. Health Serv Res2021; 21: 1–11.
29.
GadsbyW.Research capacity strengthening: donor approaches to improving and assessing its impact in low- and middle-income countries. J Health Plan Manag2011; 26(1): 89–106.
30.
MasikaRWiskerGDabbaghL, et al. Female academics’ research capacities in the Kurdistan region of Iraq: socio-cultural issues. Gend Educ2014; 26(1): 52–69.
31.
AlkhaledS.Women’s entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia: feminist solidarity and political activism in disguise?Gend Work Organ2021; 1: 1–23.
32.
AlghofailyL.Women leadership in higher education in Saudi Arabia. Int J Soc Sci2019; 8(2): 14–32.
33.
Von AlbertiLAazamS. Female leadership in the Middle Eastern higher education. J Econ Admin Sci2018; 34(2): 90–107.
34.
HilalYMifsudDHammadW.Female educational leadership in the Arab world: a systematic review of published research literature. Int J Leadersh Educ. Epub ahead of print 20February2024. DOI: 10.1080/13603124.2024.2316655.
35.
AlkhraifRAbdulsalamAAbdulrashidF.Family demographic transition in Saudi Arabia: emerging issues and concerns. Sage2020; 10(1): 1–13.
36.
MannonO.What do graduate students want from the writing center? Tutoring practices to support dissertations and thesis writers. Praxis2016; 13(2): 1–6.
37.
DiaoWWangY.Multiracial Chinese American women studying abroad in China: the intersectionality of gender, race, and language learning. Intercult Commun Educ2021; 4: 39–55.
38.
QiuTFuSYeomEY, et al. ‘I feel your fear’: (counter)stories of East Asian international doctoral students about awakening, resistance, and healing. Equity Excell Educ2023; 56(1–2): 240–254.
39.
BearmanSAmrheimM.Girls, women and internalised sexism. In: DavidEJR (ed.) Internalized oppression: the psychology of marginalized groups. New York: Springer Publishing Company, 2014, pp. 191–220.
40.
AlfurayhLBurnsM.Redefining ‘me’: identity change among female Saudi study abroad students in Australia. Gend Stud J2020; 29(5): 558–569.
41.
LefdahlEPerroneK.The cultural adjustment of Saudi women international students: a qualitative examination. J Cross Cult Psychol2015; 46(3): 406–434.
42.
AlkubaidiMAlzhraniN.‘We are back’: reverse culture shock among Saudi scholars after doctoral study abroad. Sage2020; 10(4): 1–9.
43.
MarshallBCardonPPoddarA, et al. Does sample size matter in qualitative research? A review of qualitative interviews in IS research. Comput Inf Syst J2013; 54: 11–22.
44.
MocănaàuDR.Determining the sample size in qualitative research. Int Multidis Sci Conf Dialogue Sci Arts Religion Educ2020; 4: 181–187.
45.
SaundersMTownsendK.Choosing participants. In: CassellCCunliffeAGrandyG (eds) Handbook of qualitative business and management research method. London: Sage, 2018, pp. 480–494.
46.
BraunVClarkeV.Thematic analysis: a practical guide. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2021.
47.
LincolnYSGubaEG.Naturalistic inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1985.
48.
DoğruC.Handbook of research on contemporary approaches in management and organizational strategy. Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2019.
YaoHChenSLiuA.Exploring the relationship between academic challenge stress and self-rated creativity of graduate students: mediating effects and heterogeneity analysis of academic self-efficacy and resilience. J Intell2023; 11(9): 176.
51.
TangLHortaH.Supporting academic women’s careers: male and female academics’ perspectives at a Chinese university. Minerva2024; 62: 113–139.
52.
ShiLLamILaiM, et al. Challenges in career development for women academics: a case study of a first-tier university in Mainland China. High Educ Policy2025; 38: 755–774.
53.
AlHazmiS.Current issues in English language education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Mod Lang J2017; 17: 129–150.
54.
PeñasCSWillettP.Brief communication: gender differences in publication and citation counts in librarianship and information science research. J Inf Sci2006; 32(5): 480–485.
55.
BuYLiHWeiC, et al. On the relationship between supervisor–supervisee gender difference and scientific impact of doctoral dissertations: evidence from humanities and social sciences in China. J Inf Sci2022; 48(4): 492–502.
56.
ShehataAElgllabM.Library anxiety among undergraduate students: a comparative study on Egypt & Saudi Arabia. Acad Librariansh J2019; 45(4): 386–393.
57.
AlzahraniJA.Overcoming barriers to improve research productivity in Saudi Arabia. Bus Soc Sci J2011; 2(19): 50–57.
FawziHAlHattamiA.Faculty production of research papers: challenges & recommendations. Humanit Soc Sci J2017; 7(2): 221–228.
60.
CastanedaDICuellarS.Knowledge sharing and innovation: a systematic review. Knowl Process Manag2020; 27(3): 159–173.
61.
OkelloCNtayiJMuneneJ.The role of social networks. J Afr Bus2018; 19(3): 361–384.
62.
GuzmánC.Values and the international collaborative research in higher education: negotiating epistemic power between the Global South and the Global North. Cham: Springer, 2019, pp. 137–153.
63.
AlsuwaidaN.Women’s education in Saudi Arabia. Int Educ Res J2016; 12(4): 111–118.
BarberBJiangWMorseA, et al. What explains differences in finance research productivity during the pandemic?J Finance2021; 76(4): 1655–1697.
66.
AldossariMCalvardT.The politics and ethics of resistance, feminism and gender equality in Saudi Arabian organizations. J Bus Ethics2021; 181: 1–18.
67.
BorlundPMandlTWomser-HackerC, et al. The second workshop of the European Network for Work Information. ACM SIGIR Forum2013; 47: 74–77.
68.
RimawiOKourdF.The scientific research obstacles from the faculty members’ viewpoint at the humanitarian colleges of Alquds university. J Educ Hum Sci2015; 3(21): 24–36.
69.
BinsahlHChangSBosuaR.Cross-cultural digital information-seeking experiences: the case of Saudi female international students. J Int Stud2020; 10(4): 872–891.
70.
IqbalMZMahmoodA.Factors related to low research productivity at higher education level. Asian Soc Sci2011; 7(2): 188–193.
71.
PakdamanNAhmadiMPakdamanR, et al. Barriers to research activities of faculty members in Islamic Azad University. Soc Determ Health2016; 2(2): 76–83.
72.
KhanMHussainITahirM, et al. The effects of tangible and intangible aspects on employees’ performance. Eng Appl Sci J2018; 37(2): 41–52.
73.
ImendaS.Is there a conceptual difference between theoretical and conceptual frameworks?J Soc Sci2014; 38(2): 185–195.
74.
LambRKlingR.Reconceptualizing users as social actors in information systems research. MIS Q2003; 27(2): 197–236.
75.
MensahaMBosireO.Building and enhancing library services: patrons’ awareness of, and engagement with social media in academic libraries in Ghana. Librariansh Inf Sci J2021; 54(4): 604–621.
76.
MaryatiIPurwandariBSantosoHB, et al. Implementation strategies for adopting digital library research support services in academic libraries in Indonesia. In: 2020 International conference on informatics, multimedia, cyber and information system (ICIMCIS), Jakarta, Indonesia, 19–20 November 2020, pp. 188–194. New York: IEEE.
77.
AlterS.Work system theory: overview of core concepts, extensions, and challenges for the future. J Assoc Inf Syst2013; 14(2): 72–121.
78.
IonGCastro CeaceroD.Transitions in the manifestations of the research culture of Spanish universities. High Educ Res Dev2017; 36(2): 311–324.
79.
LloydA.Workplace Information Practice (WIP): an ongoing research program. J Libr Inf Sci2016; 42(1): 30–32.
80.
AlalawiAIAlsaffarEAlmohammedZH, et al. A study of the effects of work-family conflict, family-work conflict, and work-life balance on Saudi female teachers’ performance in the public education sector with job satisfaction as a moderator. J Int Womens Stud2021; 22(1): 486–503.
