Search

Graduate education plays a role in improving the scope for employability of graduates. It empowers them with specialized skills, advanced knowledge, and critical thinking, which increases the scope for their employability. However, in the case of Saudi Arabia, it has been reported that there is widespread unemployment in the country. Though the Saudi Arabian government has initiated measures to nurture development in education through their ‘Saudi Vision 2030’ program, a gap exists. There are strong indictors which point at a mismatch of knowledge and skills possessed by graduates in Saudi, and the requirements of the labour market. Therefore, this paper examines the apparent gap between academia and employers in terms of employability, while focusing on whether graduate students have the same set of skills that employers require. Using a review method, information was derived from secondary sources, mainly from papers having examined the same topic previously. From the findings, academia believed that the educational system needed an overhaul and economic diversification, with the creation of new employment opportunities. Though employers believed that Saudi graduates lacked soft skills impacting their employability. It was concluded that a collaboration between students and employers was required, where employers could offer inputs supporting graduate employability.

Background: Professional values are the foundation of nursing practice. Current research evidence on the influence of professional values on clinical competence among acute care nurses in the clinical area is lacking. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the professional values and self-reported clinical competence among acute care nurses. Methods: This quantitative study used a cross-sectional, correlational design. A convenience sample of 403 nurses was recruited to answer the survey utilizing the Nurses Professional Values Scale-3 and the Nurse Competence Scale. The Pearson correlation coefficient was computed to test the relationship between study variables, and a stepwise multiple regression analysis was then performed to investigate the predictors of nurses’ professional values and clinical competence. Results: The professional value of “caring” received the highest mean score, followed by “professionalism”, while the factor “activism” was rated the lowest. Education was a significant predictor of all three factors of professional values. For clinical competence, “managing situations” was rated as the highest dimension, while “ensuring quality” was rated as the lowest. Moderate positive correlations were revealed between the three factors of professional values and all dimensions of nurses’ clinical competence. Area of practice and “activism” were the only significant predictors of the nurses’ clinical competence. Conclusions: Nurses perceived all three factors of professional values with high importance in influencing their clinical competence. These findings can contribute to the development of educational interventions to improve and sustain professional values and clinical competence among acute care nurses.

Walking is widely recognized as one of the most common and effective forms of physical activity, particularly for older adults. This study examined the comparative effects of two types of walking interventions, including supervised group-based intervention (SGBI) and non-supervised individual-based intervention (NSIBI), on frailty syndrome, cognitive functions or skills, and health-related quality of life among sedentary older Saudi individuals. A 15-week double-blinded, randomized controlled trial (RCT) including three groups (two were intervention groups while the other was the control group) was conducted among older adults who were inactive to examine the effect of different forms of walking interventions on frailty syndrome, cognitive functions, and health-related quality of life. A total of 107 participants, including 65 males and 42 females, were divided into three groups, which include SGBI, NSIBI, and the control group. Frailty syndrome was measured using the physical performance test (PPT), while cognitive function and health-related quality of life were assessed using the Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Short Form 36 (SF 36) health survey questionnaire. One-way repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with the pre- and post-tests were performed for within- and between-group differences. while post-test data for the control group participants were absent due to the change in elderly center regulation, and they were excluded from the analysis. Hence, the comparison was stated only between the intervention groups. Both of the intervention groups (SGBI and NSIBI) showed significant within-subject differences in the Physical Function subscale of the health-related quality of life scale only, with F(1,20) = 23.03, p < 0.001, and F(1,18) = 27.22, p < 0.001, respectively. On the other hand, the Physical Performance Test revealed significant [F(2,51) = 9.21, p < 0.001] between-group differences in the post-test based on the baseline values. In addition, the average step count of older adults was increased from 4000 steps per session to around 7000 steps per session in the intervention group. The average heart rate of the NSIBI group did not show a visible change, and the resting heart rate of both groups showed a slightly declining trend throughout the intervention period. The walking intervention significantly increased participants’ physical function, which is a component of health-related quality of life and physical performance (frailty level), along with average daily step counts for older adults in Saudi Arabia. Regular engagement in the recommended level of walking is strongly advisable for Saudi Arabian older adults to maintain their overall quality of life at this stage.

Despite marked advancements, life expectancy (LE) growth in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has remained stagnant compared to other developed nations. This study aims to investigate the significant correlation between macroeconomic (ME), sociodemographic (SD), and health status and resources (HSR) factors and LE to formulate an explanatory model for Saudi Arabia and the UAE—a previously unexplored area. Utilizing an ecological, retrospective, time-series study design, we delved into secondary data on SD, ME, and HSR factors and LE of the populations of the UAE and Saudi Arabia spanning three decades (1980–2020). We employed partial least squares–structural equation modeling for statistical analysis. Our analysis revealed significant direct impacts of HSR factors on LE for Saudi Arabia (β = 0.958, p < 0.001) and the UAE (β = 0.716, p < 0.001). Furthermore, we discerned a notable indirect influence of ME factors on LE, mediated through SD and HSR factors for Saudi Arabia (β = 0.507, p < 0.001) and the UAE (β = 0.509, p < 0.001), along with a considerable indirect effect of SD factors on LE through HSR (Saudi: β = 0.529, p < 0.001; UAE: β = 0.711, p < 0.001). This study underscores the mediating role of a nexus of ME–SD–HSR factors on LE in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Consequently, these findings signal an imperative need for holistic policy interventions addressing ME, SD, and HSR factors, aiming to alter health behaviors and improve LE projections for Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the long run.

Background and aim: Because they are unaware of the potential adverse effects of medications, people frequently self-medicate as a form of self-care. This study aimed to investigate the factors associated with health literacy and the propensity to self-medicate among the primary healthcare clientele of the city of Hail, Saudi Arabia. Methods: This research employed a cross-sectional approach with the participation of 383 primary health center clientele of the Hail Region of Saudi Arabia. Participation was enacted via convenience sampling from December 2022 to February 2023. The data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. The investigation utilized descriptive statistics as well as multiple linear regression and correlation for the data analysis. Results: Participants who were aged 30 years and above, single, had a college degree, were non-Saudi, had a white-collar occupation and received information from the internet/Google/YouTube had a significant relationship (p < 0.05) with health literacy. On the self-medication scale (SMS), there were significant relationships with age, marital status, educational level and occupation (p < 0.05). The nationality and source of information factors related to health had a positively significant effect on health literacy (p < 0.01), while middle age (24–29 years) had a positive effect on the self-medication scores (p < 0.01). There was a significant positive correlation between the health literacy screening scale (BRIEF) and the self-medication scale (SMS) scores (r = 421, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Age of 30 years old or above, single status, a college degree, non-Saudi status, white-collar occupation and receiving information from the internet/Google/YouTube were all significant for health literacy. There were also significant relationships with the SMS scores for age, marital status, educational level and occupation. The factors affecting health literacy were older participant age, nationality and the source of information regarding health. Conversely, among the participants, being in the middle-aged group (24–29 years) was a factor that affected their self-medication scores. There was a significant positive correlation between the health literacy screening scale (BRIEF) and the self-medication scale (SMS).

Abstract If Saudi Arabia’s regional strategy involves the containment of Iran’s proxies, why, under King Salman, did Saudi Arabia attack the Houthis in Yemen, but give up its attempt to overthrow Bashar al-Assad in Syria? I argue here that both decisions reflect Mohammed bin Salman’s willingness to seek ‘heterodox’ solutions in foreign policy, a feature that guided Saudi foreign policy in the face of a changing decision-making unit in the Saudi regime. While MBS’s influence in the case of Yemen is more easily identified, in the case of Syria this is not so straightforward. The crown prince only acquired the ability to manoeuvre Saudi policy towards Syria after consolidating his power within the regime, in 2017, and, from there, he put in place measures that, in practice, facilitated a coexistence arrangement between Saudi Arabia and Russia. In both cases, the objective was to contain the perceived Iranian advances in a scenario of reduced appetite by the United States to provide security for Saudi Arabia. This conclusion is reached through the use of a Foreign Policy Analysis approach, more specifically, the analysis of the decision-making units, to broaden and deepen the observations made from a regime security perspective.

This study aims to explore the attributes of teaching quality from the perspective of undergraduate accounting students in Saudi Arabia. A questionnaire survey was used to obtain views of undergraduate accounting students on the attributes of teaching quality. 28 attributes of teaching quality were included in the questionnaire. The findings of the study showed the importance of 27 of the 28 attributes of teaching quality included in the questionnaire from the accounting students' perspective. These attributes include attributes related to the class preparation and design, the class delivery, and the instructor's traits and personal characteristics. The findings of the study can help accounting faculties to evaluate their teaching strategies and create a development plan that is aligned with students’ expectations to enhance teaching quality, improve classroom effectiveness, and ultimately deliver students who are better prepared for the accounting profession. The findings of the study may also be of interest to academic managers, such as deans and heads of departments/schools, in designing staff development programs to improve teaching and student satisfaction. This study is timely because most of the undergraduate accounting programs in Saudi universities have recently applied for accreditation either from national or international accreditation bodies. As teaching quality is one of the important factors in obtaining academic accreditation, this study may have important implications in the field of higher education in Saudi Arabia.

The age-old notion of using naturally occurring or local building materials to construct monumental buildings is a noble one, timeless and deeply rooted in place. While traditional practice is all but disappearing from most of the world, the environmental, social, and economic advantages of such an approach are too great to be ignored by the contemporary building industry. The Al-Jaleel Friday Mosque, located on the northern seafront of Jeddah, the region’s historic port city, was designed following those principles. The project was conceived from the start as a load-bearing structure using locally fired bricks for the walls and the vaulted ceilings, forming all the necessary structural and mechanical details. But the challenge was to win the hearts and minds of the engineering team.

In Saudi Arabia, family members, general practitioners, morticians, or police officer, who are eligible to request autopsies, refrain from doing so to expedite the burial of the deceased. Inaccurate entries into the medical death certificate facilitate so. The reason for ignoring the completion of death certificates is not fully explored. Yet, incompetence or avoiding medicolegal allegations seem to be causative factors. In this study, we conducted a cross-sectional study on 335 medical students from all years of medical school to determine the association between taking the death certificate course and the level of knowledge about death certificates among medical students. The results showed an increase in the level of knowledge of students who took the course compared to the students who did not. Among the students who have seen death certificates, the majority have not seen enough number of death certificates. Cultural mores of the medical students are expected to govern their carefulness in filling out the death certificates.

This study aims to examine the employers’ perceptions about the employability skills required from accounting graduates in Saudi Arabia. To achieve this goal, a sample of employers in Saudi Arabia was invited to participate in brief survey of 24 questions to determine their ranking of the most important technical skills (12) and generic skills (12) for accounting jobs. Eight of the twelve technical skills were ranked as most important: financial accounting and reporting, tax and zakat accounting, cost accounting, computer and information technology skills and business and company laws. On the other hand, employers stated that all of 12 generic skills were of high importance. The study has important implications for both educators and accounting students in Saudi Arabia. For educators, the findings of the study suggest that university policy-makers and educators need to adapt their curricula so that their graduates can acquire and develop competence in the generic skills needed by the modern workplace. For accounting students, the findings of the study indicate that memorization for earning high grades is necessary, but not sufficient for employment and success in today's work workplace.

This study aims to discover accounting students’ opinions of e-learning, which was applied as an alternative to the traditional education system in Saudi universities during the Covid- 19 pandemic. This study is a cross-sectional survey that sought to collect field data on accounting students’ perceptions of e- learning in Saudi Arabia. The findings of the study revealed that the majority of the accounting students expressed that they did not benefit from e-learning, either in increasing flexibility in their study of accounting courses, facilitating their study of accounting courses, improving their communication with teachers, improving their communication with other students or improving their possibilities to solve problems connected to the study of accounting courses. The majority of students have agreed that the most important disadvantages of e-learning are: lack of human contact, the technical problems and too much dependence on computers. In general, this study contributes to the body of research on the benefits of e- learning in higher education. In particular, this study is the first study to evaluate the decision of the Ministry of Higher Education in Saudi Arabia to implement e-learning as a complete alternative to the traditional education system.

This article tries to evaluate the roots of the OPEC+ agreement, how it operates, and its prospects for the future. It argues that OPEC+ is a new governor in the Global Energy Governance (GEG) “regime complex”. It grew out of a convergence of the interests and capabilities of OPEC and non-OPEC exporters. The article shows that the emergence of OPEC+ is a consequence of over three decades of competition and occasional cooperation between exporters united in OPEC and those outside the organization. That cooperation was always a consequence of the price war and the demand of OPEC members for cooperation with non-OPEC exporters. Intensive consultations and three agreements on production cuts between both groups of countries in the years 2016-2019 made it possible to begin the institutionalization of cooperation among them. Cooperation within the OPEC+ agreement is non-formalized, based on government-to-government negotiations, and flexible. The signatories to the OPEC + agreement decided to avoid founding any formal IGO, and OPEC + continues to exist as a summit process.

Abstract Serological screening of 199 serum samples from Dromedary camels—from different cities in Saudi Arabia—was performed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detecting antibodies against two cyst-forming coccidian parasites, namely Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum. Antibodies against T. gondii were detected in 68 (34.2%) samples, while those against N. caninum were present in 33 (16.6%) samples. The highest seroprevalence of T. gondii antibodies was reported in samples from Taif (51.2%), while the lowest seroprevalence was reported in samples from Riyadh and Hofuf (15.1%). The highest seroprevalence of N. caninum antibodies was reported in samples from Jizan (35.9%) while the lowest was reported in samples from Taif (2.4%). A total of 47 male and 21 female camels exhibited antibodies against T. gondii , while 19 male and 14 female camels showed antibodies against N. caninum . Concurrent detection of both T. gondii and N. caninum antibodies was observed in 18 camels. It has been demonstrated that T. gondii and N. caninum antibodies are prevalent in camels from different cities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

King Salman and prince Mohammad bin Salman yearn to shift Saudi Arabia away from oil dependency via the project Vision 2030, which includes a set of liberalisations for women, such as legalisation of driving and economic empowerment. Topics related to women have been a taboo to Saudi society; thus, it is interesting to understand their role in these reforms and their negotiation of rights within the state. I argue that these reforms are not politically liberalising, as they do not rearrange the patriarchal structure. Moreover, they walk in line with a top-down nationalist project that excludes and arrests, among others, female activists that previously fought for the right to drive, stressing the limitations on women’s freedom under Salman’s rule.

One of the main sources of tension in the Middle East is Iran’s foreign policy and its ambiguous nuclear program. The 14th of July’s agreement marked the beginning of a new era. However, Israel’s lack of confidence towards Iran, rivalty and hostile relations between Saudi Arabia are obstructing any initiatives to resolve this conflict that is threatening the stability of the region. This paper analyzes the major geopolitical and strategic challenges facing the stability of the Middle East. For this propose, we analyze Iran’s defense and foreign policy, its nuclear program, the Israeli defense and foreign policy and its position towards Iran’s nuclear program. Furthermore, we shed light on the persistent rivalry and hostility between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Finally, we examine the factors leading into the conclusion of this agreement, the current state of conflict, and the possible future scenarios.

New perspectives on education can emerge when the voices of teachers are articulated in the research process. This is especially the case in contexts where teachers' voices have not often been heard. In this article, we provide a data-driven exploration of the potential of Ketso, a visual-tactile focus group method originating in participatory research, to generate female Saudi teachers' views on technology use in education. The design of Ketso is based on a tree metaphor, and it employs written input and group discussion. Our analysis reveals how Ketso enabled the voices of each of the female teachers to be heard and how it helped participants to extend their initial individual views in conversation with others. Moreover, the physical nature of Ketso, with its shared workspace and turn-taking built into the use of colored leaves for asking different questions, kept the participants focused on what was important to them, whilst avoiding shared or strong views to be magnified. We conclude that Ketso can be used beyond its participatory origins as an inclusive data generation tool in qualitative research. We also discuss what additional steps may be taken to make the voices of the female Saudi teachers more visible.

The present study was the first attempt to survey the diversity of fish zoonotic parasites in the southern region of Saudi Arabia, particularly the Najran area, from October 2012 to October 2013. Approximately 163 fish representing seven species (two of freshwater fish and five of marine fish) were examined for fish-borne trematode metacercariae using the compression technique, and for zoonotic nematode larvae. Adult flukes were obtained from cats experimentally infected with the metacercariae on day 25 post-infection The prevalence of each parasite species was recorded. The parasites found belonged to two taxa: Digenea (Heterophyes heterophyes and Haplorchis pumilio) in muscle tissue; and nematodes (larvae of Capillaria sp.) in the digestive tract. The morphological characteristics of the fish-borne trematode metacercariae and their experimentally obtained adults were described. This is the first report of these parasites in fish in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, Myripristis murdjan presented higher prevalence of Capillaria sp. infection (22.7%), while Haplorchis pumilio was the dominant metacercarial species (7.9%). Although the number of documented cases continues to increase, the overall risk of human infection is slight. The increasing exploitation of the marine environment by humans and the tendency to reduce cooking times when preparing seafood products both increase the chances of becoming infected with these parasites. Furthermore, our results indicate that certain fish production systems are at risk of presenting fish zoonotic parasites, and that control approaches will benefit from understanding these risk factors.

The first record of M. argenteus from the Arabian Gulf coasts of Saudi Arabia is confirmed, based on a sample measuring 158 mm in SL. Morphometric and meristic data are provided for this specimen.

The first record of M. argenteus from the Arabian Gulf coasts of Saudi Arabia is confirmed, based on a sample measuring 158 mm in SL. Morphometric and meristic data are provided for this specimen.

Observations and insight into Muslim and Gulf State Nations after years of serving as an onsite, teacher and consulting professor in education and Psychology are presented. The dramatic increase in literacy in Saudi Arabia and the problems associated with a country adjusting to this change are analyzed. The consequences of an illiterate, nomadic, tribal nation discovering colossal wealth and its influence on their traditions and economy are described. Unique insight into the struggle of newly-educated women to achieve greater freedom and opportunity in a culture known for its gender-based political ideology is offered. Gender barriers to university education and subsequent employment, and the tactics used to maintain them, are identified in some detail. The practical problems in teaching students from tribes in which truth and knowledge are secondary to desert survival through unchallenged leadership and loyalty are presented. The consequences of a government system in which there is no separation between State and religion are discussed. The importance of feminine values in a world where their absence could be devastating is explained in detail. The information contained herein can provide insight for countries changing from nomadic, tribal institutions to integrated, industrialized nations during the 21st Century.

This study focused on the factors that affect motivation of faculty in Saudi Arabia. It included two surveys and open-ended queries to a focus group of five academic managers and 25 faculty members of varying nationalities, rank, and institutes in Saudi Arabia. The research showed that the faculties in Saudi Arabia’s higher education industry feel disconnected from the program development. The faculty members did not feel motivated to participate in the development and improvement of the academic program due to: (a) lack of monetary and non-monetary incentives, (b) management not involving faculty in decision-making, and (c) lack of recognition and moral support. However, the faculties were intrinsically motivated to perform their best within the confines of the classroom. The results of the study indicated that there was a greater interest in intrinsic motivation as a personal measure for success inside the classroom, but extrinsic motivation was a factor that needed greater improvement from the management of the universities for faculty to partake in development of the program. DOI: 10.18870/hlrc.v4i4.211