( CNN ) -- In a country where women are n't allowed to drive , a female engineer is showing her male colleagues a thing or two . Wearing a headscarf and science goggles , Jumana Almuzel is a rare sight on the shop floor of Saudi Arabia 's GE gas turbine facility . Indeed , she is the only female to work alongside her male counterparts at the energy giant 's Eastern Province plant . `` When I came to the shop floor I was working with the men side-by-side , and they were asking me some questions , '' said Almuzel , an American-educated mechanical engineer . `` We are helping each other , and they can see that I 'm capable of understanding the mechanics behind the components that we are working on . '' It 's a radical change for a country where gender segregation is the norm , and just one in five women work . But change is afoot in this ultra-conservative kingdom , and it 's being driven from the very top by the ruler King Abdullah . With around 8 million expatriate workers in the country , Saudi officials say there is an over-reliance on foreign labor . Watch : Meet the richest man in Saudi Arabia . Could local women entering the workforce be a way of combating that ? An all-female business processing center has now opened in Riyadh , with plans to employ over 3,000 women . `` The irony is , many of the unemployed are highly educated females , '' said Khalid Al Falih , CEO of energy giant Saudi Aramco , at the opening of the new center . `` Over 50 % of unemployed females hold a university degrees , and that 's because mixed work environments are not available . '' Meanwhile , Indian communications group Tata has already set up an all-female call center in Saudi Arabia . Despite these advances in women 's work life , a major exception remains . They are still banned from getting behind the wheel of a car and driving themselves to work . Insight : Inside Abu Dhabi 's new super mall .
Female engineers works side-by-side with male counterparts . Comment: One in five women in the kingdom currently work . Banned from driving , gender segregation is the norm .