This study employs a mixed-methods approach to explore the intersection of gender and socio-economic background in shaping women’s academic careers. The research integrates quantitative and qualitative methods, including the analysis of governmental statistics, web-scraped data from Google Scholar, and in-depth interviews with female academics in selected Arab States. The web scraping process collected data on 90,000 scholars, enabling gender identification and the analysis of academic positions, career trajectories, and potential family ties (wasta). The qualitative analysis includes in-depth interviews with 21 female academics, focusing on personal experiences, perceptions of gender disparities, and institutional barriers. Moreover, a case study of a Jordanian public university was conducted to assess the influence of socio-economic status on women’s academic participation. A survey of 70 faculty members and semi-structured interviews with five PhD candidates revealed that economic and social capital, particularly the presence of academic relatives, significantly impact faculty’s career outcomes.