While giving women more of a voice is a watershed alone, it also underlines the growing importance of having them play a bigger role in society and, crucially, the economy.
With living and housing costs rising and the oil price back below US$50 ($76.60), there's less wealth to spread around, especially as the population has tripled since the 1970s oil boom.
The bottom line is that a woman's place can no longer be at home if the menfolk want to maintain the living standards they're accustomed to.
"It's getting to the point where they need two incomes if they want to live in a certain way," said Stefanie Hausheer Ali, associate director at Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Centre for the Middle East in Washington.
"In 15 years, we're going to see more of this shift."
King Abdullah, who ruled from 2005 until his death in January, slowly expanded women's rights in the face of resistance from some parts of the religious establishment.
He permitted women to stay in hotels without a letter from a male guardian, making it easier for women to travel on business. He appointed the first female deputy minister, opened the kingdom's first co-educational university and phased out male employees at lingerie and make-up stores.
He also appointed women to the country's 150-member advisory body and allowed female athletes to compete at the Olympics for the first time, in London in 2012, their covered bodies contrasting with competitors.
His successor, King Salman, hasn't rolled back the changes, focusing his new royal court on asserting Saudi Arabia's foreign policy.
As a result, female workers are entering the labour force in record numbers, a surge of 48 per cent since 2010, last year's official labour report showed.
"It's job creation within the national population and there's a great multiplier effect in the economy," said Monica Malik, chief economist at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank in the neighbouring United Arab Emirates. "To have around 50 per cent of your possible workforce not being utilised is a burden."
Though more of them are working, women are still only 16 per cent of Saudis with jobs and account for 60 per cent of the unemployed, according to the labour report.
Although their status has improved from a decade ago, their lives remain restricted. They are not allowed to drive, and must have a guardian's permission to travel or have some surgical operations.
Foziah Abu Khalid, a political sociology professor who helped organise the training, said she hoped women's participation in the vote would mean the voice of all Saudi citizens, not just half of the population, would be heard.
"Entering municipal councils is not our ultimate goal," said Abu Khalid. "We are aspiring that it will be the first step toward a political partnership between society and the state."
The Government is holding workshops to introduce women to the basics of voting and running in elections, including one on Thursday in the southern city of Baha, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. Others, like the event in Riyadh, are organised by activists, charities and NGOs.
One candidate at the Riyadh workshop, Al-Hababi, said constraints had made women less confident. When she returned from Britain, where she studied architecture for 10 years, women would respond with "What's the point?" when she asked why they weren't living the way they wanted.
Another woman running for local office, Areej Almuallem, 32, said her candidacy would allow her to show that women were trying to make a difference. And that's "enough for me to feel proud and honoured".
- Bloomberg
