The Narrative Research of Women's Semantic into Their Developmental Experiences at Senior Management Posts in Tehran City Higher Education Centers

Purpose: Today, women's serious participation in economic and business activities, along with the evolution process of their employment, has created the fundamental changes in their traditional role. The approach of women to out-of-home employment is influenced by their cultural, social, political, economic and individual systems, and the successful female managers have a unique self-concept that allows them to overcome the old gender boundaries. Methodology: For this purpose, an in-depth interview was used to access the narratives. The research participants comprise 20 women in senior management posts in Tehran's higher education centers who were selected through the targeted sampling. Finding: The findings of the study, using the theme analysis method, have identified the factors promoting the women's development in senior management positions in three themes: individual, organizational and socio-cultural, and five themes of organizing the education, family, individual characteristics, attitudes of employees and authorities, community attitudes, and the factors preventing women's development in senior management positions in three main themes of individual, organizational and cultural-social and seven themes of organizing the education, family, individual characteristics, discrimination, attitudes of employees and authorities, community attitudes, cultural stereotypes. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that women's perception of management positions, individual and family characteristics, staff attitudes, community attitudes, cultural stereotypes, and organizational discrimination are some barriers to women's development.