Presenting a DACUM Model Based on the Triple-Strength Empowerment Approach to Women in Internal Auditing

As one of the dominant features in developing countries, gender inequality has driven individual development and the promotion of skills, behavioral, and social competences largely based on the male gender. The audit profession is considered one of the jobs where gender inequality exists, especially in developing countries. This has made educational programs more inclined towards enhancing masculine abilities, followed by less well-regarded feminine functions in the field. This study aims to present a Dacum model based on the triple-strength empowerment approach of women working in the field of internal auditing in companies operating across the capital market. This is a goal-oriented, descriptive-applied developmental research, and a combination of data types. In the qualitative section, three-dimensional empowerment indicators of women working in the field of the internal auditing were identified based on the Dacum model approach participated by 15 research experts, using cross-sectional and Delphi analyses. The research period was in the period of one year from 2018-2019. A comprehensive interpretive-structural analysis was performed with the participation of 20 women as internal auditors of companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange. The purpose of this analysis was to prioritize the spectrum of the most influential indices of empowerment of female auditors in educational planning to the least effective ones in the form of the research model and to examine the relationships between them based on matrix comparisons. According to the results, 17 indices reached theoretical adequacy during the two rounds of Delphi analysis out of the initial 19 indices in the cross-mix analysis. Furthermore, the results of the interpretive/structural analysis indicated that educational planning was selected to balance the other roles of women as internal auditors, and the most influential Dacum indicator was to enhance the capabilities of women in internal auditing in listed companies in Tehran Stock Exchange.