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Negotiating Challenges and Aspirations in a Gendered Work Environment: The Voices of Women Working in the Iranian Broadcasting Media
Author(s) -
Ghasemi Asemeh
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/josi.12397
Subject(s) - negotiation , agency (philosophy) , gender studies , islam , work (physics) , sociology , power (physics) , order (exchange) , broadcasting (networking) , political science , social psychology , psychology , engineering , social science , business , geography , mechanical engineering , computer network , physics , finance , quantum mechanics , computer science , archaeology
I report the results of in‐depth interviews with 30 Muslim women working in the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Organization (IRIB), illuminating the challenges that women negotiate and their aspirations in a male‐dominant work environment. Two main challenges were identified: (a) the gender‐unequal stratification of work positions and opportunities, and (b) the complexity of work‐required physical proximity and observance of religious codes of conduct. Although some participants seemed resigned to the power of the gender order that privileged men and focused on performing their professional duties, others actively struggled with gender discrimination to prove themselves as equally competent as men and transform the work culture. Overall, the results highlight these women's agency in accepting and contesting dominant gendered norms, structures, and practices. The enactment of such agency also shows that the gender order is not immutable, but is relational and dynamic, and thus open to change.