The Obstacles of Women's Professional Promotion inMedical Education System of Iran: A Qualitative Study in the Sociology of Medical Education

This article is to explain poorer attendance of women at higher and professional levels of medical education, taking a qualitative methodological approach. The findings illustrate that the participants of this qualitative study have recognized five factors as main forces to deter women from improvement in Iranian medical education system and serious participation at higher, specialized and managerial levels of the system. These factors are: "Involvement in domains of marriage and family", "Existing a sort of patriarchy or masculinity in Iranian culture and society", "financial & economic issues", "psychological differences between men and women", "issue of adherence to traditional and religious norms in relations between men and women."Moreover, in view of participants, authorities and policymakers of medical education systems play key roles in deterring women from accessing higher managerial positions at the system, while they don’t blame authorities for excluding women from all rights of being highly educated and qualified in medical education system. The article, as a final point, asserts that the factor of "genderbased stereotypes" is central to explain poorer attendance of women at higher and specialized levels of medical education, among various factors influencing the subject. The findings also demonstrates that two factors, namely, "Patriarchal family" and "gender-based stereotypes" play key role in generating disparities and deterring women from equal improvement opportunities in the society.