Designing a Model for Promoting Women to Executive Positions in Iranian Public Organization

Sustainable development is not possible without the participation of all segments of society. One of the criteria for the development of countries is the level of womenchr('39')s participation in governing bodies. Despite the empowerment of women and the desire to participate in management, the promotion of women still faces obstacles and challenges. The present qualitative research, using the thematic analysis method, aims to identify the elements of the model of womenchr('39')s promotion to executive positions in Iranian public organizations. The sample consists of 42 female-male managers and women experts who have worked in public sectors. The sampling method is purposeful and theoretical saturation has been used to achieve adequate sampling. The data collection was based on individual and centralized semi-structured interview methods and was analyzed at three stages of descriptive, interpretive and integration coding. According to the findings, the elements of womenchr('39')s promotion model in 4 main themes and 12 sub-themes include: Gender awareness and re-defining of womenchr('39')s identity (thoughtful awareness instead of passive acceptance, re-defining womenchr('39')s identity, empathy instead of self-suppression, role management), political determination (supportive and determined government), jurisprudential and legal reconsideration, the formation of womenchr('39')s parties, the system of equal promotion opportunity (the strategy of selecting the right instead of appointing the affiliated, encouraging promotion instead of persuading the job), collective awakening and national determination (collective awareness, cooperation of reference groups and formation of civil institutions). The results show that the establishment of the proposed model will be possible by creating an interactive space between social actors in the heart of structures. To create such an atmosphere, the formation of human-centered discourse is essential. This discourse has four dimensions: interpersonal discourse, inter-party discourse, competency discourse and social discourse.