Occupational Problems Facing Female University Faculty Members

Women's strong will to obtain higher education degrees and to work as faculty member of universities is an undeniable fact in Iranian current society. Nevertheless, female faculty members just like many other women encounter some career problems which can affect their emotions, attitudes and behaviors. This article aims at answering the three following questions: - What are the career problems of female university faculty members? -Is there any significant relationship between individual characteristics of female faculty members and their problems? - Is there any significant relationship between the problems and job tendencies of female faculty members? The surveys are obtained through interviewing 290 female members of non-medical faculties of state universities. The survey shows that a noticeable number of female faculty members face two major problems. The first problem is inconsistency between family-job role expectations while the second problem consists of discrimination against women Among demographic variables only age, ethnicity and scientific position are statistically related to the so-called problems but only in a limited way. In addition, interaction of family-job roles and gender discrimination has a significant negative relationship with job satisfaction and sense of fulfillment from their affiliated organization.