The Construction of Gender in Business Environment Analysis of the Experiences of Graduates Working in Tehran

The main purpose of this study is to investigate and present the viewpoints of employed men and women graduates and the construct of gender in the workplace. In this study, in addition to avoiding one-dimensional and narrow view in the analysis of employment and gender, a GrandedTheory approach and  an exploratory one were employed. The qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews and purposive sampling method from 22 educated men and women working in Tehran. The data were analyzed with MAXQDA software and data-driven theory method.The paradigm model obtained from interpreting the viewpoints of the population under study indicated that the core phenomenon (gender construction of employment) could be defined based on the interactions of factors such as causal conditions (gender relations governing the work environment, gender beliefs and constructive rules); underlying conditions (challenges of the workplace, the nature of the workplace and the support of communication networks) and intervening conditions (recognizing the professional position, job quality and the paradox of the university and the labor market). While confirming qualitative findings, the analysis of data revealed that women experienced the gender construct and unequal access to resources more than men in workplace. In the final analysis it could be said that working women, when exposed to unequal access to opportunities and resources, can change the way of access to resources with their active action strategy, but this does not imply absolute freedom. The structure is imposed by rules and resources such as gender relations in the workplace, gender beliefs, constructive rules, lack of communication network support, authoritarian work environment, workplace challenges and paradoxes between the university and the labor market and it changes and limits women actions. Men, like women, acknowledged the existence of a masculine dominant environment in work, the existence of discriminatory laws, the challenges of the workplace, the paradox of the university, and the tendency of the labor market to exclude and marginalize women.  Based on these results and a multivariate view of gender construction in the workplace, it is possible for women to achieve greater participation and leading the workplace to move towards avoiding gender domination by reviewing the employment policies, reforming managers' attitudes and balancing power in the family.