Analysis Contexts of Gender Inequality in the Labor Market and Employment

This study aims to analyze the context forming gender inequality in the job market and employment through a phenomenological qualitative approach based on the lived experiences of women living in Tehran. Hence, a semi-structured interview was conducted on 23 women from 18 to 68 years old, who were selected through purposive sampling to analyze the context of gender inequality in the job market and employment. Colaizzi’s method of data analysis was utilized. Additionally, coding the text of the interviews was done manually. In total, three categories, ten subcategories, and 59 concepts were extracted. According to the research results, the “Belief in gendered division of labor” category, consisting of “The breadwinning of men,” “Femininity and its necessities,” and “The status of women in private” subcategories; the “Institualization of women’s inferiority” category, consisting of “the socialization of women,” “the submission of women,” and “male-oriented gender stereotypes” subcategories; and the “predominance of patriarchal paradigms” category, consisting of “belief in the superiority of men,” “the domination of men,” “the innate empowerment of men,” and “neglecting the power of women in the job market” subcategories are some of the context forming this phenomenon, which has been reinforced in the cultural context ruling over society and families while they are constantly being produced and reproduced.