مطالعات اجتماعی روانشناختی زنان (Mar 2023)
Studying the Perception of Employed Women of Humiliation and Their Strategies to Deal with it Case study orking Women in Mako City
Abstract
The humiliation of working women is a widespread social problem that has diverse consequences. This study aims to investigate working women's perceptions of humiliation in the workplace and their strategies for coping with it. To examine this issue, a qualitative approach was employed. Using purposive sampling and in-depth semi-structured interviews, 40 women from both public and private sectors were surveyed in Mako city. To ensure the validity, credibility, reliability, and transferability of the data, various measures were taken. Based on the three coding stages (open, axial, and selective) to explore working women's perceptions of humiliation, we extracted 25 concepts or open codes in the open coding stage. By linking these concepts, we obtained five categories that represent working women's perceptions of social humiliation. These categories include gender stereotypes, gender discrimination, violence, distrust, and violation of women's rights. Through abstracting and integrating these central categories in the selective coding stage, the core category of "social humiliation" was identified, which covers all the main categories. The study also found that women in situations of humiliation resort to three strategies: acceptance, resistance, and reconsideration. Humiliation, Social Humiliation, Employed Women. Introduction Many working women have experienced discrimination and various difficulties and harms in the workplace, including humiliation. Yet, the issue of humiliation of working women has not been thoroughly examined from a sociological perspective, and prior evaluations have primarily relied on mental perceptions and relatively superficial information. The lack of sociological research on this topic in Iran highlights the insufficient attention paid to the situation of employed women. Therefore, the aim of this study is to address the following questions: What specific examples do women provide regarding their experiences of humiliation, and what strategies do they employ to cope with it? Methodology The research utilized a qualitative method, employing the semi-structured in-depth interview technique to collect data. The sample group consisted of employed women in Mako city, chosen through a purposive sampling method. A total of 40 women working in both public and private sectors in Mako city were interviewed until data saturation was reached. Result Upon analyzing the collected data using the three coding stages (open, axial, selective), 25 open codes were identified during the open coding stage. Through linking the concepts, five categories were developed indicating working women's perceptions of humiliation. These categories were: gender stereotypes, gender discrimination, violence, distrust, and violation of women's rights. 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