Problems and barriers faced by women in a male-dominated work environment: A field study on female security guards

This thesis focuses on the problems and obstacles faced by women in male-dominated work environments. It is a field research carried out especially on female security guards. The thesis aims to examine the working experiences of female security guards, their professional development, the challenges they experience and the obstacles they face. In this way, it aims to deepen our understanding of the gender-based discrimination, stereotypes, social norms and other challenges that women face in the security sector. The thesis aims to make an important contribution to understanding the experiences of female security guards and providing better support and improvements in this area. For this purpose, in order to understand the difficulties faced by women in the security sector in the context of gender and to examine these difficulties in depth, interviews were conducted with 15 female security officers living in Istanbul using qualitative research method. These interviews addressed women's work experiences, situations where they face gender-based discrimination, the impact of gender roles and gender dynamics in the security sector. In this way, by focusing on the experiences of female security officers in the context of gender, it is aimed to determine the steps that should be taken to achieve gender equality and justice. As a data collection tool, in-depth interviews and a semi-structured questionnaire were used to better understand and interpret ten. The findings of the study reveal that female security guards face gender-based discrimination, restrictions and challenges that they are exposed to in the work environment. After the analysis, some suggestions were made. As a result of the analyzes, the positive role of female managers on the career experiences of female security guards was revealed. In addition, as a result of this study, the suggestion that a new concept should be defined has emerged.