Analyzing the relationship between job description perception and role ambiguity: The case of a public institution

This study aims to provide an in-depth examination of the obstacles and masculinization tendencies of women managers in their careers and to explain the reflections of gender in the lives of women managers within the framework of their subjective experiences. The main purpose of the research is to determine the experiences of women managers in business life and the gender-based obstacles they face and to investigate whether these obstacles lead to masculinization in their careers. Qualitative method was used in the study. In the qualitative context, phenomenology design was adopted. In this context, phenomenological interviews were conducted with a total of 15 women managers. The participants were female managers with at least 10 years of experience in the private sector. Phenomenological research focuses on the experience of the participants. Therefore, an interview form was prepared to understand the difficulties faced by women managers in their careers and their masculinization tendencies and experiences. The data obtained as a result of the interviews were transformed into texts by the researcher. Interpretative phenomenological analysis method was used to analyse the research data. With this method, the researcher tried to make sense of the phenomenon by interpreting the participants' comments on their own experiences. In the study, issues such as career journeys of women managers, difficulties in finding a job, inequalities of opportunity, sacrifices they make for their careers and role conflicts are discussed in detail. In the research findings, the experiences of women managers regarding career barriers and masculinization tendencies were grouped under 9 main themes. The findings show that women managers feel the impact of gender on them in terms of both employment and equal opportunities in the work environment. Another point conveyed by the participants was that female managers do not have the same opportunities compared to their male colleagues working in the same position in a male-dominated work environment due to the influence of gender roles and that they have difficulty in finding a job due to their gender. In addition, they mentioned that they were subjected to gender discrimination and that they had to sacrifice much more in their careers compared to men in order to be visible. Accordingly, they pointed out that they experience role conflict and that this situation leads to masculinization. The results of the study reveal that female managers have to exhibit masculine behaviours in order to exist in the male-dominated business world and this situation negatively affects their career development. The results emphasize the need to ensure gender equality in the business world and to support women managers more in their careers. In the discussion section, the findings obtained from the research are discussed and presented together with the findings of related studies in the literature, and the research is completed by making suggestions for future research and applications.