Abstract

Among women’s experiences, one of the least addressed issues is their experience of power in their workplace. The current study aimed to find sources of women's power in government organizations. The research method involved a phenomenological approach, with the use of observation and interview. Participants were women working in government organizations in West Azerbaijan Province (the name of a province in Iran). Theoretical saturation, which is a subset of sequential sampling, was used. Coding was used to analyze the data. The women described the concept of power and how power is exercised, stating that their reaction was passive. They believed that the compliance of their work clothes with the imposed organizational rules is only to maintain their current status and has no effect on their progress. They believed that there were many good work patterns among women and that they performed better than men. Gender discrimination and competitive in the workplace, both legal and illegal, were among the barriers women faced.