Abstract:

The purpose of the study is to examine the barriers for Vietnamese women academics when pursuing academic careers. The study used a qualitative method with an epistemological approach. To interpret the findings, a theoretical framework of feminist theory in combination with Asian feminism and several cultural norms and the theory of gendered organizations was used. The data were collected from semi-structured interviews with 15 women academics in nine public universities.

Four main themes emerged from the data interview:
(i) motivations of pursuing academic careers,
(ii) barriers for women academics in career progression,
(iii) perceptions of gender impacts on professional and personal lives;
(iv) common strategies and skills to overcome the barriers.

The findings show that there exist individual, socio-cultural and institutional barriers to career advancement. Among these barriers, family-related barriers were the most cited reasons to hinder women academics in career progression. A finding contradictory to the literature is that gender was not an issue in the working environment from most of the study participants’ experiences. There were also mixed perceptions on the impacts of gender on their personal and professional lives. Besides, the participants shared their strategies and skills used to overcome their barriers. Based on the main findings of the study, the researcher provided a discussion as well as some implications for policy and practice, and suggestions for future research.

Keywords:

Gender, barriers, academic career, women academics.