Navigating Research Barriers as Iranian Female EFL Teachers: A Qualitative Study

One of the most important motivating factors for professional growth in English as a Foreign language (EFL) is teacher-led inquiry. Even though it has several advantages such as improving reflective practice, influencing pedagogy, and making teachers co-producers of knowledge, structural, institutional, and sociocultural barriers restrict participation. The challenges experienced by female EFL teachers in Iran are compounded by heavy workload, lack of research support, top-down hierarchies in schools, and social norms that are gendered, restricting professional identity, agency, and research participation. This qualitative research investigated the lived experiences of nine EFL female Iranian teachers, the impact of these barriers on their professional development process, and the strategies they used to cope with them. The thematic analyses of data in in-depth interviews and life history narratives are constructed in terms of gender, institutional support, and sociocultural norms. The results guide context-specific policies and practices in order to establish equity in research involvement and professional empowerment among female EFL teachers. The study concluded that institutional and gender barriers pose significant constraints on the female EFL teachers’ participation in research and urge the need to develop meaningful institutional support and gender sensitive policies for the successful empowerment of EFL teachers.