Exploring Female Leadership in Azerbaijani Higher Education: Barriers and Overcoming Strategies through Feminist Narrative Inquiry

This research project aims to explore the barriers encountered by women leaders in higher education institutions in the Republic of Azerbaijan and the approaches they employ to navigate these challenges. The considerable underrepresentation of women in leadership positions across higher education institutions of Azerbaijan is a key reason for undertaking the current study. Despite Azerbaijan’s legal commitments to gender equality, women remain significantly underrepresented in senior leadership positions in higher education institutions, including roles such as rectors, vice-rectors, deans, and department heads. While global research has explored gender disparities in higher education leadership, post-Soviet contexts like Azerbaijan remain underexamined. Using Feminist Narrative Inquiry, this qualitative study employs semi-structured interviews with purposively selected women leaders from public and private universities, allowing participants to share their lived experiences while ensuring focus on key research questions. Data are analyzed using thematic analysis, identifying patterns and emergent themes that reveal how women navigate institutional, cultural, and structural challenges. Nancy Fraser’s Three-Dimensional Theory of Justice—focusing on redistribution, recognition, and representation—guides the analysis, highlighting both systemic inequities and acts of resistance. Preliminary insights suggest that women leaders employ mentorship, coalition-building, advocacy, and strategic negotiation to challenge gendered hierarchies and influence institutional norms. By connecting individual narratives to broader structural dynamics, this research contributes to understanding gender inequality in post-Soviet higher education and offers recommendations for policymakers and administrators. The study demonstrates how feminist leadership practices in Azerbaijan can inform global discussions on gender equity, leadership development, and institutional transformation.