Women in STEM Careers in Lebanon: Transforming Bodily Politics and Microaggressions

Current career literature in STEM fields has predominantly explored studies in the Global North and does not accurately capture the nuances and complexities of Global South regions and their culture and organization practices. In this paper, we draw on the empirical data of 21 women working in diverse STEM fields in Lebanon to address how their career and opportunities are constrained. During the interview process we noted how body descriptors formed part of the narrative. Consequently, we also probed how bodies are read and interpreted in STEM places. We use the theoretical framing of microaggression in organizations, how they can shape career trajectories, and how this can link to ideas around visibility and invisibility in organizations. We highlight how different forms of microaggression are socially and historically constituted and are manifest in dynamic ways, and what we view as an ‘abject presence’ in organizations. This stresses the formations of multiple processes of representing absence or invisibility.