Lived Experiences of Women in Aesthetic Organizations: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study on their Career Trajectory through the Lens of the SECI Knowledge Creation Theory

This hermeneutic phenomenological study seeks to understand how women working in a medical aesthetic organization experience and interpret opportunities and barriers to knowledge creation and sharing, and how these experiences are perceived to shape their career trajectories. Eight women participated within the research and their shared experiences provided the data for this study. The application of the hermeneutic circle guided an iterative analytic process in which interpretation moved systematically between participants’ accounts and the developing understanding of the phenomenon as a whole. Nonaka and Takeuchi’s (1995) SECI model of knowledge creation provides the theoretical framework informing the research questions and analytical lens through which participants’ experiences are interpreted. Participants identified limited access to information and constraining organizational structures as barriers to career advancement, while the presence and accessibility of female role models were perceived as facilitating professional growth. An unanticipated finding was the shared experience of symptoms commonly associated with imposter syndrome across participants, highlighting an area for future study. The findings underscore the significance of a need for equitable programs and intentional opportunities for knowledge sharing within aesthetic organizations. By addressing a gap in the literature, this study contributes to the understanding of women’s professional development and knowledge practices within the context of aesthetic medicine.