Exploring career “choices” of work‐centred women in a professional service firm

Savita Kumra

28 citations0/0 files storedGender in Management An International Journal

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Gender Diversity and Inequality Employment, Labor, and Gender Studies Work-Family Balance Challenges

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to challenge Hakim's work‐centred category and empirically tests its applicability in a professional service firm. Design/methodology/approach The information was gathered through 19 in‐depth interviews with women in an international consulting firm. The analysis was conducted using Nvivo software. Findings The paper shows that contrary to the contentions of preference theory, work‐centred women do not face unfettered choice in their career advancement. Findings reveal a number of structural constraints within the firm – namely the prevailing model of success, the need for high‐level sponsorship and the need to network, which impact their choices. The findings also problematise the nature and formulation of the work‐centred category itself. Research limitations/implications The paper surfaces a number of contradictions in the work‐centred category and calls for further work in this area. The paper also surfaces the presence of structural constraints which impact on women's career choices. Further research to develop these themes and provide broader contextual analysis is called for. Practical implications Hakim's preference theory has taken responsibility for women's career advancement away from society and organisations and placed it on individual women. The paper challenges this positioning and calls for organisations to audit their policies and processes to ensure they are not “gender oppressive”. Originality/value The paper adds to the debate on the applicability of preference theory through empirical evaluation of the one of the three categories at its heart – that of work‐centred women. The theory is found to be wanting on a number of issues and problematises not just the category but key tenets of the theory itself.

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References

1994Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook 1971Analyzing social settings : a guide to qualitative observation and analysis 1992Homophily and Differential Returns: Sex Differences in Network Structure and Access in an Advertising Firm 2008Through the labyrinth: the truth about how women become leaders 2003Managing Managerial Identities: Organizational Fragmentation, Discourse and Identity Struggle 2000Work-Lifestyle Choices in the 21st Century 2000Theories of Gender in Organizations: A New Approach to Organizational Analysis and Change11We are grateful to Lotte Bailyn and our colleagues affiliated with the Center for Gender in Organizations, Simmons Graduate School of Management – Gill Coleman, Joyce Fletcher, Deborah Kolb, Deborah Merrill-Sands, Rhona Rapoport, and Bridgette Sheridan – for their contributions to these ideas and for their foundational research, on which this paper builds. We also appreciate the feedback we received on an earlier draft from members of the FSC Research Group, Elaine Backman, Herminia Ibarra, Maureen Scully, and Kathleen Valley. We thank Joanne Martin and Barbara Reskin for their comments, which helped in our conceptual framing of the paper. Finally, we thank Bob Sutton and Barry Staw for their helpful suggestions. This research was funded in part by the Ford Foundation.2001Second Generation Employment Discrimination: A Structural Approach

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2020Who Aspires to be a Partner in a Public Accounting Firm? A Study of Individual Characteristics and Gender Differences

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