Professional women's mid‐career satisfaction: an empirical exploration of female engineers

Abstract

Purpose The dynamics of professional women's mid‐career satisfaction are important to understand, given the vast knowledge, experience and skills typically accrued by mid‐career that are often difficult to replace. Design/methodology/approach This study empirically examines Auster's multilevel framework of factors affecting the mid‐career satisfaction of professional women using a sample of 125 professional women engineers. Findings Results of logistic regressions reveal that individual, career, job, stress and organizational factors all impact the mid‐career satisfaction of professional women, but that stress and job factors are the most powerful determinants for this sample of women. Research limitations/implications While this study offers many insights and possible directions for future research on women at mid‐career, there are a number of limitations. Future research could broaden the macro and micro factors explored, as well as compare these results with those of women in other fields and industries, women at other career stages, and women across other geographic regions. Practical implications Organizations should strive to be more transparent about advancement options and opportunities, provide interesting and challenging work and more flexibility in work schedules (emphasize output, not face time), and offer support for key drivers of stress. Originality/value This is the first fairly large‐scale empirical study of macro and micro factors affecting women's mid‐career satisfaction. This article should be of interest to managers concerned with retention of high‐performing employees, HR practitioners, and academics specializing in careers, women's issues, and human resource management.

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