The antecedents of workplace gender diversity: A qualitative study on the effects
of women’s backgrounds on her attitude towards career advancement.
Master dissertation by Dani Vissinga
Dual award MSc Advanced International Business Management and Marketing Student no. University of Groningen: S2951096
Student no. Newcastle University Business School: 190178356
Dissertation supervisors: Dr. Stefanie Reissner Dr. Miriam Wilhelm
Abstract
Women are underrepresented on the work floor, especially in top-level functions. Scholars have found various barriers that hinder career advancement among women. The role of women in parenting was found to result in a slower pace of human capital accumulation. Additionally, gender stereotypes ascribed to women are often associated with incompetence and poor leadership, resulting in a preference for male employees. Consequently, women are often
excluded from valuable networks, which decreases their chances of promotion. Culture has been found to be an important factor in defining the role of women in society and on the work floor. Yet, it remains unexplored how a woman’s background affects her perceptions towards career advancement. This research fills this literature gap based on eight semi-structured interviews with female professors with various cultural backgrounds. The results indicate that the perceived barriers to advancement are highly dependent on a woman’s background. The negative
Acknowledgements
The process of writing my dissertation has been challenging, but very interesting and rewarding.
I want to express my deepest appreciation to all the research participants for their time, enthusiasm and valuable contributions. I was delighted to see how these busy women were happy to participate in my research and how open they were in sharing their, sometimes shocking, experiences and anecdotes. Without them, this wouldn’t have been possible, and their stories have touched and inspired me.
I would also like to thank my supervisors, Stefanie Reissner and Miriam Wilhelm, for all their help and guidance during this process. This was my first time conducting qualitative research, and Stefanie and Miriam, both experienced qualitative researchers, gave me the support I needed for conducting a type of research that was completely new to me. I am very happy they did, because I genuinely enjoyed conducting the interviews and despite it being difficult at times, learning how to conduct qualitative research.
Lastly, I would like to thank my friends and family, my mother in particular, for the endless moral support and encouragement.
Table of contents
Page number:
1. Introduction 6
1.1 Introduction to gender diversity on the work floor 6
1.2 Theoretical background 6
1.3 Research gap 8
1.4 Research approach and findings 8
1.5 Outline of the research 9
2. Literature review 10
2.1 Barriers for female career advancement 10
Family commitments 10
Stereotyping 11
Lack of access to networks 14
The confidence gap 15
2.2 The role of culture in shaping values and perceptions 17 2.3 Transmitting cultural beliefs and female employment 19 2.4 The effect of culture on female’s career trajectory 20
3. Methodology 23
3.1 Philosophical assumption and approach 23
3.2 Research design 23
3.3 Data collection and sampling 24
3.4 Data analysis 25
3.5 Ethical considerations 26
4. Findings 28
4.1 Society and perceptions towards women 28
Gender roles and expectations 28
Experiences with unequal treatment 30
Childcare 32
4.2 Support from critical actors 35
Parental support 36
Support by partner 37
Professional mentorship 39
4.3 Upbringing 41
Role of women in family 41
4.4 Education 43
5. Discussion 46
5.1 Implications 46
Stereotypes 46
Family commitments 48
Lack of access to networks 49
5.2 Contributions to theory 50
5.3 Limitations and suggestions for future research 50
6. Conclusion 52
7. References 53
8. Appendices 60
Appendix A: Country Clusters Ronen and Shenkar (1985) 60 Appendix B: Country Clusters Inglehart and Welzel (2014) 61
Appendix C: Country Clusters Gupta et al. (2002) 62
Appendix D: Interview guide 63
Appendix E: Thematic maps 64
Appendix F: Table with representative quotes 67
Appendix G: Participant information sheet 72
Appendix H: Consent form 74
1. Introduction
1.1 Introduction to gender diversity on the work floor
In 2006 Mellody Hobson, former chairwoman of DreamWorks animation and current CEO of a successful investment company, attended a press lunch. When she arrived at the location, the receptionist asked her where her uniform was. It turned out that she was mistaken for the kitchen help. This anecdote, which she shared in a TED Talk, is only one example highlighting the importance of increasing awareness about gender diversity on the work floor. Ample research has explored the effect of gender diversity in the workplace, and it was found that increased representation of women is associated with higher revenues (Badal, 2014), higher levels of innovation and creativity (Galia & Zenou, 2012) and increased productivity (Turban et al., 2019). In fact, if women had an identical role in labour markets as men, as much as €25.5 trillion could be added to the global annual GDP by 2025, equaling a 26% increase (McKinsey, 2015). Clearly, the underrepresentation of women on the work floor cannot be denied. These figures are even lower for women in leadership positions. In 2018, only 24% of senior positions globally were held by women (Grant Thornton, 2018). Additionally, for every 100 men who are promoted to a managerial position, only 79 women are promoted (McKinsey, 2018).
The following section provides a summary of the theoretical background for this research, after which the literature gap is identified. Then, the main findings in relation to the research question will be presented. This chapter will be concluded with an overview of how this dissertation is structured.
1.2 Theoretical background
(Oakley, 2000) and less capable in management positions (Schein, 1973) compared to their male counterparts. This can also be seen in recruitment and promotion practices, as male candidates tend to be preferred over female candidates, even if their qualifications are highly similar (Weichselbaumer, 2014; Coffman et al., 2018). This often results in a vicious circle, where male executives appoint and promote other men, maintaining the shortage of women in senior positions (Sanders et al., 2011). Another factor exacerbating male domination on the work floor is the difficulty for women to gain access to valuable networks. Social networks were found to be crucial for professional advancement (Uzzi, 2019) as it contributes to obtaining higher salaries and opportunities for promotion (Kanter, 1977; Oakley, 2000; De Janasz et al., 2003). Additionally, if women gain access to networks, they are often less efficacious, as they provide less high-status contacts (McDonald, 2011) and support for obtaining a promotion (Ibarra et al., 2013). These barriers contribute to the confidence gap between men and women. Due to the lack of confidence among women, they are more likely to ascribe failures to themselves (O’Neill et al., 2015) and attribute positive outcomes to luck (Einarsdottir et al., 2018). As a result, women are reluctant to grab opportunities that are crucial for their career advancement (Kay & Shipman, 2014).
Clearly, the current literature has established that women face several barriers when it comes to career advancement, and her cultural background can largely affect the role that is assigned to her in society and on the labour market. However, the exact way in which culture affects the process of professional advancement for women remains unclear, the exact literature gap will be explained in the following section.
1.3 Research gap
There is a rich stream of research on the barriers that hinder female career progression and how culture contributes to shaping the perceptions towards women. Thus, it is clear that the deeply embedded values of a woman’s background affect her chances and perceptions of pursuing a career and advancing professionally. What has been missing so far, however, is a qualitative analysis exploring the antecedents of the underrepresentation of women on the work floor. The current literature reveals that culture affects female career progression, but it remains unexplored which factors contribute to this. Additionally, despite ample research that explore the barriers to advancement faced by women, it is unclear how a female’s background affects her perception towards these barriers that may be faced during her career progression. Therefore, this dissertation aims to fill the literature gap by investigating not only if, but how a woman’s background affects her career advancement and her perceptions of the barriers faced during the process of climbing the career ladder.
1.4 Research approach and findings
exposed to strict gender roles can hinder career advancement. Furthermore, it was found that the negative effects of the role that of women with regard to family commitments can be reduced if a woman has a supportive partner and access to adequate childcare systems. This study underlines the importance of professional mentorship for career progression, however, it does conclude that obtaining a mentor may can be difficult for a woman.
1.5 Outline of the research
After this introductory chapter, a thorough review of the existing literature about female career advancement and the effect of culture will be provided. Thereafter, Chapter 3 will give a detailed explanation about the methodology of the research. This chapter contains an explanation and justification of the philosophical approach, the research design, the sampling approach and the data accumulation process and the ethical considerations relevant for the research. This will be followed by a chapter presenting the findings of the conducted interviews. Chapter 5 will provide a discussion of the findings, highlight its contributions to theory and present the limitations of the study. The final chapter will provide a conclusion.
2. Literature review
The following chapter provides a thorough review of the existing literature relevant to the research and it demonstrates the research gap, thus highlighting the areas where additional research is needed. The first section will explore the main barriers that have been found to affect professional advancement for women, which are family commitments, stereotyping, the lack of access to networks and the confidence gap. The second section will provide an insight into the ways in which culture affects the role of women in society and on the work floor. An explanation about cultural clusters and transmitting culture will be presented, which is followed by a review of the literature about culture and its effects on female career trajectories.
2.1 Barriers for female career advancement
Family commitments
found that among 842 members of the Australian business community, 41% of the respondents attribute the lack of corporate gender diversity to competing priorities. 61% of the male respondents state that women’s careers are disrupted by managing work and family commitments and that women tend to prioritise family over work (Sanders et al., 2011). Yet, only 22% of the female respondents reinforce this, indicating a discrepancy in assumptions made about the factors causing the gender gap in the workplace.
Therefore, the time spent on having children and raising a family is often considered as a factor decelerating a woman’s human capital collection, thus hindering a woman’s promotion and career advancement. However, research shows that men tend to consider this as a bigger obstacle than their female counterparts. Therefore, there must be other factors that hinder the upward career progression among women, which will be discussed in the following sections.
Stereotyping
Stereotypes can be defined as cognitive structures that contain beliefs about specific social groups and the belief that all members of these groups share common characteristics (Judd et al., 1991). Gender stereotypes are specific generalizations about the attributes and characteristics of men and women (Heilman, 2012). One can distinguish between descriptive gender stereotypes, which designates what men and women are like, and prescriptive gender stereotypes, which designates what men and women should be like (Heilman, 2012). Early research on these gender-based stereotypes made a distinction between agentic and communal personality attributes (Bakan, 1966). Agency tends to be associated with men (Diekman & Eagly, 2000), and is characterized by traits such as assertiveness, independence, competence and strong analytical abilities (Heilman, 2012). Women on the other hand are characterized by communality, which is associated with obedience, friendliness, emotional sensitivity and a strong preference for collaboration rather than competition (Heilman, 2012).
to this, gender-based stereotypes were found to impact women and form barriers to advancement on the work floor in several ways.
Clearly, the stereotypes about male and female characteristics differ significantly. Heilman (2012) concluded that men are considered as lacking the most prevalent female characteristics, whereas women lack those traits that are most commonly attributed to men. Oakley (2000) reinforces this, and states that traits stereotyped as feminine are often the opposite of the masculine competence-related characteristics, leading to a generally negative image of those individuals exhibiting feminine traits, which are associated with incompetence. These negative role expectations for women continue into corporate settings (Skelly & Johnson, 2011). The social role theory society has linked assertiveness, which is considered important for successful leadership, as a quality typically showcased by men (Baker, 2014). Those individuals exhibiting traits corresponding to the social role expectations of a leader are more likely to obtain a leadership position (Skelly & Johnson, 2011). Early research on gender stereotyping shows that male managers tend to ascribe leadership traits to men, and that women are perceived as less likely to possess traits required for being a successful manager (Schein, 1973). This study also showed that female managers are more likely to ascribe traits important for leadership to both men and women, however, the correlation between successful leadership and men was significantly higher. Schein’s (2007) review of gender stereotypes over the past three decades shows that these deeply embedded perceptions have changed for women whereas men’s perceptions seem to persist. Nowadays, women consider both males and females equally likely to possess those traits necessary for managerial success, whereas males continue to perceive that crucial managerial traits are more likely to be held by men compared to women (Schein, 2007). These findings are supported by a meta-analysis by Koenig et al. (2011), which shows that traits typically associated with successful leadership correlate stronger with stereotypical masculine characteristics compared to feminine characteristics.
discrepancy between male and female stereotypes, women tend to alter their behaviour and emulate masculine stereotypes to fit the norm. However, if she does, it she may be perceived as inauthentic (Oakley, 2000) or unfeminine (Catalyst, 2007). On the other hand, when a female exhibits characteristics that align with the feminine stereotype, she may be considered to be ineffective in her position.
Thus, female stereotypes are often not aligned with the global masculine stereotype which is associated with strong leadership characteristics. Consequently, women are less likely to be perceived as competent leaders and employees, hindering them in their career advancement. However, if a woman is known for her outstanding performance on the work floor, this will no longer be attributed to her stereotypical gender traits (Crawford, 2000). This results in a situation where gender stereotypes generally cause women to be considered as incompetent until proven otherwise (Crawford, 2000). Hence, women are subject to a higher standard for competency and have to work up to twice as hard as men to receive the same amount of recognition (Catalyst, 2007). In fact, women are twice as likely as men to be mistaken for someone in a more junior position (McKinsey, 2018). Because judgments of competency are based on descriptive stereotypical gender traits rather than merit, women’s capabilities are falsely underestimated. Therefore, gender-based stereotyping hinders women in the process of career advancement.
necessarily attribute this preference to discrimination which is specific to gender. Rather, they found that employers expect that men perform better on average, which results in a disadvantage for women in recruitment. Another study found that women do not necessarily face gender-based discrimination when it comes to recruitment, however, they did find that women are more likely to be recruited for low qualification or low status occupations compared to men (Albert et al., 2011). This gender bias is not only present when it comes to recruitment, gender-based stereotypes have also been shown to affect the chance of obtaining a promotion. Sanders et al. (2011) found that among 842 senior executives, 90% agreed that men are more likely to promote somebody with a similar style to their own. This statement was attributed to the social attitudes towards gender roles and stereotypes, which in turn legitimizes the exclusion of women by men. Scholars argue that this is caused by in-group favouritism, which causes people to prefer those people similar to themselves (Gerdeman, 2017). This results in a situation where male executives hire and promote other men, as their stereotypical character traits are more likely to be considered as competent and recognizable.
Lack of access to networks
Social networks are considered as a crucial factor for professional advancement (Uzzi, 2019), as it contributes to increased labour market opportunities (Oakley, 2000) which is reflected in higher salaries and increased promotion opportunities (De Janasz et al., 2003). Kanter (1977) recognized that women are often excluded from a firm’s internal conversations and social activities, causing them to miss out on access to valuable opportunities (McDonald, 2011). These types of networks are often referred to as ‘the old boys’ network’, which is an informal system of wealthy white middle-aged men (Gamba & Kleiner, 2001), that stretches within and across organisations, and excludes all women from membership (Oakley, 2000). Yet, being locked out by these networks decreases women’s access to valuable sources of social capital, directly hindering them in attaining higher status jobs (McDonald, 2011) and career advancement (Gamba & Kleiner, 2011). This was underlined by a study by KPMG (2015), which found that 82% of professional working women believe that networks will in fact help their career progression.
impediment to career advancement by the interviewees. All women agree that having a network of contacts opens up chances of professional development, because potential promotion opportunities are often not advertised but communicated through interpersonal relationships (Einarsdottir et al., 2018). Consequently, new managing directors often come from networks where women have no chance of admittance (Einarsdottir et al., 2018). This is underlined by Sanders et al. (2011), who found that women feel like they are four times less likely than their male counterparts to be considered for a job opportunity because they lack a senior sponsor who can speak on their behalf. Additionally, these women feel like they are twelve times more likely to encounter difficulties when building networks, due to a lack of fit in these networks, caused by differences in experience, background and interests (Sanders et al., 2011). Unsurprisingly, the men in this study agree that women do indeed face a lack of fit when it comes to professional networks. Research shows that even if women gain access to valuable networks, the connections tend to be less efficacious than for men. Men’s networks provide more informal help and they are more likely to have mentors who support them in obtaining a promotion (Ibarra et al., 2013). Additionally, McDonald (2011) finds that access to white male networks provides job assistance, high status contacts and increased job information. However, the study confirms that these networks yield more opportunities for men than women, in a sense that men receive more job finding assistance than women from while male contracts (McDonald, 2011). Furthermore, the extent to which a mentor contributes to an employee’s advancement was shown to be affected by the mentor’s status. In fact, those who have a female sponsor achieve lower pay rates than those with a white male sponsor (Lewis, 2019). Clearly, white males remain the most influential when it comes to advancement on the work floor (Lewis, 2019). So even if women have access to networks, they are not offered the same opportunities as men, because men in positions of power tend to direct job opportunities to other male employees, rather than females (Ibarra et al., 2013), creating a greater challenge for women finding a network that enhances their professional opportunities (Uzzi, 2019).
The confidence gap
accomplish goals (Benabou & Tirole, 2002). Research has shown that women tend to ascribe failure to themselves, whereas men are more likely to blame external attributions rather than their own skills (O’Neil et al., 2015). Additionally, women often attribute positive outcomes to luck instead of their own skills and abilities (Einarsdottir et al., 2018). This results in a situation where women underestimate their abilities and men overestimate their capabilities, while performance is equal. Kay & Shipman (2014) attribute these differences to the so-called confidence gap between the sexes. They found that due to the fact that women exhibit lower self-confidence than their male counterparts, women are more reluctant to grab opportunities when it comes to career advancement. In fact, women were found to only apply for a promotion when they were certain that they meet 100% of the qualifications, whereas men would be willing to apply when they believe that 60% of the qualifications are met. Therefore, the lack of self-confidence decreases the willingness to seek for a promotion (Einarsdottir et al., 2018).
KPMG’s (2015) women’s leadership study found that women identify confidence as a crucial character trait in order to obtain leadership success. Yet 67% of the female respondents felt like they needed support in the process of increasing confidence needed to be a successful leader. Einarsdottir et al. (2018) found that female’s self-confidence is more likely to increase when they work under a female superior. However, if women need other women to be able to gain the required self-confidence to advance, a vicious circle may arise.
ties in closely with the third barrier that women face, the lack of access to networks, which is considered to be crucial for professional advancement. Yet, women struggle to gain access to these old boys’ networks and if they do, they are often less efficacious. As a result, women tend to lack self-confidence to actively pursue promotions. It becomes clear that the role that is ascribed to women, whether it is to be the main caretaker of her children or to exhibit feminine character traits, affects her position in the workplace. However, what remains unclear so far is the underlying cause of ascribing roles to women. Therefore, the following section will explore how culture contributes to defining the role of women in society and the consequences for women’s careers.
2.2 The role of culture in shaping values and perceptions
According to Hofstede’s (1980) highly influential framework on national culture, culture can be considered as the collective programming of the mind which determines the set of values, principles, beliefs and attitudes shared by the members of a social group. As culture emphasizes shared conceptions of what is desired within a society, it influences every aspect of how we live (Schwartz, 2006). Therefore, behaviour can largely be understood through the prevailing culture within a society. As a result, culture plays an important role in assigning different roles to men and women, directly contributing to the creation of gender stereotypes (Carrasco et al., 2012). This is underlined by Eagly’s (1987) sociocultural theory, also known as the social role theory. Eagly (1987) states that common gender stereotypes result from the gender division of labour that characterizes a society’s culture. Individuals are expected to conform to behaviour which is consistent with their expected social roles. In order to conform to these expectations, men and women are being socialized to adopt characteristics and traits that fit the gender stereotype (Rogus-Pulia et al., 2018). Ridgeway (2009) reinforces this by arguing that even those individuals who do not endorse specific gender stereotypes will adjust their behaviour according to the expectations prevalent within a society. This is caused by the cultural pressure to adhere to those beliefs that most people hold. Consequently, shared cultural beliefs about gender roles coordinate behaviour toward women within a society (Ridgeway, 2009)
the other hand, Maseland and van Hoorn (2017) claim that a core assumption of national culture research is that a state represents a single, coherent culture. This is reflected in the most influential frameworks on cross-cultural differences such as Hofstede’s (1980) cultural dimensions, the GLOBE project initiated by House et al. (2004) and Schwartz’ (2006) cultural value orientations, which do equate country with culture. Maseland & van Hoorn (2017) provide several arguments why states can act as a homogenizing force. They argue that national formal institutions create shared experiences among its inhabitants, resulting in a situation where citizens consider themselves as part of a community represented by the nation. These shared experiences are in turn reflected by a degree of sharedness of values. Therefore, it can be assumed that national borders and cultural boundaries do coincide.
Europe and Latin Europe in both Gupta et al. (2002) and Ronen and Shenkar’s (1985) study. However, the countries included in each cluster are very similar for all frameworks.
Clearly, existing literature shows that culture can majorly impact the role of women in society. For example, gender stereotypes, which were previously shown to be a barrier for female career advancement, can be strengthened through cultural pressure. Additionally, numerous studies have found that countries can be clustered based on their prevailing cultural values. Intra-cluster cultures can be highly similar in their attitudes and values, whereas values across clusters can differ fundamentally. Therefore, it is highly likely that culture can play a role in determining the attitude towards women who pursue a career, and this may differ significantly between countries. Therefore, the following section will explore the role that culture plays for female employment.
2.3 Transmitting cultural beliefs and female employment
countries that exhibit unfavourable attitudes towards women who work, display lower levels of female employment. A central notion in these studies is even if women move away from their home country, it is highly likely that she retains large parts of her culture (Finseraas & Kotsadam, 2017).
Evidently, those values related to female employment passed on by members of one’s culture, will remain to impact women despite their place of residence. This showcases how a woman’s cultural background can majorly affect her attitudes towards pursuing a career. However, these studies focus on women’s employment in general, whereas this dissertation seeks to explore the factors that influence upward career progression among women. Therefore, the following section will explore the effect of culture on the representation of women in top-level positions and the process of attaining such a position.
2.4 The effect of culture on female’s career trajectory
However, these studies showcase the relationship between culture and female representation in top-level functions in a rather one-sided manner, as they all use Hofstede’s (1980) cultural dimensions framework. His framework based on data accumulated from IBM employees between 1967 and 1987, has become the most cited book in the field, but is also often considered as outdated (Kirkman et al., 2006) and unrepresentative as the data is based on individuals working for a single firm (Beugelsdijk et al., 2017). Therefore, Brieger et al. (2019) acted as pioneers for another stream of research on the effect of cultural values on the representation of women on the work floor. They used Welzel’s (2013) emancipative values index, which measures the extent to which individuals within a country value equal opportunities for women in education, politics and corporate settings based on the World Values Survey. They found that strengthening emancipative values within a society significantly decreases the barriers women face while climbing the corporate ladder. This is caused by the fact that highly developed emancipative values serve as a psychological empowerment for women (Brieger et al., 2019), resulting in increased amounts of women occupying top-level positions.
3. Methodology
3.1 Philosophical assumption and approach
This dissertation has been written in line with an interpretivist ontology and epistemology, as the main research question asks for the creation of new, rich interpretations and understandings of the social world and context (Saunders et al., 2019). Therefore, this research adopts this philosophy by interviewing women with various (academic) backgrounds and different nationalities, so they all have different experiences and opinions when it comes to career advancement.
Furthermore, an inductive approach was used, which means that theory follows data, rather than the opposite as with a deductive approach (Saunders et al., 2019). This approach allows the researcher to use raw data in order to develop themes and theories (Thomas, 2006). Inductive reasoning is common among qualitative studies. In an inductive approach, the emphasis lies on gaining an understanding about the meanings that human beings attach to events (Saunders et al., 2019). Consequently, the sample size if often relatively small. Therefore, interviews data is appropriate, as it allows the researcher to gain in-depth insights about the participants’ personal experiences and attitudes.
3.2 Research design
In order to examine how a female’s background affects her perceptions towards career advancement, a mono method qualitative research design was adopted, meaning that a single data collection technique was used (Saunders et al., 2019). A qualitative approach has been chosen because little is known about the effects of a woman’s background on her career progression, and this approach allows a richer theoretical perspective to be developed in addition to the current literature by examining specific personal experiences (Saunders et al., 2019).
3.3 Data collection and sampling
As this is an exploratory study, eight semi-structured individual interviews were conducted. This method has been chosen because it allows for detailed exploration of the participant’s personal attitudes and opinions about the topic (Saunders et al., 2019) A predetermined list of questions was created to guide the interviews ensuring that all topics of interest were covered, but it also allows the interviewer to probe and expand the answers given by the participants (Hitchcock & Hughes, 1995). This list included questions about the participant’s upbringing, the role of women in relation to caring commitments and career in their country of origin and experiences with gender inequality. Furthermore, the participants were asked which aspects of their background both enabled as well as hindered their career advancement. These questions were formulated without pointing towards a specific aspect, so the participants were able to answer these questions without being biased by the formulation of the question. This way, the aspects of the participant’s background that are considered most influential were revealed, as they were allowed to develop an uninterrupted narrative. Additionally, the participants were asked to provide examples and anecdotes of their answers in order to obtain an insight in how experiences shaped the participants’ perceptions. The full interview guide can be found in Appendix D.
Five of the interviews were conducted face-to-face in Groningen, and the remaining three were conducted on Skype. All interviews were conducted in English. The duration of the interviews ranged between 26 and 49 minutes, often depending on the amount of personal experiences the participant was willing to share. All the interviews were audio recoded for transcription purposes. The audio files were transcribed using an automatic transcription software called Trint, after which the researcher manually checked and corrected the transcripts word for word.
sample. The sample consists of eight female academics aged between 34 and 48. They are currently employed by the University of Groningen or Newcastle University Business School as assistant professor, associate professor or full professor. In order to be able to grasp the effect of culture, all participants have a different nationality. An overview of the participants’ age, country of origin and academic job title can be found in Table below 3.1 below.
Table 3.1 Overview of interviewees
Age Country of origin Academic job title Interviewee 1 48 The Netherlands Associate professor Interviewee 2 33 India Assistant professor Interviewee 3 40 Italy Associate professor Interviewee 4 37 Germany Full professor Interviewee 5 34 Armenia Assistant professor Interviewee 6 41 United Kingdom Full professor Interviewee 7 44 Greece Full professor Interviewee 8 34 Bulgaria Assistant professor
3.4 Data analysis
as their experience with foreign exposure and parental support. The analysis was not limited to those categories included in the interview guide, but emergent themes resulting from other issues raised by the participants were also created (Anderson, 2010), such as a category called childcare and foreign exposure. The last stage, selective coding, revealed four main themes relating to a female’s background and her perceptions towards career advancement. The corresponding themes are society and perceptions towards women, support from critical actors, upbringing and education. These themes were developed based on the extent to which the axial coding categories showcased overlap. For example, it was found that three main types of support are crucial in shaping women’s perceptions towards career advancement, namely parental support, support from one’s partner and professional mentorship. Logically, the selective coding resulted in a broad theme, called support from critical actors. A visual representation of the axial codes and selective codes and a thematic map for each code category and the associated codes can be found in Appendix E. All four themes highlight different aspects of a woman’s background which in turn were found to affect her perceptions towards career advancement. Furthermore, Appendix F showcases the richness of the data, by providing representative quotes for the themes and sub-categories.
3.5 Ethical considerations
(Appendix H). By signing this form, they agreed to take part in the research project, yet they had the chance to withdraw from taking part at any time. In order to prevent the participants from experiencing any psychological distress, they were free to decline to answer a question at any time.
4. Findings
This chapter will present the findings of the interviews based on four themes: society and perceptions towards women, support from critical actors, upbringing and education.
4.1 Society and perceptions towards women
Gender roles and expectations
All participants state that they feel like there are expectations of women when it comes to caring commitments in their country of origin. They all agree that there are societal pressures saying that more weight should be put on women in terms of taking care of children and the household. However, the findings reveal that the strength of this pressure and the way in which it manifests itself differs per country. The interviewees from the Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom find that it is not necessarily expected of women in their country of origin to marry and have children. Yet, they do feel like it is expected that women reduce their working hours when having children in order to be able to combine parenthood with their career.
‘I think in the Netherlands are still a guiding morale that mothers should be with their children. And up to the point that I'm at a party with family, for the record, my youngest child is 20. And people ask me 'why do you work full time?'. (...) Nobody ever asked my husband that, nobody. So
women are always questioned about how many hours they are going to work when you get children and men never get that question’ (Interviewee 1)
However, these three women say that because of having a supportive partner and progressive parents, these societal pressures did not impact their attitudes towards career progression. On the other hand, the rest of the participants do feel like women in their country of origin are expected to marry and have children. However, most of them say that despite the expectation that a woman will be the main caretaker of children, does not mean that women cannot work.
Contrary, two participants, who are originally from India and Armenia consider the general perceptions towards women and their status as a barrier to advancement. They both state that women are considered to be inferior, and their main task is to take care of the family.
‘In Armenia, the most important thing is that women have to get married and have children. That's why I left the country. You have to get married and have children. And if you say, no, I
don't want to do that, I just want to work, that's not acceptable’ (Interviewee 5)
Due to these perceptions towards women, they were always discouraged from learning too much by their immediate environment, because they were told this is undesirable for a woman. In fact, those women who did pursue a career, were told that their divorce was their own fault.
‘My father's sister who wasn't married (...) is a very highly regarded and successful lawyer in India. She never got married. We were always told growing up, this is what happens when you
prioritize your career. No one wants to marry you (...) because you're too opinionated’ (Interviewee 2)
As a result of being told that sharing your opinions as a woman is unacceptable, these women have created a feeling of inferiority, which makes it difficult to stand up for themselves and to be assertive.
‘(…) observing strong gender roles around you growing up, that unconsciously puts this sort of thing in your head about what you’re expected to do. To this day I have difficulties standing up
for myself. I have difficulties saying no, no matter how much I practice. I see a professional coach to get advice (…) on how to be assertive and I cannot do it’ (Interviewee 5)
‘(...) so what happens is the accumulation of experiences that you are probably inferior to anything you see in front of you. And advancing in a career in a Western context requires you to
flip that completely because you will never survive, let alone advance, if you don't stand up for your ideas and if you don't show how your ideas are better than others’
(Interviewee 2)
This participant illustrates that standing up for yourself is essential for career progression,
especially in a highly individualistic, Western environment. She points out that in a developed world context challenging authority and being assertive is perfectly accepted. Therefore, those women who do stand up for themselves will be more likely to grasp the opportunities needed to advance in their career. This participant acknowledges that the only way in which she will enable herself to advance professionally, is by moving away from the values that she acquired during her upbringing. Therefore, the women from India and Armenia feel like observing strong gender roles while growing up slows their career advancement.
Experiences with unequal treatment
Throughout the interviews, it became clear that all participants have experiences on the work floor where they felt like they were treated unequally compared to male counterparts. For example, most of the interviewees said that they saw men in their direct surroundings being promoted quicker than females, even if they have less qualifications and relevant experiences:
‘I would put myself forward for promotion and then another colleague did get the job that I went for and he has a very similar CV, and in some cases he even had less things to show for’
(Interviewee 7)
‘I was in this committee, that is set to encourage women. So you are hired in a tenure track that is aimed at women. And I checked the applications and 60% of applicants were men. Even when it’s explicitly written that it is a position for women. I only go for promotions when I am sure that
I have all the requisites, I think men are more bold’ (Interviewee 3)
Clearly, men tend to pursue more opportunities than women, even if they do not satisfy all the requirements. Consequently, men often obtain the desired positions and therefore female’s career progression is slowed down majorly.
The majority of the participants are employed outside their home country and most of them feel like being both foreign as well as female within their working environment is a double disadvantage. For example, one participant, whose partner works in the same department as she does, submitted her application for promotion at the same time as her husband. Eventually, her husband got promoted and she did not. She was told that she lacked the university teaching qualification, so as soon as she received this, she would be promoted. Weirdly enough, her partner also did not have this. She feels like this has to do with her background, as she is a foreign woman working in a department dominated by Dutch men.
‘He started here before and I was new from outside, but somehow, they knew him and I don't think they looked as carefully at my case’ (Interviewee 3)
Despite having the feeling that being a (foreign) woman makes career progression more difficult, these women acknowledge that it is very difficult to determine whether discriminatory treatment is really caused by their gender or nationality. They feel like discrimination is not shared openly which makes it extremely difficult to prove that gender and nationality affect career progression.
background. (...) You always have to prove more to gain some visibility, reputation and credibility, it's much harder and you’re being the odd one out’ (Interviewee 3)
One participant agrees that discrimination is shown in very subtle ways, but she explains the double disadvantage through the mechanism of familiarity. People tend to give preferential treatment to those people similar to themselves, simply because they can identify themselves easier with such a person.
‘But I think that all of this operates in very subtle and unconscious ways.
It's not bias against someone. It's familiarity towards the other person. So I think that it's not discrimination against me it's just familiarity towards others that they know well’ (Interviewee 2)
As a result of these experiences, women feel like their background causes them to have a disadvantage on the labour market. They are required to have more qualifications, work harder and spend more time on career advancement than men do. Yet, it is very difficult to change this, as they cannot pinpoint the exact reasons for unequal treatment and it cannot be proven that this is caused by being a woman.
Childcare
Half of the participants who have children indicated that the availability of childcare was an important factor enabling them to make the career moves needed for progression. By having childcare availability, these women were able to go back to work relatively quickly after having children, mitigating the effect of leaving work temporarily on career progression. Yet, they also acknowledge that affording childcare cannot be taken for granted.
‘But my experience of balancing work and family life is that there's not just attitudes but structural factors that would influence that. So the availability and the cost of childcare (...). So I've been very privileged. I've always had a good employer and a good salary. So I've been able
In addition to helping these women to be able to continue accumulating knowledge and experience needed for career progression fairly quickly after having children, a decent childcare system also helps them mentally. For example, a German woman currently living in the Netherlands had to take her sick child to a seminar once, because she could not arrange a babysitter on such a short notice. In Germany this would not have been necessary, as there are always emergency babysitters available. Additionally, it was possible to take a babysitter or a family member to a conference and they would be paid for. Because of this, she did not miss out on any important opportunities, considering there would always be someone who could look after her child.
‘I like the idea that they have, if I need it, certain amounts of support. In Germany, the nice thing is when you have those emergency babysitters, in case the kid gets sick when I have to teach, there is something I can use. And I only used it once or twice, but it helped me a lot to know that
it's out there’ (Interviewee 4)
An extensive childcare system in a woman’s country of origin helps them both physically and mentally. It gives them the opportunity to start working rather rapidly after giving birth, alleviating the career interruption. Additionally, it gives them the confidence that having a family and progression professionally is not a tradeoff. Therefore, childcare can diminish that family commitments are seen as a barrier to career advancement.
Foreign exposure
The vast majority of the participants studied or worked abroad before their current employment, and it was found that this experience of living in another country and being exposed to foreign values also affected the perceptions towards career advancement for most of them. Half of the participants who find that their foreign experience had an effect on their perceptions towards career advancement say that it contributed to them realizing that their home country has strong gender roles.
‘You don’t know any other way, you were a child, (...) you think that’s how the world works and you’re supposed to fit in. (...) But as you grow up you see other parts of the world (...) you think
By seeing how gender roles may differ around the world, the women became aware that their role in society did not necessarily have to be determined by her home country values. As a result, they took opportunities and acquired values that turned out to be highly beneficial for their career advancement. For example, an interviewee who grew up in highly gender segregated environment in Armenia decided to go the U.S. when she was 15. While being abroad, her resilience and openness to meet new people was fostered. Additionally, she stresses how her foreign exposure made her realize that as opposed to her home country, it acceptable to question authority and to fight for your own aspirations in foreign environments. As a result, she came to the conclusion that living in an environment where gender roles are less important would offer more opportunities for her to advance professionally.
‘So being exposed to these values gave me hope. There is a way to live the way I want’ (Interviewee 5)
Another interviewee always considered her country of origin as relatively progressive when it comes to gender equality. However, when she moved to Sweden, where gender equality is one of the main priorities in society, her perceptions changed. When she returned to her home country, she realized that there was still a lot to be improved.
‘In terms of work environment, if you’re talking about gender equality, they are kings of that in Sweden. They just always talk about it to the extent that you get tired of it. Everybody is super
conscious of it. (…) But being there has also raised my awareness to a certain level’ (Interviewee 1)
The other half of the participants experienced the opposite. During their time spent abroad, they saw that the gender equality they experienced in their home country did not exist everywhere. Therefore, foreign exposure contributed to their awareness of gender roles and expectations around the world. Consequently, they realized that gender equality cannot be taken for granted.
‘I think that I started being more aware of these gender roles when I moved abroad. (...) when I went to Germany, I clearly saw that there is this traditional male female distinction. So in a way,
I've been surprised. I would say that I think that I acquired this understanding about the role of males and females later on in life’ (Interviewee 8)
Furthermore, one interviewee finds that her foreign experience enabled her career advancement, as it enhances novelty and originality in her papers.
‘So having worked in or studied in different countries and knowing different people also, that helps me to come up with some ideas even for my research that others wouldn't come up with.
(...) it adds additional opportunity to innovativeness’ (Interviewee 5)
Overall, being exposed to foreign cultures affected the perceptions towards career advancement among the interviewees in several ways. Being abroad helped those women who grew up in a country where strong gender roles prevailed realize that these values can be fundamentally different across the globe. This helped them to acquire values that would help their career advancement later in life. On the other hand, those women who perceived relative gender equality in their home country, realized that this is a privilege when they were exposed to cultures where a discrepancy between the treatment of men and women is common.
4.2 Support from critical actors
Parental support
The vast majority of the interviewees agree that the support given by their parents has been pivotal in shaping their perceptions towards career advancement in a positive way. It was found that parental support contributes to career advancement in several ways. First of all, women often consider their parents, and their mother in particular, as role models, which inspires them to pursue a career.
‘They played a major role in my attitude towards career advancement because I could see them as role models’ (Interviewee 7)
One participant nicely illustrates this statement by an example about ballet. She said that as a young boy, you barely see other boys attending ballet classes. And despite loving ballet, this may not even be an option for you, simply because in your mind this is not a sport that is considered as something that boys do. And this works the same for senior positions within organisations. By only seeing men in top positions, it makes it difficult to comprehend that working towards such a position is also a possibility for women. However, because this participant saw her mother having a successful career in academia while she was growing up, the decision to pursue a career and go for promotions within this field was easier.
‘Because for me, like in the ballet example, it was not strange to consider university as one of the possibilities’ (Interviewee 3)
‘My mom has been the biggest push. (...) She had pushed first my sister and then me to go to the U.S. (...) She had been instrumental in pushing me to succeed’ (Interviewee 8)
The importance of receiving support from one’s parents was confirmed by a participant who did not always feel fully supported. When she realized that her home country did not offer enough opportunities for her career aspirations, she decided to go to Germany. Her mother made very clear that she never wanted her daughter to leave. Eventually, a combination of the psychological pressure from her mother and the language barrier in Germany, convinced her to go back to her home country, where opportunities for advancement were very limited:
‘And I thought, oh, maybe my mom was right. I should just go back and get married or work in Armenia anyway. So I did. I went back there and I did get this job’ (Interviewee 5) A few participants said that their parents’ support also constituted financial resources, which enabled them to obtain the degrees and experiences needed for their future career.
Support by partner
A majority of women who have a partner, indicated that their support helped them in their career advancement. One major reason for the partner’s cruciality lies in their role when it comes to taking care of the children and the household. As discussed previously, women’s role in parenting is often considered as a factor reducing productivity and human capital accumulation at work. As a result, the process of career advancement is slowed down. One participant, who had her first child at a very early stage of her career, reinforces these findings:
‘In academia the first few years if you don't get your awards, get your external funding, get your top publications you are lagging behind. And that is something you don't really make up for later
on’ (Interviewee 1)
Therefore, working part time reduces the speed of advancement and may even impede being successful, in this case as an academic:
Thus, it is highly important to be able to combine parenthood with work commitments, and partners play a crucial role in supporting this. By dividing tasks relating to the household equally with one’s partner, women are enabled to advance in their career and raise their children simultaneously.
‘Well definitely my husband I would say is an important person to mention because from the start when we had kids we said we were going to share, and not only in terms of parental leave but also the work in the house (...) But I’m pretty sure I will be full professor in not so long from
now. So in a way you could say I made it. So it is possible’ (Interviewee 1)
In addition to support in the household, most participants with a partner state that her partner affected the perceptions she holds about her personal career advancement in several ways. First of all, these women indicate that their partners highly value gender equality when it comes to pursuing a career. Because of this, the effect of societal pressure saying that women should be the main caretakers of their children is reduced.
‘My husband is really into equal opportunities and he always talks about the family career that we are pursuing, so that the social pressure like as a mom, I should behave like this and that, I
didn’t care’ (Interviewee 4)
Another interviewee agrees, and states that she feels fortunate to have a husband who does not consider raising children as the main responsibility of the mother.
‘There is this expectation by most that I come across (...) that since you’re the mother, more weight should be placed on you in terms of children. But I’m lucky I guess, because my husband
doesn’t think along those lines’ (Interviewee 7)
‘Whereas with my second husband, it’s very different. He has probably been very pivotal in some key decisions that I’ve made about promotion or moving to a different job and progressing in my
career and taking new opportunities’ (Interviewee 6)
Thus, having a supportive partner helps these women in two ways. First, despite the fact that all interviewees experience expectations from society when it comes to caring commitments, having a partner who does not believe in strict gender roles reduces the effect of societal pressure. In combination with encouragement from their partners, this helps women to gain the necessary confidence to actively pursue career progression. Secondly, equally dividing family work and household chores gives women the opportunity to acquire the necessary qualifications for career advancement.
Professional mentorship
Receiving support from professional mentors is also considered to be highly important. The vast majority of the interviewees agree that having a mentor or a sponsor can be highly beneficial for career advancement. In fact, it was stated that having an appropriate mentor contributes to one’s personal success.
‘A large part of success is explained by knowing the right people and having the right people champion you and mentor you’ (Interviewee 2)
A slight majority of the interviewees obtained their mentor at an early stage in their careers, and these mentors are either PhD supervisors or senior executives within the first organisations they worked for. One major benefit that is associated with having a mentor, is gaining access to their knowledge and professional advice. Additionally, mentees can make use of their mentor’s extensive networks. This poses opportunities to attend events which helps to accumulate knowledge, gain relevant experience within the field and obtain useful contacts.
‘So my last employer promoted me to go to certain events. And if he could, he sponsored me or encouraged me to go to different workshops and give talks. (...) There were some seminars to go
where he was invited, so he asked me to go. I think his expectation would have also been to expand my network. (..) So those kind of things, and publishing a paper together. He’s been very
Furthermore, mentors are considered to be crucial when it comes to promotion. Because of their senior position, they are aware of the set of skills that are required in order to be considered for promotion. This way, they can help their protégés acquire these skills and actively recommend them for promotions. Additionally, mentors can be a valuable source of encouragement when their mentees consider upward progression in their career.
‘For example, when I've been working there for about four or five years and I was actually expecting my first child. I went to see my mentor about promotion (...) And I would imagine that
it would have been something I was ready for in two or three years. But he was very, very encouraging and expecting me to just go for it and submit the application and then I was successful. (...) So you do need to have people who say to you, actually, you are good enough.
You don't need to wait longer to go for a promotion’ (Interviewee 6)
These women also feel like obtaining a mentor is more difficult for women than for men. They attribute this difficulty to the male domination on the work floor, and the tendency for senior male colleagues to support other men. One participant explains that a crucial factor for mentorship is finding the right fit, and she has the impression that men tend to prefer a male mentee. Therefore, the lack of women on the work floor makes it even more difficult for women to find a mentor.
‘If you look at the department here, every full professor is a white Dutch man. They hire their students, Dutch men. So they continue their line of work and have these kind of academic family
trees. So I am absolutely certain that there is some in-group thing that happens because I'm not in the in-group but something happens here’ (Interviewee 2)
Those interviewees who personally do not have a mentor indicate that they feel like they would have benefitted from having a mentor and feel like the lack of mentorship is a barrier to career advancement.
‘Maybe it would have been good for me to have more mentorship, because I was not given the push that some others maybe got’ (Interviewee 1)
mentors while working for her first employer, says that she currently lacks the mentorship that she needs, slowing the pace of her career progression.
‘I was much more successful at the firm than I am in academia and I think one of the reasons is that I don’t have good mentors here. (...) I find it much harder to crack the rules of the game to succeed because I don’t think that I have found that powerful person yet or anybody who sort of
believes in me and pushes for me’ (Interviewee 2)
The importance of mentorship that was found in the literature, is underlined by the participants. Having a mentor enabled them to expand their network, gain confidence and accumulate relevant experience. A combination of these factors helps to advance professionally. Yet, it was also recognized that obtaining a mentor is not an easy process, especially for women.
4.3 Upbringing
Role of women in family
The role of women within a family was also shown to impact a female’s perceptions towards career advancement. Most of the interviewees saw their female relatives, such as their mother and grandmother working and pursuing a career. By observing this from a young age, these women were shown that having a family and a successful career is not a tradeoff. In this sense, mothers serve as role models.
‘Both my mother and my grandmother were educated and had careers. So I think that made it quite easy for me that it was very obvious that that's the way forward. (...) So it was very much
from a very young age that, you know, that's the path to take’ (Interviewee 7)
obtained her university degree and five years later, she started the job she had always wanted. Another interviewee shared a story of how her mother was impeded to obtain the degree she needed for career advancement:
‘My mum, when she was finishing her A-levels, she was told that she could only do one A-level because she was needed to help around the house and because she did only one A-level, she couldn't actually go to university. (...) My mother was basically physically blocked from having an education that would be sufficient to secure access to middle class jobs rather than working
class jobs’ (Interviewee 6)
This was again underlined by an anecdote from a participant, which showcases the resistance that her mother faced when she decided to obtain a university degree:
‘My mom comes from a small village and in this village she was the first woman to go to university. And when she told her dad that she wanted to study, her dad broke one of her front teeth. So that was not accepted at all. (...) I always felt that actually studying was a privilege.
(...) So I've always been very determined because of that’ (Interviewee 3)
Such experiences have major impacts on how interviewees think about their own career. Due to the difficulties faced by their mothers, they realized that being able to obtain a university degree and pursuing a career cannot be taken for granted. Consequently, these women acquired a work ethic and determination which they deem highly important for their career progression to this day. Another silver lining of the hardships faced by female family members was highlighted by a participant whose mother was never allowed to work. Her mother was a talented fashion designer, but she was not allowed to sell her products. Due to this experience, her mother was extremely supportive of her children and she stimulated them to grasp the opportunities that she never got.
‘I think that for my mother it's also that she is very mindful of the fact that she couldn't utilize her talents and so she feels excessively and also fortunate that we were able to and so she is very
Clearly, the participant’s perceptions towards career advancement were influenced by observing the hardships of their female relatives. This resulted in an increased motivation and determination to grasp opportunities which helped the interviewees in their career progression.
4.4 Education
Furthermore, being empowered and supported at school fostered positive attitudes towards career advancement later in life. Most participants agree that both boys and girls had equal opportunities during primary and secondary education. In fact, some interviewees say that girls often received preferential treatment because they outperformed boys both in terms of results as well as behaviour.
‘It was great to be a girl growing up. Teachers always favoured the girls and in fact, the gender norm is almost flipped. (...) Just before high school you get a national test. (...) And the grades
for females are set higher just because they score much higher on these exams’ (Interviewee 8)
These equal opportunities at school empowered these women from a young age, as it contributed to them realizing they are not less qualified than men. Half of the participants even say that despite growing up in a society where strong gender roles and stereotypes are prevalent, their education enabled them to stop seeing this as a barrier to advancement. For example, one participant who grew up in Greece was repeatedly wished a happy family life, rather than a successful career. Yet, she feels like her education was crucial in shaping her perceptions towards career advancement.
‘But I think what is positive, is that because society as a whole places a lot of importance on education, it is also very much expected that the girls would be educated. Because I think in Greece (...) education kind of overcomes those barriers because girls are very much involved in
education and they're expected to do well and they tend to do well’ (Interviewee 7)
was considered to be very important. Because their teachers all grew up during a communist or socialist era, equality was one of the core values. This experience helped them to realize their potential and serve as a springboard for a successful career.
‘I received a lot of encouragement from my teachers. That's why I think I was so into studying because I didn't notice any discriminatory treatment from teachers. (...) But having this equal
opportunity to learn, it gives you the opportunity to take advantage of the outside options’ (Interviewee 5)
One participant, who grew up in India, did not experience equal opportunities. She was not allowed to attend a coeducational school and felt like girls were not granted the opportunities that boys got.
‘I do believe that they were afforded far more opportunity to try, and you know, do things, take risks and we were not’ (Interviewee 2)
On the one hand this made her feel like this was the way the world works, and a woman should accept this fate and never challenge authority. This did however make it very difficult for her to think critically and stand up for herself, making career advancement in a Western context extremely complicated.
‘You had to be the best at everything because only if you were the very best of things in the context of 1.2 billion people. So you're always competing with a hundred thousand kids for two spots. And so that context kind of drills this work ethic in you. Because if you're not in those two,
the drop in quality of education is so significant that you cannot risk it’ (Interviewee 2)
On the other hand, experiencing inequality in her formative years also enabled her to obtain a work ethic that she regards as an enabling factor when it comes to her career progression.
gender roles, educational equality helped them realize that being a woman does not, and should not, hinder their professional advancement later in life.
