Kvinnor, karriär och familj : En studie om chefer i fyra olika branscher

Sammanfattning: Women at the managerial level are an interesting group considering that there are few women managers, especially at the senior level. One purpose of the present study was to examine how individual and situational factors have influenced women managers' career development. A second aim was to find out the personal views of women managers on different aspects of their career and also how they combined their work and family life. In this way the study tried to integrate the person- centered and the situation-centered approaches together with a feminist point of view. The sample in the present study consists of women managers from both the private and the public sectors, and also women from both male and female dominated branches (banking, engineering, social work and construction). The thesis includes three studies using different methods: a questionnaire (n = 338), interviews (n = 45) and diaries (n = 16). Questionnaire data was analyzed by means of multiple regression analysis in order to test a career development model consisting of situation related factors: branch, home situation and work situation, as well as individual related factors: demographic data, early socialization and personality (work locus of control). Self-reported managerial level and salary was used as criteria for career success. The results show that both structural (e.g. male hierarchy and support from spouse), and individual factors (e.g. educational level, personality) were related to managerial advancement. The findings support the use of an integrated model for women's career development. The interviews also pointed out both situation and individual related facilitating, as well as hindering factors for women's career development. Among individual factors, self-confidence or lack of it was considered as an important factor. The situational facilitating factors mentioned were chance and support from different people, especially from the spouse. Situation related obstacles consisted of discrimination concerning promotion and the family situation. A majority of the women were married and had children, and therefore had not chosen either career or family, but wanted to have both, even though the interviews and diaries showed that women who had small children could find it difficult to have a balance between the occupational, familial and personal spheres. By combining the three different methods a more comprehensive view of the women managers' situation was revealed. The study shows that there is diversity among women managers depending on the individual woman, and her situation both at work and at home in a historical context.