Is she the boss? How women experience their career progression at a Finnish branch of a global expert organisation.
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School of Business |
Master's thesis
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Authors
Date
2021
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Management and International Business (MIB)
Language
en
Pages
88 + 5
Series
Abstract
This qualitative interview study investigates women’s experiences of career progression. More specifically, the study aims to create understanding of how women experience their own career progressions, including possible obstacles, in the context of a Finnish branch of a global Big Four expert organisation. The focus is on the holistic experience of how internal and organisational influences intertwine. To fulfil this purpose, ten semi-structured interviews with women in a single organisation’s middle management were conducted. The findings of this study show that women’s holistic career progression experiences are composed of sometimes conflicting internal and organisational elements. Women experience elements they come in contact with daily, such as colleagues and their immediate managers differently from higher level concepts, such as leadership and organisational culture. Moreover, the findings highlight the specific role of organisational culture in women’s career progression experiences and show that women struggle in results-oriented, male-led cultures, leaving them wishing for more human-centric cultures and support. The findings also demonstrate that organisational environments shape how women experience internal concepts, such as, motivation, professional development, and their career goals. Particularly intrinsic motivation, independent performing, and developing as an expert rose as significant internal concepts in women’s career progression experiences in the expert organisation. Investigating women’s career progression remains timely and significant as women continue to be underrepresented in management positions globally, regardless of extensive research into the different obstacles women may face in their career paths. Furthermore, existing research often focuses on particular obstacles or specific processes along women’s career paths instead of taking a more holistic, experience focused approach. This study thus contributes to existing research by creating understanding of women’s holistic career progression experiences and by demonstrating how women experience some of the obstacles identified by previous research. Particularly, women’s experiences of culture and the gap between experiences of daily and higher-level concepts offer interesting insight and possibilities for future research. For organisations and managers, the study acts as a reminder of the importance of building human-centric, supportive cultures in which different groups can thrive.Description
Thesis advisor
Piekkari, RebeccaKeywords
women’s career experiences, career progression, culture, expert organisations