married professional

8/2/2019 Married Professional

1/27

Married professional womenscareer exit: integrating identity

and social networksElizabeth Hamilton Volpe

Gabelli School of Business, Roger Williams University,Bristol, Rhode Island, USA, and

Wendy Marcinkus MurphyCollege of Business, Northern Illinois University,

DeKalb, Illinois, USA

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address the idea of opting out for married professionalwomen by presenting a conceptual investigation into the impact that a womans identity and socialnetworks have in shaping her decisions surrounding career exit. A model is developed and intended tohelp researchers in this area move beyond existing frameworks when attempting to explain and predictwomens career exit.

Design/methodology/approach Research from the identity, social networks, turnover, andcareers literatures was analyzed and integrated to put forth a new theoretical lens, represented by theconceptual model developedin this paper, that helps to explainmarried professional womenscareer exit.

Findings Development of the model reveals a complex, reciprocal relationship between a womansidentity and her social network and depicts how these factors act in concert to shape womens decisionsregarding careerexit or opting out. This model also highlights theimportance of structuralconstraintsshaping a womans social network, moderators impacting the relationship between a womans identityand career exit behaviors, and outcomes of career exit.

Originality/value Although identity is a fundamental element of career development andrelationships with others serve as an origin of self and source of self-understanding, the integration ofthese perspectives has been conspicuously absent from research on womens career exit. Examining theconvergence of identity and social networks and the reciprocal relationship these constructs have oncareer phenomena advances our knowledge of why married professional women choose to opt out orexit their careers.

Keywords Social networks, Women, Careers, Employee turnover, Individual psychology

Paper type Conceptual paper

Married professional women are increasingly making career decisions that createsensational headlines in management. Most recently, popular press and media hype has

focused on talented, well-educated professional women who choose to stop workingin order to stay home and care for their families (Baxter and Baird, 2006; Belkin, 2003;

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at

www.emeraldinsight.com/1754-2413.htm

A previous version of this paper was presented at the 2006 Academy of Management annualmeeting and included in the Best Paper Proceedings from that conference. Both authorscontributed equally to this paper. Order of authorship is based on reverse alphabetical order. Theauthors thank three anonymous reviewers for their feedback on initial ideas related to this work.The second named author would also like to thank the American Association of UniversityWomen for funding that aided in the completion of this research.

Professionalwomens

career exit

57

Gender in Management: An

International Journal

Vol. 26 No. 1, 2011

pp. 57-83

q Emerald Group Publishing Limited

1754-2413

DOI 10.1108/17542411111109318


2/27

Jio, 2008; Story, 2005; Wallis et al., 2004). This notion of married professional womenleaving the workforce has been expounded by the media with catch-phrases includingthe opt-out revolution and the brain drain.

Despite ongoing conversations, an underlying controversy remains over whether

or not opting out is a legitimate phenomenon marking professional womens careers.Scholars engaged in this dialogue disagree as to whether or not opting out is anoverblown myth or a realistic fact of the twenty-first century career landscape (Cabrera,2007; Hewlett and Luce, 2005; Mainiero and Sullivan, 2005, 2006; Percheski, 2008; Stone,2007). At the core of this debate lies a fundamental question what drives marriedprofessional womens career exit?

A variety of frameworks have been presented to explain womens career behavior,especially with regards to the highly charged notion of opting out. These frameworkshave originated from a careers-based perspective (Bailyn, 1989; Diamond, 1987; Gallos,1989; ONeil and Bilamoria, 2005; Powell and Mainiero, 1992; White et al., 1992) or froma work-family perspective (Bielby and Bielby, 1989, 1992; Burke and Reitzes, 1991;Greenhaus and Powell, 2003, 2006; Lobel and Clair, 1992; Rothbard, 2001; Rothbard andEdwards, 2003). For example, research has identified push and pull factors such aswork-family demands, lack of advancement opportunities, and unfavorable workingconditions (e.g. unsupportive boss, stress, and burnout) that cause women to opt out orleave the workforce (Hewlett, 2007; Percheski, 2008; Stone, 2007). Alternatively, shiftingcareer needs through different life stages (Mainiero and Sullivan, 2005, 2006), utilitariancosts and benefits (Lobel, 1991; Rothbard and Edwards, 2003), and involuntary careerdepartures due to economic downturns (Uchitelle, 2008) have been identified as a basis forcareer decisions. Despite these explanations, what remains conspicuously absent from theliterature is an examination of the interplay that a womans sense of self and relationshipswith others have on her career behaviors, especially her decision to exit the workforce.

Our goal and contribution is to presenta theoretical model delineating howa womans

identity coupled with influence stemming from her social network act in concert to shapecareer behaviors, specifically her decision to exit the workforce. We focus our theorizingon married professional women, for whom the decision to work and in what capacityis a choice (i.e. women for whom a variety of work or non-work arrangements iseconomically viable), since it is the career choices of these women that have motivatedthe enduring debate over opting-out. Examining the convergence of identity and socialnetworks and the reciprocal relationship these constructs have on career phenomena isan agenda which has been increasingly called for within the organizational literature(Ibarra and Deshpande, 2007; Ibarra et al., 2005). Our research also contributes directly tothe highly charged conversations surrounding women, work, and family; conversationsheld in both scholarly and practitioner circles that are gaining momentum as we marchforward into the twenty-first century career landscape.

Conceptualizing career exitWe define career exit as complete departure from the paid workforce. Career exit oropting out, as it is often referred to in the popular press, can be permanent, whereby awoman sees herself transitioning to household manager and expects that this will bethe career she enacts for the remainder of her lifetime, or temporary, whereby a womansprofessional identity becomes dormant with the expectation that it will be revived ata later time in a similar or modified form. We posit that career exit can occur with or

GM26,1

58


3/27

without the intention of re-entry, since intention does not necessarily translate intobehavior, and therefore include both permanent and temporary workforce departure inour conceptualization of career exit.

Before delineating the way in which a womans identity and social network shape her

decision to opt out or exit her career, we first review the prevailing theoretical rationalesfor individual turnover in general as well as womens turnover in particular.

Turnover in organizationsIn their seminal work, March and Simon (1958) suggested that turnover is caused bya combination of perceived desirability and ease of movement. More specifically,negative affect (typically job dissatisfaction) coupled with the perception of available

job alternatives causes individuals to leave organizations. Subsequent research hassupported the notion that turnover is affect induced, and that job dissatisfactionprogresses into turnover through intermediate linkages such as expected withdrawalutility, job search, and compared alternatives, thus implying a linear, rational approach

to turnover (Griffeth et al., 2000; Hom and Griffeth, 1991, 1995; Hom and Kinicki, 2001;Mobley, 1977; Mobley et al., 1979). In contrast, Lee and Mitchell (1994) suggest thatfactors other than affect prompt turnover and many individuals do not require

job alternatives before quitting. Drawing on image theory, their unfolding model ofturnover uses the existence (or non-existence) of shocks along with the degree ofpsychological analysis involved in quitting to outline decision paths that individualsfollow when making turnover decisions (Lee et al., 1996, 1999).

Maertz and Campion (2004) added constituent and normative motivational forces aspredictors leading to voluntary turnover decisions. Constituent forces reflect negativerelationships at work while normative forces include common non-work shocks such asspouses transfer, pregnancy, or dependent care issues. Relationships with others areclearly important as researchers have shown that job embeddedness explains additional

variance beyond work attitudes (e.g. job satisfaction and organizational commitment) inpredicting voluntary turnover (Lee et al., 2004; Mitchell et al., 2001). Job embeddedness isconceptualized as a web in whichan individual gets stuck both on andoff the job throughlinks to others, lifestyle fit, and the costs of leaving a job. In addition, Mossholder et al.(2005) introduced a relational perspective on turnover by demonstrating that variousaspects of workplace relationships can significantly influence turnover. We draw on theturnover literature in general, and the job embeddedness and relational perspectives inparticular, as we investigate how womens social networks, comprised of both work andnon-work relationships, influence decisions regarding career exit.

Women opting outCareers have been defined as a persons emerging set of work experiences over time

(Arthur et al., 1989). Researchers have explored many different facets of womens careers,including the role of gender (Acker, 1992, 1999; Eccles, 1987), adult development (Gersickand Kram, 2002; Levinson, 1996; Powell and Mainiero, 1992), importance of relationships(Gallos, 1989; Gilligan, 1982; Gutek and Larwood, 1987), challenges of balancing workand family demands (Brett, 1997; Beutell and Greenhaus, 1982, 1983; Greenhaus andBeutell, 1985; Greenhaus and Powell, 2003, 2006), challenges of dual-career couples(Bielby and Bielby, 1989, 1982; Barnett and Rivers, 1996) and structural barriers(Ibarra, 1992, 1993, 1995; Kanter, 1977) among others. Despite extant research and our

Professionalwomens

career exit

59


4/27

understanding that women often conceptualize, enact, and value their careers in waysthat are distinctly different from men, male-defined interpretations of work and careersuccess continue to set the standards among organizational research and practice(ONeill et al., 2008). It is this continued reliance on and benchmarking against traditional

male career models when studying womens careers that has fueled much of theconversation surrounding women who choose to opt out of their careers.

Before moving forward, we must delineate the boundary conditions of our theorizingby highlighting several important assumptions made in this paper. Our research focuseson married[1], educated, professional women in industrialized nations for whom thedecision to work and in what capacity is indeed a choice (i.e. women for whom a varietyof work or non-work arrangements is economically viable). We focus on this populationbecause it is the career choices of these women, who have the potential to wield powerand influence in the workplace, which motivated the highly charged enduring debateover opting out. In line with these boundary conditions, recent research suggests that,in corporate America, women quit more than men (Anderson et al., 2010; Hom et al.,2008). Currently, 22 percent of women holding graduate or professional degrees havechosen to stay at home. Specifically, one in three women holding an MBA degree are notworking full-time,a status represented by only one in 20 MBA-bearing men (Wallis etal.,2004). More broadly, 37 percent of highly qualified women have voluntarily exited thelabor force at some point during their careers, a statistic that increases to 43 percentamong women with children yet drops to only 24 percent among men (Hewlett, 2007;Hewlett and Luce, 2005). This phenomenon was identified in the USA, according toThe World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report, which also acknowledged a60 percent gap in economic opportunity and participation between women and menacross 134 other countries (Hausmann et al., 2010).

Numerous antecedents have been linked to turnover among women, however, thisexisting research tells only part of the story. Most notably, research has built on March

and Simons (1958) pushand pull factors such as the push of unsupportive supervisors,unfavorable working conditions, or lack of advancement opportunities and the pull offamily demands that cause women to opt out or leave the workforce (Bagger et al., 2008;Cabrera, 2007; Rosenbaum and Miller, 1996; Stone, 2007; Tharenou, 2001). Women mayalso follow a more utilitarian approach whereby career investment is based on perceivedreward and costs; thus when the perceived costs of career investment outweigh theperceived rewards, women choose to exit (Lobel, 1991; Rothbard and Edwards, 2003).In addition, Mainiero and Sullivan (2005, 2006) suggest that the decision to exit onescareer is based on shifting needs for challenge, balance and authenticity at different lifestages. Finally, current trends suggest that for some women opting out is moreinvoluntary, caused by a downturn in the economy and increased layoffs among femaleemployees (Uchitelle, 2008).

Despite the importance placed on identity as a fundamental element of careerdevelopment (Arthur and Rousseau, 1996; Bell and Nkomo, 2001; Hall, 2002; Hall et al.,1997; Ibarra, 1999, 2004) discussion of the central role that identity plays in womenscareer decisions, and in particular career exit, is surprisingly absent[2]. Additionally,we know that relationships with others provide important information about who weare, serving as an origin of self and source of self-understanding (Bartel and Dutton,2001; Blumer, 1966; Cooley, 1902; Mead, 1934). Thus, as shown in Figure 1, we contributeto research on womens careers by highlighting the complex, reciprocal relationship

GM26,1

60


5/27

between a womans identity and her social network as the conceptual foundation forunderstanding womens career exit. We discuss the theoretical basis of this model indetail below.

Identity

Identity answers the question who am I? and provides normative guidelines forbehavior (Whetten and Godfrey, 1998). Two frameworks on identity have historicallydominated the organizational literature, namely social identitytheory and identity theory(Hatch and Schultz, 2004). Rooted in self-categorization and social comparison (Ashforthand Mael, 1989; Festinger, 1954; Hogg and Terry, 2000; Tajfel and Turner, 1986), socialidentity theory states that individuals classify themselves and others into various socialcategories and view membership in these categories as distinct social roles (Tajfeland Turner, 1986). In contrast, identity theory focuses on how roles are arranged ina hierarchy of salience and how role relationships shape individuals identity (Burke andTully, 1977; Hogg et al., 1995; Stryker and Burke, 2000). From a post-modern perspective,identity implies both unity and fragmentation (Kondo, 1990) and self-identity is thereflexive process of sustaining a coherent yet continuously revised biographicalnarrative (Giddens, 1991). Recent research on identity construction introduces theconcept of identity work, an on-going process of creating a coherent, distinct, andpositively valued self (Alvesson et al., 2008; Sveningsson and Alvesson, 2003).

In this research our interpretation of identity, and its impact on womens career exit,primarily stems from the identity theory framework. Rooted in symbolic interactionism(Blumer, 1966; Mead, 1934; Stryker, 1980), the foundational premise that onesself-concept is anchored in social domains is critical when investigating the joint effectsof identity and social networks on womens career exit.

Figure 1.A conceptual model of

married professionalwomens career exit

Identity

Social network

Size

Density

Tie strength

Multiplexity

Career exit

Structural constraints

Organizational demography

Occupational demography

Sociopolitical context

Ethnic or national culture

Spouses career

Dependent care

Professional tenure

Identity and social

network costs and

benefits of career

exit

Professionalwomens

career exit

61


6/27

Identity salience hierarchyThe self can be conceptualized as a set of social identities, which refers to socialpositions or roles an individual holds and enacts (Stryker, 1980). Identities are, therefore,claimed and sustained in reciprocal role relationships and role requirements form a set

of behavioral expectations that give purpose, meaning, and guidance to ones life(Merton, 1957; Thoits, 1983, 1986). Role identities are organized in a salience hierarchy,where salience is defined as the readiness to act out an identity or the probabilityof an identity being activated in a given situation. The most salient role identities guideindividuals behavioral choices, such that those choices are in accordance withexpectations of the salient identities (Budworth et al., 2008; Stryker and Burke, 2000;Stryker and Serpe, 1982, 1994; Thoits, 1992).

Commitment as organizing mechanism for identity salienceThe salience of an individuals identities is determined by degree of commitment tovarious roles (Ibarra and Smith-Lovin, 1997; Styker and Serpe, 1982); thus commitmentserves as the mechanism by which individuals arrange their identity salience hierarchy.There are three approaches to role commitment:

(1) dependent upon the amount of time and energy invested in a role;

(2) based on the psychological centrality of a role or identity; and

(3) as a function of network embeddedness (see Thoits, 1983, for further discussion).

Although extensive work-family research has focused on role conflict and role saliencestemming from the first two approaches, we argue commitment based on networkembeddedness offers a relational perspective that is especially relevant forunderstanding womens career decisions. Network embeddedness refers to the extentthat people in a network know one another and reveals how interconnected anindividuals network is (Granovetter, 1982). Embedded networks are conducive

to facilitating a clear identity (Podolny and Baron, 1997), because those who do notmaintain a consistent identity with others are likely to either conform or removethemselves from the network (Heider, 1958). Thus, according to the embeddednessapproach to role commitment, being embedded in a network with others who sharea particular identity causes individuals to be increasingly committed to that identity.We use this embeddedness approach to role commitment as a bridge between theidentity and social networks frameworks and a foundation from which to explore thereciprocal role both play in womens career exit. From this perspective, identity ispersonal but developed, maintained, and changed in close social interaction (Alvessonand Billing, 2009). Therefore, despite the reciprocity between identity and socialnetworks, our model indicates a direct relationship between identity and career exit sinceit is the individual that ultimately enacts her career:

P1. Women who are less embedded in a social network that reinforces their careerrole identities are more likely to exit their career.

Social networksIdentity theorists argue that the self is a product of society and it is in social networksand social interactions that selves are produced (Stryker, 1987). Individuals, groups,and organizations continuously create and recreate themselves through dialogues

GM26,1

62


7/27

with others that serve as processes of interpretation and enactment (Goffman, 1959;Humphreys and Brown, 2002):

Through social interaction and internalization of collective values, meanings, and standards,one comes to see oneself through the eyes of others and constructs a more or less stable senseof self (Ashforth, 2001, p. 26).

Despite the growing call by scholars to consider the embeddedness of social behavior,the network influence of female workforce participation has rarely been examined(Charles et al., 2001). Incorporating a social network perspective is especially importantfor understanding womens career development since women make career decisionswith an awareness of the larger networks of relationships surrounding them (Mainieroand Sullivan, 2006; Marcinkus et al., 2006).

Network influenceSocial networks provide the structural context through which individuals are proximate tothe opinions and behaviors of salient others and serve as prime mechanisms for

social influence (Bott, 1977; Erickson, 1988Rice and Aydin, 1991; Salancik and Pfeffer, 1978;Wellman, 1983). Themechanismused by social networktheorists to explainthe influence ofclose relationships is cohesion. Cohesion focuses on the direct connection between anindividual and others, viewing ties among these individuals as pipes transferring flows ofinformation and resources (Borgattiand Foster, 2003; Coleman, 1988, 1990). In thecontext ofour research, the people to whom a woman is directly connected (e.g. social network tiessuch as family, friends, organizational and occupational colleagues) influence her identityby providing important feedback regarding acceptable or normative career behaviors.As women organize information about their self-concept and integrate feedback from theirsocial networks, this negotiation between self and others facilitates the creation andrecreation of an identity (Blumer, 1966; Cooley, 1902; Goffman, 1959; Mead, 1934; Stryker,

1987; Swann, 1987).

Identity negotiation in networksIndividuals negotiate their identities with their social networks through both cognitiveand affective processes. Swann (1987) explains that cognitive responses are consistentwith the process of self-verification and affective reactions are consistent with theprocess of self-enhancement. Through self-verification, individuals seek out peopleto include in their social networks who will verify their own self-views (or identity)(Swann, 1983, 1987; Swann and Read, 1981). Concurrently, self-enhancement means thatindividuals seek to have a positive view of themselves and seek positive feedbackthrough their network (Baumeister, 1982). Thus, self-verification and self-enhancementare processes through which individuals select and retain people important to their

identity in their social networks. Such relationships with others play an important role inhow information about the self is organized and provide critical feedback about whowe are, thus serving as a source of self-understanding (Bartel and Dutton, 2001; Blumer,1966; Cooley, 1902; Mead, 1934).

Embeddedness and network propertiesNetwork embeddedness determines ones degree of commitment to an identity andthe structure and content of social networks determine how and what feedback is

Professionalwomens

career exit

63


8/27

provided to individuals. Commitment to an identity is a function of several networkproperties including the number (size), affective importance (strength), and multiplexityof network ties that are formed by the person enacting an identity (Thoits, 1983).In addition, density[3], which taps into the redundancy of ties in a network and reveals

how interconnected an individuals social network is also serves as a key aspect of onessocial network influencing identity (Ibarra, 1993; Podolny and Baron, 1997). Thesenetwork properties characterize the structure (i.e. size and density) and content (i.e. tiestrength, multiplexity) of a given network and are influential in shaping a womansidentity and subsequent career behaviors, particularly career exit.

Network sizeNetwork size, also called range or degree centrality (Campbell et al., 1986; Ibarra, 1995),is measured by the number of unique others with whom a person interacts and,therefore, taps into an individuals communication activity (Marsden, 1990). Largernetworks increase the diversity of people, attitudes, and behaviors that one is exposedto and greater diversity is important for garnering instrumental resources (Ibarra, 1995).Research indicates that womens social networks decrease in size during childrearingyears, whereas mens networks change by temporarily increasing their kin compositionbut do not contract in size (Munch et al., 1997).

A greater number of valued relationships predicated on a particular role leads toincreased salience of those role-relationships to an individuals identity (Ashforth, 2001;McPherson et al., 1992). Thus, for women, the greater number of valued relationshipsa woman has based on enacting her work role (e.g. valued relationships with professionalcolleagues, supervisors, and subordinates), the more salient her professional orcareer-based identities will be to her overall identity. Contrastingly, the greater number ofvalued relationships a woman has based on enacting other life roles (e.g. motherand community member), the more salient other identities will be to her overall identity.Since, in organizations of all types, men tend to have more ties to individuals in higherstatus positions (Campbell, 1988) as well as access to diverse information from their largernumbers of weak ties (Granovetter, 1973), women are less likely to receive career supportreinforcing career role identities or to find job opportunities through their networks and,consequently, are more likely to exit their careers:

P2a. Women with a greater number of valued relationships based on enactingpersonal role identities rather than career role identities are likely to exit theircareers.

Network densityNetwork density refers to the extent that people in a network know one another (Ibarra,1993) and reveals how embedded or interconnected an individuals social network is.

Dense networks facilitate communication, trust, and social support among individualsand reinforce attitudes, perceptions, and identities (Bott, 1977; Coleman, 1988; Erickson,1988; Feld and Carter, 1998; Krackhardt and Porter, 1985; Stryker and Burke, 2000).

In the workplace, well-defined performance expectations are more likely to arise fromdense networks (Podolny and Baron, 1997). At all life stages, women include morerelatives than men in their networks, while men include more coworkers (Campbell,1988; Fischer and Oliker, 1983; Marsden, 1987; Moore, 1990). Recent findings show thatoff-the-job embeddedness predicted voluntary turnover while on-the-job embeddedness

GM26,1

64


9/27

predicted job performance (Lee et al., 2004). Since women are less likely to haveembedded networks of on-the-job (e.g. work related) ties to reinforce their career relevantidentities, they are more likely to exit their careers:

P2b. Women with less dense networks of on-the-job (e.g. work related) ties toreinforce their career role identities are likely to exit their careers.

Tie strengthTie strength represents the strength of relationships an individual has with specificothers and is defined as a combination of the amount of time, the emotional intensity,the intimacy (mutual confiding), and the reciprocal services which characterize the tie(Granovetter, 1973, p. 1361). The career development literature has shown that closerelationships are more likely to fulfill psychosocial functions, or those aspects of arelationship that enhance an individuals sense of competence, identity, and professionaleffectiveness (Ibarra, 1995; Kram, 1985). Since strong ties show a greater potential forpersuasion and influence among individuals (Granovetter, 1973; Krackhardt, 1992;

Rogers and Kincaid, 1981), women who receive support from strong ties for their careerroles are more likely to value and consider salient these identities, whereas women whodo not receive support, or sense ambivalence for, their career roles from strong ties aremore likely to exit their career:

P2c. Women who do not receive support or sense ambivalence from strong ties fortheir career role identities are likely to exit their careers.

MultiplexityMultiplexity represents the overlap of roles, exchanges, or affiliations in a socialrelationship (Verbrugge, 1979, p. 1286). Multiplexity indicates the co-occurrence ofdistinct roles (e.g. my coworker is also my friend), the presence of multiple content

flowing through a tie (e.g. I get both advice and information from my relationship withSally), or multiple bases of interaction for individuals (e.g. I interact with Bob at workand in the neighborhood). Multiplex relationships allow individuals to make efficient useof time and energy and should enhance the meaningfulness and affective importance ofthe identities involved (Thoits, 1983). Many social roles are nested within one anotherwhereby the people we interact with in multiple role-relationships overlap, e.g. spouseand parent. Aspects of these role-relationships serve to reinforce the importance andvalue of the relationship itself, therefore, multiplex relationships are more likely to bestrong relationships.

In the workplace, mentors are key multiplex relationships offering both instrumentaland psychosocial support. Research shows that same-gender ties are importantfor psychosocial functions, especially role modeling (Kram, 1985). Owing to structural

constraints (discussed in the next section), women are less likely than men to havemultiplex relationships at work (Ibarra, 1995). In addition, since there are fewer women inpositions of power, women need strong information ties with men (Ibarra, 1997) andintegration into dominant coalitions of men (Brass, 1985) to get promoted. The lack ofmultiplex relationships at work means that women have fewer relationships in whichmultiple identities (or role relationships) reinforce one another, which reduces commitmentto those relationships. In general, we expect that women with fewer multiplexrelationships to support their career development are more likely to exit their careers:

Professionalwomens

career exit

65


10/27

P2d. Women with fewer multiplex ties that support their career role identities arelikely to exit their careers.

Structural constraints on womens social networksWhen considering the joint role identity and social networks play in determiningwomens career exit, it is important to recognize that womens networks are affectedby the social structure of their surrounding environment (Feld, 1982; Kanter, 1977;Ng and Chow, 2009; Reskin et al., 1999). As highlighted in their cross-national study,Charles et al. (2001, p. 385) assert that individual decision making and economicbehavior can only be understood with attention to the broader social environmentin which they occur. Studies demonstrate that context is filtered through interpersonalrelationships (Brass, 1985; Ibarra, 1992, 1997); therefore, we suggest that constraintsexisting in the environment affect a womans identity indirectly through her socialnetwork. Structural constraints may stem from organizational demography,occupational demography, sociopolitical context, and the ethnic or national culture in

which a woman is embedded.

Organizational demographyDemography refers to composition in terms of basic attributes such as age, sex, race,and educational level (Pfeffer, 1983). Diversity within an organization is perhapsthe most important structural determinant of personal networks because it shapesones daily interactions. Research suggests that homophily, the tendency to formrelationships with others who are similar to ourselves (e.g. of the same gender)structures network ties of every type (McPherson et al., 2001). Studies show thatindividuals tend to receive more support from gender homophilous relationshipssuggesting that women are less likely to be mentored in organizations where they are theminority (Phillips and Imhoff, 1997). In addition, Ibarra (1995) found that being in

the minority has negative effects on individuals affective experience in the workplace,which includes a lack of identification in one-on-one relationships and a feeling ofisolation in work groups. Therefore, demographic constraints on the availability ofsame-gender ties have powerful implications for womens access to information, attitudeformation, and potential for valued interpersonal interactions.

Occupational demographyExtensive research documents gender discrimination and segregation in variousoccupations due to both the allocation of workers across job categories and the rewardsfor female-dominated jobs in comparison with male-dominated jobs (Cohen andHuffman, 2003a; Murphy and Graff, 2005; Reskin, 1993). Cohen and Huffman (2003a, b)found that higher levels of occupational segregation were associated with a higher wage

penalty and an increased tendency to devalue womens work roles. Research has shownthat, in the US, white mothers of infants aremore likely to exit the labor forceif they workin a gender-typical occupation (e.g. one where the employment base is at least 70 percentfemale). This is due to the lower status of womens jobs and female occupations as wellas to the lower costs of exit and perceived ease of re-entry into female occupations(Charles et al., 2001).

Similarly, the rigid structure of training and advancement in some occupationsdisadvantages women during their childbearing years. Many professional occupations

GM26,1

66


11/27

have structured career paths around the male model of adult development (Gallos, 1989;Levinson, 1978; White et al., 1992) during which the most intense training periods orpromotional opportunities overlap with the biological ages that women have youngchildren. For example, the legal and public accounting professions both have an up-or-out

career path to partnership with a strict schedule for promotion or discontinuedemployment. In addition, academia and medicine both tend to require intense trainingand productivity for tenure and career success during womens prime childbearing ages.These challenges have led researchers to argue that the family structure most conduciveto career advancement is one consisting of a male head of household with either nochildren or with a wife at home caring for the children (Brett, 1997; Moen and Sweet, 2004).

Sociopolitical contextThe sociopolitical context represents structural barriers due to sexism and facilitativefactors such as the womens rights movement (Fassinger, 2005). Within thediscrimination literature, much has been written about the negative impact of sexual

harassment and the glass ceiling on the careers of working women (Kanter, 1977;Murphy and Graff, 2005; Powell, 1999). Sexual harassment, or the inappropriatetreatment of employees on the basis of gender, has been documented as affecting womenin a variety of occupations and resulting in negative consequences such as legal actionand heightened turnover (James and Wooten, 2006). The glass ceiling refers to theinvisible barrier that prevents women from climbing the corporate ladder and thusreaping the financial and status rewards accompanying that ascent (Morrison et al.,1987). Other studies have described the glass escalator, a phenomenon in which menaccelerate up organizational hierarchies particularly in female-dominated professions(Hultin, 2003; Maume, 1999), and the glass cliff, a precarious leadership position thatwomen are more likely to occupy than men (Ryan et al., 2007). All of these conditions putworking women at a disadvantage both in terms of objective rewards for their labor and

subjective rewards of work recognition and satisfaction.

Ethnic or national cultureThe ethnic or national culture represents cultural ideologies surrounding womens role indomestic and economic duties. Research has shown that, after controlling forindividual-level variables, gender gaps in market behavior can often be attributedto cultural constraints on womens employment (Charles et al., 2001; Brinton, 2001).Women may receive encouragement for career exitfrom important network relationshipsin both personal and professional domains due to traditional gender roles and normsinherent in ones ethnic or national culture that ascribe primary domestic responsibilitiesto women (Betz, 2007). The national culture as it pertains to women has been evaluated interms of the gender gap index, which measures gender inequality in 134 countries on

the basis of four measures including economic participation and opportunity, educationalattainment, political empowerment, and health and survival (Hausmann et al., 2010).In this study, Nordic countries (Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Iceland) rank highestoverall due to their more liberal societies In contrast, Pakistan, Chad, and Yemen rankthe lowest with the widest gaps between women and men. Across the 134 countries,over 93 percent of the global education gap and 96 percent of the health gap has beenclosed, whereas only about 60 percent economic participation gap has been closed(Hausmann et al., 2010).

Professionalwomens

career exit

67


12/27

In the USA, data from a recent Current Population Survey showed low workforceparticipation rates for Hispanic married mothers, despite a significant increase of thisgroup in the US population. This discrepancy is most likely due to the strong Hispaniccultural ideology that emphasizes mothers staying home to care for their children

(Cohany and Sok, 2007). Similarly, cross-national research highlights Switzerland andEast Asian countries ( Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea) as having traditional gender-roleattitudes (Brinton, 2001; Charles etal., 2001). Specifically, Swiss culture is highly focusedon domestic motherhood and not as supportive of two-income couples as otherindustrialized nations (Charles et al., 2001). Comparative studies show that marriedTaiwanese women are more likely than Japanese or South Korean women to continueworking through the early stages of childrearing (i.e. women ages 25-40). While married

Japanese and Korean women exit and may return to work when they no longer have tocare for preschool children (i.e. women over age 40) (Brinton et al., 2001; Yu, 2001).In Israel, the patriarchal society also places a high value on womens domestic role andexpects women to care for family and children. However, social policy in Israel supportsthe integration of women into the labor force; therefore, jobs in Israels public sector

include paid maternity leave, reduced hours for working mothers, and subsidized daycare programs (Stier and Yaish, 2008). Thus, womens public sector employment in Israelprovides an important example of how gendered cultural norms likely combine with, areshaped by, and reinforce organizational, occupational and sociopolitical constraints,which together impact the opportunity cost of womens labor force participation.

Womens personal experience of these structural constraints is most immediatethrough their social networks. Direct ties in ones social network are important sourcesof information providing cues used by individuals to interpret events, guide attitudes,focus attention on certain aspects of the environment, and make salient informationabout an individuals past activities and thoughts (Salancik and Pfeffer, 1978). Thestructure and content of these network ties are shaped by the social environment inwhich an individual is embedded. In this way, structural constraints serve to limit awomans social network, constraining career opportunities and indirectly supporting adecision to exit her career:

P3. Structural constraints, including organizational and occupationaldemography, sociopolitical context, and ethnic or national culture influencethe composition of a womans social network and subsequently impact heridentity.

Conditions that facilitate or impede career exitWe argue that identity is the subjective construct that determines womens career exit,however, this behavior is likelymoderated by objective conditions that facilitate or impedea womans ability to exit her career. These conditions include aspects of a womans

spouses career, the requirements of her dependent care, and her professional tenure.

Spouses careerSpouses are a particularly important part of a womans social network; as strongties they subjectively influence identity through attitudes and behaviors towardemployment and the availability of interpersonal support (Becker and Moen, 1999;Valimaki et al., 2009). However, spouses also have an objective role in facilitating orimpeding a womans ability to exit her career. Objective aspects of a spouses career

GM26,1

68


13/27

and behavior include personal earnings contributed to the household (Kate, 1998;Lerman, 2002), work hours and relocation requirements (Bielby and Bielby, 1989, 1992),and involvement with home and family responsibilities (Baron, 1987; Bonney et al., 1999;Scandura and Lankau, 1997). Thus, even if a womans identity would predict career exit,

her spouses relative earnings contribution, work requirements, and behavior may alterher ability to exit the workforce.

Dependent careDependent care, which includes both child care and elder care, affects the workand career choices of working women throughout their life. Research has shownthat both employees with child care responsibilities as well as those with elder careresponsibilities are absent from work moreoften, are more likely to leave early from work,and take more time off during the workday than those employees without suchresponsibilities (Buffardi et al., 1999). Since responsibility for both child and elder carefalls disproportionately on women, who are more likely than men to make caregivingarrangements and to restructure work activities around family needs (Biernat and

Wortman, 1991), the nature of dependent care responsibilities a woman has candifferentially influence the relationship between her identity and decisions surroundingcareer exit. Thus, even if a womans identity would predict remaining in the workforce,issues related to dependent care including number of dependents, costs of outsidedependent care relative to earnings, and felt stress related to dependent caregiving couldserve as conditions that would facilitate career exit. Furthermore, if a womans identitywould predict career exit, these issues related to dependent care could serve as conditionsthat intensify and expedite a womans decision to exit her career.

Professional tenureTenure is considered one of the most meaningful demographic predictors of turnoverin organizations. Research shows that individuals with greater tenure are less likelyto leave their organization (Griffeth et al., 2000). Professional tenure captures anindividuals career progression from the time they enter their profession andincludes profession-related education, training, and experiences. Professional tenure isconsidered a more appropriate measure of career stage than using age or organizationaltenure since individuals can enter into professions at various ages and are often able totransfer their rank and tenure status to other organizations (Lynn etal., 1996).A womansprofessional tenure contributes to her expectations and choices regarding work(Hochschild, 1989; Josselson, 1987); thus we expect that the relationship between awomans identity and her decisions surrounding career exit will be influenced byconditions of her professional tenure:

P4. Spouses career, dependent care requirements, and professional tenure

moderate the relationship between a womans identity and her decisionssurrounding career exit.

Identity and social network costs and benefits of career exitIdentity shapes both attitudes and behaviors (Stewart and McDermott, 2004; Whettenand Godfrey, 1998), therefore, a womans career exit reflects her integrated identityat thetime of departure. There are several costs to exiting the paid workforce includinga loss of income and benefits, a loss of technical skills (Reitman and Schneer, 2005),

Professionalwomens

career exit

69


14/27

and an increased risk of distress due to identity loss (Thoits, 1983, 1986). When womenexit their careers, they lose an identity that has social value and status and must, in part,redefine who they are (Stone, 2007). As Hall (2002, p. 170) explains, the question Whatdo you do? is often a more acceptable way of asking, Who are you? Thus, the feedback

loop from costs and benefits of career exit to identity, as depicted in our conceptualmodel, acknowledges the identity change that a woman who exits her career willundergo due to the loss of her career role identities. Our model also indicates a feedbackloop from costs and benefits of career exit to social networks indicating the changes inones personal network that inevitably follow leaving the workforce. Moore (1990) foundthat full-time employment decreased the number and diversity of kin in womensnetworks, and we expect that unemployment would have the opposite effect. Thus,when a woman exits her career she loses a set of role-relationships that defined her as, forexample, a professional, an employee, a supervisor, and/or a subordinate. Theserole-relationships are replaced (although not entirely as network size has been shown tocontract) by those in which she is defined as, for example, wife, mother, sister, friend,volunteer, and/or neighbor, thereby further reinforcing these role identities.

There are also potential benefits to career exit including the elimination of workstress, reduced dependent care costs, and increased identity clarity (Stone, 2007). When awoman exits her career, since her social network is likely to increase in kin andcommunity composition, it is also likely that the density of these relationships increaseresulting in greater identity clarity for this set of role-relationships. Finally, a womanmay have experienced normative pressures from her social network to quit followingpregnancy, spouses promotion or transfer, or elder care needs (Maertz and Campion,2004) which would also subside when she exits her career:

P5a. Career exit will lead to redefinition of a womans salient role identities.

P5b. Career exit will lead to changes in the composition of a womans social

network.

DiscussionExisting research has argued that career behavior is informed by the interaction ofindividual agency with the constraining aspects of the social environment (Bailyn, 1989;Hall, 2002; Powell and Mainiero, 1992). Our research develops a conceptual modelexplaining the reciprocal role that a womans identity and social network have in drivinga specific type of turnover, namely a womans decision to exit her career or opt out. Thisdynamic reciprocity accounts for the contribution of extra-individual forces (e.g. directties, organizational demography, and national culture) as agents in identity construction(Alvesson et al., 2008) through identity negotiation and embeddedness. In addition,we highlight moderators impacting the relationship between a womans identity and

career exit behaviors, and delineate various costs and benefits of career exit for womensidentity and social networks. In a time where individuals enjoy considerable choiceregarding career paths, occupations, and employers, examining the complex reciprocalinteraction between networks and identities is particularly pertinent (Albert et al., 2000).

Theoretical contributionsPrevious research has alluded to the role that shifting identity priorities play in womenscareer exit. In their study of senior women, Anderson et al. (2010) found that, when senior

GM26,1

70


15/27

women talked about issues of motherhood as a cause for leaving their jobs, it was notdifficulty managing work-family logistics or conflict stemming from work and familyroles causing them to leave, instead the women talked about shifting identity prioritieswhereby their role as mother was becoming increasingly important as the impetus for

their career exit. We advance existing research on womens careers by explaining how awomans identity coupled with influence stemming from her social network act inconcert to shape career exit. This contribution is especially significant since little workthus far has examined the reciprocal relationships between networks and identities asthey affect and interact with career phenomena (Ibarra and Deshpande, 2007, p. 269).By substantiating the primacy of self and others in womens career decision making,we provide new insights and an alternative explanation for opting-out that movesbeyond labeling such behavior as the result of push-pull factors, kaleidoscope needs,utilitarian motives, or economic conditions.

Aside from advancing existing careers research, our work contributes to theidentity and social networks literatures by illustrating the convergence of these twoperspectives, an agenda that has been called for but not yet addressed within theorganizational literature (Ibarra et al., 2005; for exception see Jones and Volpe, 2010;Murphy and Volpe, in press). More specifically, we draw on the work of identityscholars (Ibarra, 1993; Stryker and Serpe, 1982, 1994; Stryker and Burke, 2000; Thoits,1983) to posit that network embeddedness determines ones degree of commitment toan identity and that both the structure and content of social networks, manifestthrough the network properties size, strength, multiplexity, and density, are influentialin shaping a womans identity and subsequent career behaviors. We illustrate howactivities, organizations, institutions, and cultural norms constrain network choices forwomen yet maintain the symbolic interactionist belief in agency of the individual whomakes the decision to exit her career.

Beyond research that examines finding a job and getting ahead (Granovetter, 1995),

the social network perspective has been incorporated into the careers literaturethrough research on social capital (Metz and Tharenou, 2001; Tharenou, 2001) anddevelopmental networks (Higgins and Kram, 2001; Ibarra, 1992, 1993). We extend thiswork by linkingrelationships to identity through the use of network embeddedness as themechanism by which individuals commit to particular identities (Thoits, 1983), as well asthrough the identity negotiation processes of self-verification and self-enhancement(Swann, 1987). In addition, by highlighting the role of social networks in womensdecision to exit her career, we add to the growing organizational literature focusing onhow interpersonal relationships influence various types of individual processes includingturnover (Dutton and Ragins, 2006; Mossholder et al., 2005; Sluss and Ashforth, 2007).

Further, we build on the structuralist perspective of Strykers (1980) structuralsymbolic interactionism research program to explain how people who are indirectly

tied to a woman may influence her identity and career behavior. As a woman considersthe many career options available and acceptable for her, the absence of womenin structurally equivalent positions as well as the presence of women in such positionswhom she does not identify with, poses a significant hurdle that may make career exitmore attractive. For example, a woman who only sees men at higher levels may think,I am not the Organization Man (Whyte, 1956). Similarly, a woman who sees women atthe top of her organization or occupation with lifestyles she does not wish to emulatemay perceive that she has no viable role models. Further research on processes

Professionalwomens

career exit

71


16/27

of anti-identity (Sveningsson and Alvesson, 2003) and disidentification (Elsbach andBhattacharya, 2001) may provide insights on how incongruous role models can impactcareer behaviors.

Practical contributionsConsidering the projected slowdown in labor force growth (Bureau of Labor Statistics,2009) coupled with the growing dominance of a knowledge-based economy, retainingwell-educated, qualified, and experienced employees is becoming a competitivenecessity. Therefore, the exit of talented women from the workforce presents asignificant challenge for organizations.

We argue that a womans identity interacts with her social network to driveher careerbehaviors. Therefore, it seems likely that organizations and occupations, representedthrough the inclusion of organizational and occupational colleagues within a womanssocial network, could promote opportunities and perform in ways that reducethe likelihood of career exit.A recent study of women who earned undergraduate degrees

from Harvard University between 1988 and 1991, many of whom went on to obtainadvanced degrees, suggests that the work environment plays a strong role incontributing to womens career behaviors, specifically the decision to exit the labor forceat motherhood. This study found that women with MBAs faced more challenges as theytried to juggle their professional and personal roles than did women who had obtained

JDs and MDs. The reasons cited included a stronger sense of professional identity amonglawyers and doctors, as MBA-bearing women view their identity as manager to be a bitmore nebulous and, therefore, harder to identify with, greater availability of workarrangements for lawyers and especially doctors that are conducive to managingprofessional and personal roles (e.g. flexible schedules and part-time work), and a lesserimportance placed on workplace face time (Damast, 2008; Herr and Wolfram, 2008).These findings support the notion that aspects of the organizational and occupational

environment do impact a womans identity and subsequently inform her enactmentof career behaviors. The availability of female role models, colleagues attitudestoward work-life policy and benefit usage, and espoused attitudes about normativecareer trajectories all serve as feedback signals about the organizational andoccupational environment which are incorporated into a womans identity through hersocial network.

Furthermore, although scholars commend the protean, boundaryless, or non-linearcareer models prevalent in todays society (Arthur and Rousseau, 1996; Hall, 2002;ONeil et al., 2008), organization leaders are more reluctant to praise and rewardindividuals who pursue non-traditional career paths. Since it is often women who pursuenon-traditional career paths (Hewlett, 2007; ONeil et al., 2008), to retain qualified,experienced female employees organizations must embrace the idea of non-traditional

careers. It would behoove organizations to develop and support creative and viableopportunities within the organization (e.g. job shares, flexible schedules, part-time work,extended leave with guaranteed reinstatement, accessible on-ramps), such that womendo not view leaving the organization or departing the workforce as the only availableoptions for accommodating both their professional and personal lives.

Finally, popular press articles have highlighted the potential for opting-out amongcollege-aged women who are receiving undergraduate degrees from elite institutionswhile simultaneously setting a career path to motherhood. Accordingly, these young

GM26,1

72


17/27

women are planning to work and even pursue graduate degrees until the time whentheir children are born, when they then plan to take time off to raise their children andpotentially return to full-time or part-time employment once their children areschool-aged (Story, 2005). Some scholars have suggested that women often fall victim to

the myth of having it all andare left disappointed when their idealized version of careerand family integration does not come to fruition (Hewlett, 2002; Hewlett and Luce, 2005).Even with organizations committed to helping women reconcile the work-life interfaceand facilitate their ability to enact desired personal and professional roles, as with anydecision, it is important that women understand the implications and trade-offsassociated with their career behaviors, especially the costs and benefits of career exit.For example, existing research has shown that career interruptions can have negativeimpacts on income and satisfaction (Reitman and Schneer, 2005; Schneer and Reitman,1997). It is important that organizations are transparent about the potential impact ofvarious career decisions, thus enabling women to make realistic assessments of theoutcomes that may accompany their career behaviors.

Limitations and directions for future researchWhile this research is grounded in theoretical arguments, there may be idiosyncraticindividual and situational constraints that prevent a variety of career behaviors frombeing enacted by some married professional women. For example, as outlined at thebeginning of this paper, our research focuses on women for whom the decision to workand in what capacity is indeed a choice (i.e. women for whom a variety of work ornon-work arrangements is economically viable). Although we discuss the moderatingrole that spouses career plays in the relationship among identity, social networks andcareer exit, we do not claim to generalize our theorizing beyond the focus population ofmarried, professional women. Thus, it is unclear whether single women, who do nothave a partner to rely on for financial support, would make similar decisions regarding

career exit. Future research should use an identity and social networks framework toexamine the career behaviors, particularly career exit, of other working womenpopulations as doing so would help to generalize our research model to extend beyondmarried, well-educated professional women who represent the prototypical focus ofopting out versus opting in debates.

In addition, we note that the consequences of a womans career exit are likely tolead to some predictable changes in her social network. Since career exit will furtheraffirm or challenge a womens overall identity, we expect that the salience of differentrole relationships, or identities, will change over time. Although we have shown thisfeedback in Figure 1, a longitudinal process model will be necessary to further exploresuch complex system feedback.

ConclusionAlthough identity and social networks are not new perspectives, in the context ofmarried professional womens careers thisconceptualframework highlights the complexindividual and relational processes motivating career exit. The model developed herereveals the dynamic contributions that embedded role relationships make in shapingwomens careers. We believe this more nuanced approach to the interactions between awomans identity and her social environment will extend our understanding of the careerchoices available to and enacted by professional women.

Professionalwomens

career exit

73


18/27

Notes

1. We focus on heterosexual married women and acknowledge that identity or social networkmechanisms may differ for nontraditional couples including homosexual and transgenderedrelationships.

2. Ibarras (1999, 2004) work focuses on job changes that alter individuals professional identityand experimentation with provisional selves in the formation of ones professional identity.

3. The concept of embeddedness is often operationalized as density by social networksresearchers (Borgatti and Foster, 2003; Wellman, 1983), however, identity scholars (Stryker andBurke, 2000; Thoits, 1983) refer to embeddedness as the patterns of relationships in a network,while job embeddedness researchers refer to an individuals links to their job and community.Thus, consistentwith identity theorists, we use the term embeddedness to describe ones overallattachment to a network and specify network properties that would intensify embeddedness.

References

Acker, J. (1992), Fromsex roles to gendered institutions, Contemporary Sociology, Vol.21, pp. 565-9.

Acker, J. (1999), Gender and organizations, in Chafetz, J.S. (Ed.), Handbook of the Sociology ofGender, Kluwer Academic/Plenum, New York, NY, pp. 177-94.

Albert, S., Ashforth,B.E. and Dutton, J.E.(2000), Organizational identityand identification:chartingnew waters and building new bridges, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 25, pp. 13-17.

Alvesson, M. and Billing, Y.D. (2009), Understanding Gender and Organizations, 2nd ed., Sage,London.

Alvesson, M., Ashcraft, K.L. and Thomas, R. (2008), Identity matters: reflections on theconstruction of identity scholarship in organization studies, Organization, Vol. 15, pp. 5-28.

Anderson, D., Vinnicombe, S. and Singh, V. (2010), Women partners leaving the firm: choice,what choice?, Gender in Management: An International Journal, Vol. 25, pp. 170-83.

Arthur, M.B. and Rousseau, D.M. (1996), The Boundaryless Career: A New Employment Principle

for a New Organizational Era, Oxford University Press, Oxford.Arthur, M.B., Hall, D.T. and Lawrence, B.S. (1989), Handbook of Career Theory, Cambridge

University Press, Cambridge.

Ashforth, B.E. (2001), Role Transitions in Organizational Life: An Identity-based Perspective,Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ.

Ashforth, B.E. and Mael, F. (1989), Social identity theory and the organization, Academy ofManagement Review, Vol. 14, pp. 20-39.

Bagger, J., Li, A. and Gutek, B.A. (2008), How much do you value your family and does it matter?The joint effects of family identity salience, family-interference-with-work, and gender,

Human Relations, Vol. 61, pp. 187-211.

Bailyn, L. (1989), Understanding individual experience and work: comments on the theory andpractice of careers, in Arthur, M.B., Hall, D.T. and Lawrence, B.S. (Eds), Handbook of

Career Theory, Cambridge University Press, New York, NY, pp. 477-89.

Barnett, R.C. and Rivers, C. (1996), She Works/he Works: How Two-income Families are Happier,Healthier, and Better-off, HarperOne, San Francisco, CA.

Baron, A. (1987), Working parents: shifting traditional roles, Business, Vol. 31 No. 1, pp. 36-7.

Bartel, C. and Dutton, J. (2001), Ambiguous organizational memberships: constructingorganizational identities in interactions with others, in Hogg, M.A. and Terry, D.J. (Eds),Social Identity Processes in Organizational Contexts, Psychology Press, Philadelphia, PA,pp. 115-30.

GM26,1

74


19/27

Baumeister, R.F. (1982), A self-presentational view of social phenomena, Psychological Bulletin,Vol. 91, pp. 3-26.

Baxter, S. and Baird, T. (2006), The new woman is a housewife: liberated careerists choose

family life, The Sunday Times, April 16.

Becker, P. and Moen, P. (1999), Scaling back: dual-earner couples work-family strategies,

Journal of Marriage and the Family, Vol. 61, pp. 995-1007.

Belkin, L. (2003), The opt-out revolution, New York Times Magazine, October 26, pp. 42-7.

Bell, E.L. and Nkomo, S.M. (2001), Our Separate Ways: Black and White Women and the Strugglefor Professional Identity, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA.

Betz, N.E. (2007), Womens career development, in Denmark, F.L. and Paludi, M.A. (Eds),

Psychology of Women: A Handbook of Issues and Theories, 2nd ed., Praeger, Westport, CT,pp. 717-52.

Beutell, N.J. and Greenhaus, J.H. (1982), Interrole conflict among married women: the influence

of husband and wife characteristics on conflict and coping behavior, Journal of VocationalBehavior, Vol. 21, pp. 99-110.

Beutell, N.J. and Greenhaus, J.H. (1983), Integration of home and nonhome roles: womens conflictand coping behavior, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 68, pp. 43-8.

Bielby, W.T. and Bielby, D.D. (1989), Family ties: balancing commitments to work and family in

dual earner households, American Sociological Review, Vol. 54 No. 5, pp. 776-89.

Bielby, W.T. and Bielby, D.D. (1992), I will follow him: family ties, gender-role beliefs, and

reluctance to relocate for a better job, The American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 97 No. 5,pp. 1241-67.

Biernat, M. and Wortman, C.B. (1991), Sharing of home responsibilities between professionally

employed women and their husbands,Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 60,pp. 844-60.

Blumer, H. (1966), Sociological implications of the thought of George Herbert mead, American

Journal of Sociology, Vol. 71, pp. 535-48.Bonney, J., Kelley, M. and Levant, R. (1999), A model of fathers behavioral involvement in child

care in dual-earner families, Journal of Family Psychology, Vol. 13, pp. 401-15.

Borgatti, S.P. and Foster, P.C. (2003), The network paradigm in organizational research: a review

and typology, Journal of Management, Vol. 29, pp. 991-1013.

Bott, E. (1977), Urban families: conjugal roles and social networks, in Leinhardt, S. (Ed.),

Social Networks: A Developing Paradigm, Academic Press, New York, NY, pp. 253-92.

Brass, D.J. (1985), Mens and womens networks: a study of interaction patterns and influence in

organizations, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 28 No. 2, pp. 327-43.

Brett, J.M. (1997), Family, sex, and career advancement, in Parasuraman, S. and

Greenhaus, J.H. (Eds), Integrating Work and Family: Challenges and Choices for

a Changing World, Quorum Books, Westport, CT, pp. 143-53.Brinton, M.C. (2001), Womens Working Lives in East Asia, Stanford University Press,

Stanford, CA.

Brinton, M.C., Lee, Y.J. and Parish, W.L. (2001), Married womens employment in rapidly

industrializing societies: South Korea and Taiwan, in Brinton, M.C. (Ed.), WomensWorking Lives in East Asia, Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA, pp. 38-69.

Budworth, M.H., Enns, J.R. and Rowbotham, K. (2008), Shared identity and strategic choice in

dual-career couples, Gender in Management, Vol. 23 No. 2, pp. 103-19.

Professionalwomens

career exit

75


20/27

Buffardi, L.C., Smith, J.L., OBrien, A.S. and Erdwins, C.J. (1999), The impact of dependent careresponsibilities and gender on work attitudes, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology,Vol. 4, pp. 356-67.

Bureau of Labor Statistics (2009), Employment projections: 2008-2018 summary, available at:

www.bls.gov/news.release (accessed January 18).Burke, P.J. and Reitzes, D.C. (1991), An identity approach to commitment, Social Psychology

Quarterly, Vol. 54, pp. 239-51.

Burke, P.J. and Tully, J.C. (1977), The measurement of role identities, Social Forces, Vol. 55,pp. 881-97.

Cabrera, E.F. (2007), Opting out and opting in: understanding the complexities of womenscareer transitions, Career Development International, Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 218-37.

Campbell, K.E. (1988), Gender differences in job-related networks, Work and Occupations,Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 179-200.

Campbell, K.E., Marsden, P.V. and Hurlbert, J.S. (1986), Social resources and socioeconomicstatus, Social Networks, Vol. 8, pp. 97-117.

Charles, M., Buchmann, M., Halebsky, S., Powers, J.M. and Smith, M.M. (2001), The context ofwomens market careers: a cross-national study, Workand Occupations, Vol. 28,pp. 371-96.

Cohany, S.R. and Sok, E. (2007), Trends in labor force participation of married mothers ofinfants, Monthly Labor Review, February, pp. 9-16.

Cohen, P.N. and Huffman, M.L. (2003a), Individuals, jobs, labor markets: the devaluation ofwomens work, American Sociological Review, Vol. 68, pp. 443-63.

Cohen, P.N. and Huffman, M.L. (2003b), Occupational segregation, the devaluation of womenswork across US labor markets, Social Forces, Vol. 81, pp. 881-908.

Coleman, J.S. (1988), Social capital in the creation of human capital, American Journal ofSociology, Vol. 94, pp. S95-S120.

Coleman, J.S. (1990), Foundations of Social Theory, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.

Cooley, C.H. (1902), Human Nature and the Social Order, Scribners, New York, NY.Damast, A. (2008), MBA moms most likely to opt out, available at: www.businessweek.com/

bschools/content/aug2008/bs20080821_739321.htm (accessed October 9).

Diamond, E. (1987), Theories of career development and the reality of women at work, inGutek, B.A. and Larwood, L. (Eds), Womens Career Development, Sage, NewburyPark, CA,pp. 15-27.

Dutton, J.E. and Ragins, B.R. (2006), Exploring Positive Relationships at Work: Building aTheoretical and Research Foundation, Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ.

Eccles, J.S. (1987), Gender roles and womens achievement-related decisions, Psychology ofWomen Quarterly, Vol. 11, pp. 135-72.

Elsbach, K.D. and Bhattacharya, C.B. (2001), Defining who you are by what youre not:organizational disidentification and the national rifle association, Organization Science,Vol. 12, pp. 393-413.

Erickson, B. (1988), The relational basis of attitudes, in Wellman, B. and Berkowitz, S.D. (Eds),Social Structures: A Network Approach, Cambridge University Press, New York, NY,pp. 99-121.

Fassinger, R.E. (2005), Theoretical issues in the study of womens career development: buildingbridges in a brave new world, in Walsh, W.B. and Savickas, M.L. (Eds), Handbook ofVocational Psychology: Theory, Research, and Practice, 3rd ed., Lawrence Erlbaum,Mahwah, NJ, pp. 85-124.

GM26,1

76


21/27

Feld, S.L. (1982), Social structural determinants of similarity among associates, AmericanSociological Review, Vol. 47, pp. 797-801.

Feld, S.L. and Carter, W.C. (1998), Foci of activity as changing contexts for friendship,in Adams, R.G. and Allan, G. (Eds), Placing Friendship in Context, Cambridge University

Press, Cambridge, pp. 136-52.Festinger, L. (1954), A theory of social comparison processes, Human Relations, Vol. 7,

pp. 117-40.

Fischer, C.S. and Oliker, S.J. (1983), A research note on friendship, gender, and the life cycle,Social Forces, Vol. 62 No. 1, pp. 124-33.

Gallos, J. (1989), Exploring womens development: implications for career theory, practice, andresearch, in Arthur, M.B., Hall, D.T. and Lawrence, B.S. (Eds), Handbook of CareerTheory, Cambridge University Press, New York, NY, pp. 110-32.

Gersick, C. and Kram, K. (2002), High-achieving women at midlife: an exploratory study,Journal of Management Inquiry, Vol. 11, pp. 104-27.

Giddens, A. (1991),Modernity and Self-identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age, StanfordUniversity Press, Stanford, CA.

Gilligan, C. (1982), In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Womens Development,Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.

Goffman, E. (1959), The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life , Doubleday, New York, NY.

Granovetter, M. (1973), The strength of weak ties, American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 78,pp. 1360-80.

Granovetter, M. (1982), The strength of weak ties: a network theory revisited, in Marsden, P.V.and Lin, N. (Eds), Social Structure and Network Analysis, Sage, Beverly Hills, CA,pp. 105-30.

Granovetter, M. (1995), Getting a Job: A Study of Contacts and Careers, 2nd ed., The University ofChicago, Chicago, IL.

Greenhaus, J.H. and Beutell, N.J. (1985), Sources of conflict between work and family roles,

Academy of Management Review, Vol. 10, pp. 76-88.

Greenhaus, J.H. and Powell, G.N. (2003), When work and family collide: deciding betweencompeting role demands, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Vol.90,pp. 291-303.

Greenhaus, J.H. andPowell, G.N. (2006), When work and family are allies: a theory of work-familyenrichment, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 31, pp. 72-92.

Griffeth, R.W., Hom, P.W. and Gaertner, S. (2000), A meta-analysis of antecedents and correlatesof employee turnover: update, moderator tests, and research implications for the nextmillennium, Journal of Management, Vol. 26, pp. 463-88.

Gutek, B.A. and Larwood, L. (1987), Womens Career Development, Sage, Newbury Park, CA.

Hall, D.T. (2002), Careers In and Out of Organizations, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.

Hall,D.T., Briscoe, J.P. and Kram, K.E. (1997), Identity, values and learning in theprotean career,in Cooper, C.L. and Jackson, S.E. (Eds), Creating Tomorrows Organizations: A Handbook

for Future Research in Organizational Behavior, Wiley, London, pp. 321-37.

Hatch, M.J. and Schultz, M. (2004), Organizational Identity: A Reader, Oxford University Press,Oxford.

Hausmann, R., Tyson, L.D. and Zahidi, S. (2010), The Global Gender Gap Report, World EconomicForum, Geneva.

Heider, F. (1958), The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations, Wiley, New York, NY.

Professionalwomens

career exit

77


22/27

Herr, J.L. and Wolfram, C. (2008), Opt-out patterns across careers: labor force participation rates

among highly educated mothers unpublished preliminary manuscript, University ofCalifornia, Berkeley.

Hewlett, S.A. (2002), Executive women and the myth of having it all, Harvard Business Review,

Vol. 80 No. 4, pp. 66-73.

Hewlett, S.A. (2007), Off-ramps and On-ramps: Keeping Talented Women on the Road to Success,Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA.

Hewlett, S.A. and Luce, C.B. (2005), Off-ramps and on-ramps: keeping talented women on the

road to success, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 83 No. 3, pp. 43-54.

Higgins, M.C. and Kram, K.E. (2001), Reconceptualizing mentoring at work: a developmental

network perspective, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 26, pp. 264-88.

Hochschild, A. (1989), The Second Shift: Working Parents and the Revolution at Home, Viking,New York, NY.

Hogg, M.A. and Terry, D.J. (2000), Social identity and self-categorization processes inorganizational contexts, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 25, pp. 121-40.

Hogg, M.A., Terry, D.J. and White, K.M. (1995), A tale of two theories: a critical comparison ofidentity theory with social identity theory, Social Psychological Quarterly, Vol. 58,pp. 255-69.

Hom, P.W. and Griffeth, R. (1991), A structural equations modeling test of a turnover theory:

cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 76,pp. 350-66.

Hom, P.W. and Griffeth, R. (1995), Employee Turnover, South-Western, Cincinnati, OH.

Hom, P.W. and Kinicki, A.J. (2001), Toward a greater understanding of how dissatisfactiondrives employee turnover, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 44, pp. 975-87.

Hom, P.W., Roberson, L. and Ellis, A.D. (2008), Challenging conventional wisdom about whoquits: revelations from corporate America, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 93, pp. 1-34.

Hultin, M. (2003), Some take the glass escalator, some hit the glass ceiling?, Work andOccupations, Vol. 30, pp. 30-61.

Humphreys, M. and Brown, A.D. (2002), Narratives of organizational identity and identification:a case study of hegemony and resistance, Organization Studies, Vol. 23, pp. 421-47.

Ibarra, H. (1992), Homophily and differential returns: sex differences in network structure and

access in an advertising firm, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 37, pp. 422-47.

Ibarra, H. (1993), Personal networks of women and minorities in management: a conceptualframework, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 18, pp. 56-87.

Ibarra, H. (1995), Race, opportunity, and diversity of social circles in managerial networks,Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 38, pp. 673-704.

Ibarra, H. (1997), Paving an alternative route: gender differences in managerial networks,

Social Psychology Quarterly, Vol. 60 No. 1, pp. 91-102.Ibarra, H. (1999), Provisional selves: experimenting with image and identity in professional

adaptation, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 44, pp. 764-91.

Ibarra, H. (2004), Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career,Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA.

Ibarra, H. and Deshpande, P.H. (2007), Networks and identities: reciprocal influences on careerprocesses and outcomes, in Gunz, H. and Peiperl, M. (Eds), Handbook of Career Studies,Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 268-82.

GM26,1

78


23/27

Ibarra, H. and Smith-Lovin, L. (1997), New directions in social network research in gender and

organizational careers, in Jackson, S. (Ed.), Handbook of Organizational Behavior, Wiley,New York, NY, pp. 359-84.

Ibarra, H., Kilduff, M. and Tsai, W. (2005), Zooming in and out: connecting individuals and

collectivities at the frontiers of organizational network research, Organization Science,Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 359-71.

James, E.H. and Wooten, L.P. (2006), Diversity crises: how firms manage discriminationlawsuits, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 49, pp. 1103-18.

Jio, S. (2008), No kids, jobs for growing number of wives, available at: www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/08/05/lw.nokids.nojob.wives/index.html (accessed August 5).

Jones, C. and Volpe, E.H. (2010), Organizational identification: extending our understanding ofsocial identities through social networks, Journal of Organizational Behavior (Online).

Josselson, R. (1987), Finding Herself: Pathways to Identity Development in Women, Jossey-Bass,San Francisco, CA.

Kanter, R. (1977), Men and Women of the Corporation, Basic Books, New York, NY.

Kate, N. (1998), Two careers, one marriage, American Demographics, Vol. 20 No. 4, p. 28.

Kondo, D.K. (1990), Crafting Selves: Power, Gender and Discourses of Identity in a JapaneseWorkplace, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.

Krackhardt, D. (1992), The strength of strong ties: the importance of philos in organizations,

in Nohria, N. and Eccles, R.G. (Eds), Networks and Organizations: Structure, Form, andAction, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 216-39.

Krackhardt, D. and Porter, L.W. (1985), When friends leave: a structural analysis of therelationships between turnover and stayers attitudes, Administrative Science Quarterly,Vol. 30, pp. 242-61.

Kram, K.E. (1985), Mentoring at Work: Developmental Relationships in Organizational Life, Scott,Foresman and Company, Glenview, IL.

Lee, T.W. and Mitchell, T.R. (1994), An alternative approach: the unfolding model of employeeturnover, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 19, pp. 51-89.

Lee, T.W., Mitchell, T.R., Wise, L. and Fireman, S. (1996), An unfolding model of voluntaryemployee turnover, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 39, pp. 5-36.

Lee, T.W., Mitchell, T.R., Holtom, B.C., McDaniel, L.S. and Hill, J.W. (1999), The unfolding model

of voluntary turnover: a replication and extension, Academy of Management Journal,Vol. 42, pp. 450-62.

Lee, T.W., Mitchell, T.R., Sablynski, C.J., Burton, J.P. and Holtom, B.C. (2004), The effects of job

embeddedness on organizational citizenship, job performance, volitional absences,and voluntary turnover, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 47 No. 5, pp. 711-22.

Lerman, R.I. (2002), Marriage and the Economic Well-being of Families with Children: A Review of

the Literature, US Department of Health and Human Services Report, US Department ofHealth and Human Services, Washington, DC.

Levinson, D. (1978), The Seasons of a Mans Life, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY.

Levinson, D. (1996), The Seasons of a Womans Life, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY.

Lobel, S.A. (1991), Allocation of investment in work and family roles: alternative theories and

implications for research, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 16, pp. 507-21.

Lobel, S.A. and Clair, L. (1992), Effects of family responsibilities, gender, and career identitysalience on performance outcomes,Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 35, pp. 1057-69.

Professionalwomens

career exit

79


24/27

Lynn, S.A., Cho, L.T. and Horn, B.C. (1996), The influence of career stage on the work attitudesof male and female accounting professionals, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 17,pp. 135-49.

McPherson, J.M., Popielarz, P.A. and Drobnic, S. (1992), Social networks and organizational

dynamics, American Sociological Review, Vol. 57, pp. 153-70.McPherson, J.M., Smith-Lovin, L. and Cook, J.M. (2001), Birds of a feather: homophily in social

networks, Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 27, pp. 415-44.

Maertz, C.P. and Campion, M.A. (2004), Profiles in quitting: integrating process and contentturnover theory, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 47, pp. 566-82.

Mainiero, L.A. and Sullivan, S.E. (2005), Kaleidoscope careers: an alternate explanation for theopt-out revolution, Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 106-23.

Mainiero, L.A. and Sullivan, S.E. (2006), The Opt-out Revolt: Why People are Leaving Companiesto Create Kaleidoscope Careers, Davies-Black, Mountain View, CA.

March, J. and Simon, H. (1958), Organizations, Wiley, New York, NY.

Marcinkus, W.C., Whelan-Berry, K.S. and Gordon, J.R. (2007), The relationship of social support

to the work-family balance and work outcomes of midlife women, Women in ManagementReview, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 86-111.

Marsden, P.V. (1987), Core discussion networks of Americans, Annual Review of Sociology,Vol. 52, pp. 122-31.

Marsden, P.V. (1990), Network data and measurement, Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 16,pp. 435-63.

Maume, D.J. (1999), Glass ceilings and glass escalators: occupational segregation and race andsex difference in managerial promotions, Work and Occupations, Vol. 26, pp. 483-509.

Mead, G.H. (1934), Mind, Self, and Society, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.

Merton, R.K. (1957), Social Theory and Social Structure, The Free Press, Glencoe, IL.

Metz, I. and Tharenou, P. (2001), Womens career advancement: the relative contribution of

human and social capital, Group & Organization Management, Vol. 26, pp. 312-42.Mitchell, T.R., Holtom, B.C., Lee, T.W., Sablynski, C.J. and Erez, M. (2001), Why people stay:

using job embeddedness to predict voluntary turnover, Academy of Management Journal,Vol. 44 No. 6, pp. 1102-21.

Mobley, W.H. (1977), Intermediate linkages in the relationship between job satisfaction andemployee turnover, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 62, pp. 237-40.

Mobley, W.H., Griffeth, R., Hand, H. and Meglino, B. (1979), Review and conceptual analysis ofthe employee turnover process, Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 86, pp. 493-522.

Moen, P. and Sweet, S. (2004), From work-family to flexible careers: a life course reframing,Community, Work and Family, Vol. 7 No. 2, pp. 209-26.

Moore, G. (1990), Structural determinants of mens and womens personal networks, AmericanSociological Review, Vol. 55, pp. 726-35.

Morrison, A.M., White, R.P. and van Velsor, E. (1987), Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Can WomenReach The Top of Americas Largest Corporations?, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA.

Mossholder, K.W., Settoon, R.P. and Henagan, S.C. (2005), A relational perspective on turnover:examining structural, attitudinal, and behavioral predictors, Academy of Management

Review, Vol. 48, pp. 607-18.

Munch, A., McPherson, J.M. and Smith-Lovin, L. (1997), Gender, children, and social contact:the effects of childrearing for men and women, American Sociological Review, Vol. 62,pp. 509-20.

GM26,1

80


25/27

Murphy, E. and Graff, E.J. (2005), Getting Even: Why Women dont Get Paid Like Men and Whatto do About it, Simon & Schuster, New York, NY.

Murphy, W.M. and Volpe, E.H. (in press), Enacting authentic careers: an identity salience, social

network approach, in Baugh, S.G. and Sullivan, S.E. (Eds), Research in Careers 2:

Searching for Authenticity, Information Age, Charlotte, NC.Ng, I. and Chow, I.H. (2009), Cross-gender networking in the workplace: causes and

consequences, Gender in Management, Vol. 24 No. 8, pp. 562-76.

ONeil, D.A. and Bilimoria, D. (2005), Womens career development phases: idealism, endurance,

and reinvention, Career Development International, Vol. 10 No. 3, pp. 478-500.

ONeil, D.A., Hopkins, M.M. and Bilmoria, D. (2008), Womens careers at the start of the

21st century: patterns and paradoxes, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 80, pp. 727-43.

Percheski, C. (2008), Opting out? Cohort differences in professional womens employment ratesfrom 1960 to 2005, American Sociological Review, Vol. 73, pp. 497-517.

Pfeffer, J. (1983), Organizational demography, Research in Organizational Behavior, Vol. 5,pp. 299-357.

Phillips, S.D. and Imhoff, A.R. (1997), Women and career development: a decade of research,Annual Review of Psychology, Vol. 48, pp. 31-59.

Podolny, J.M. and Baron, J.N. (1997), Resources and relationships: social networks and mobilityin the workplace, American Sociological Review, Vol. 62, pp. 673-93.

Powell, G.N. (1999), Handbook of Gender and Work, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.

Powell, G.N. and Mainiero, L.A. (1992), Cross-currents in the river of time: conceptualizing the

complexities of womens careers, Journal of Management, Vol. 18, pp. 215-37.

Reitman, F. and Schneer, J.A. (2005), The long-term negative impacts of managerial career

interruptions, Group & Organization Management, Vol. 30, pp. 243-62.

Reskin, B.F. (1993), Sex segregation in the workplace, Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 19,pp. 241-70.

Reskin, B.F., McBrier, D.B. and Kmec, J.A. (1999), The determinants and consequences ofworkplace sex and race composition, Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 25, pp. 335-61.

Rice, R.E. and Aydin, C. (1991), Attitudes toward new organizational technology: network

proximity as a mechanism for social information processing, Administrative ScienceQuarterly, Vol. 36, pp. 219-44.

Rogers, E.M. and Kincaid, L.D. (1981), Communication Networks, The Free Press, New York, NY.

Rosenbaum, J.E. and Miller, S.R. (1996), Moving in, up, or out: tournaments and otherinstitutional signals of career attainments, in Arthur, M.B. and Rousseau, D.M. (Eds),

The Boundaryless Career: A New Employment Principle for a New Organizational Era,Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 350-69.

Rothbard, N.P. (2001), Enriching or depleting? The dynamics of engagement in work and family

roles, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 46, pp. 655-84.Rothbard, N.P. and Edwards, J.R. (2003), Investment in work and family roles: a test of identity

and utilitarian motives, Personnel Psychology, Vol. 56, pp. 699-730.

Ryan, M.K., Haslam, R.S. and Postmes, T. (2007), Reactions to the glass cliff: gender differencesin the explanations for the precariousness of womens leadership positions, Journal ofOrganizational Change Management, Vol. 20, pp. 182-97.

Salancik, G.R. and Pfeffer, J. (1978), A social information processing approach to job attitudes

and task design, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 23, pp. 224-53.

Professionalwomens

career exit

81


26/27

Scandura, T.A. and Lankau, M.J. (1997), Relationships of gender, family responsibility andflexible work hours to organizational commitment and job satisfaction, Journal ofOrganizational Behavior, Vol. 18, pp. 377-91.

Schneer, J.A. and Reitman, F. (1997), The interrupted managerial career path: a longitudinal

married professional

Documents