Determining factors of women's careers in management: A typology proposal

Abstract

Purpose: The objective of this paper is to identify a typology of the factors that determine the professional career of women in managerial positions, based on the different contributions made to the literature.

Design/methodology/approach: A systematic literature review has been carried out, using Google Academic portal searches and ABI, SCOPUS and WOS databases, allowing the analysis of several articles.

Findings: The professional career of women in managerial positions is determined by several factors that motivate or limit their professional development. These factors are commonly listed and described in the literature. However, there is no generally accepted classification of these factors. Therefore, as a result of this work, a typology is proposed that allows the classification of determining factors affecting the professional careers of women directors.

Practical implications: This work has important future implications for researchers who intend to empirically contrast the proposed classification and analyze the factors in depth. It also has implications for business executives whose objective is to promote the role of women in positions of responsibility within organizations.

Originality/value: This paper highlights the identification of the typologies that are necessary for the development of theories and research in the social sciences. It is important to categorize and describe factor classifications in order to understand them better, so as to be able to extrapolate a common theory for other research and to propose solutions in the business environment that allow breaking with the glass ceiling in senior management positions.