Career Inhibitors and Career Enablers for Executive Women

Abstract

This paper is intended to contribute to the study of career inhibitors and career enablers for women. The analysis is based on data obtained from a survey conducted by the International Center of Work and Family at IESE Business School. The main conclusions of the analysis are: 1) Women have readier access to general management posts in small companies. 2) The feeling of working a double work day is widespread among women managers, especially in large companies. 3) Lack of sympathy on the part of colleagues and superiors when women give priority to their family responsibilities undermines women managers' satisfaction with their professional life. 4) The main career inhibitor is corporate culture (the glass ceiling). 5) The importance that executive women ascribe to career inhibitors decreases with age and professional rank. 6) The average woman manager's main support is her husband, who in most cases is also a manager. 7) The principal career enablers are: motivation, training, mental strength and value system.

Keywords: women, top management, career, family