model is the ability to progress in a predictable and ordered manner through
increasingly higher status roles (O’Leary, 1997). It is notable that this dominant
model does not reflect all men’s experiences of work, but reflects a predomi-
nantly middle-class profile. Women’s greater need for more flexibility in career
patterns due to child-care and other domestic responsibilities does not fit this
traditional career model (Flanders, 1994). The idea of career development as a
competitive series of tournaments in which there are winners and losers sug-
gests that those individuals who wish to work in collegiate and supportive
atmospheres will be seen to have little career ambition (O’Leary, 1997).
Women, more than men, are seen to be affected by conflict between work
and home roles. Traditional career structures and organisational demands often
mean that women have to choose between maintaining a home life and moving
upwards. Even the choice of having a family is becoming an increasing prob-
lem amongst young women who do not want to interrupt their careers to take
time off to look after their children. Whereas having a family is often viewed
as a positive in a man, the choice of women in management is still not viewed
as a positive by society and organisations. Women’s career theories (see Hall,
1976; Derr, 1986; Powell and Mainiero, 1992; White, 1995; O’Leary, 1997) high-
light the specific ‘life stages’ that women pass through whilst still showing
commitment to their career. In White’s (1995) study, all the successful women
displayed a high ‘career centrality’. Continuous full-time employment appeared
to be a prerequisite for career success.
Rigid approaches to career development and the meaning of careers can be
seen as major barriers for women, given their traditionally greater home
responsibilities. However, changes in the psychological contract with the
impact of globalisation, pressure on wage and social costs of employment and
demographic pressures have major implications for career expectations and the
field of career management (Herriot and Pemberton, 1995, 1996; Hiltrop, 1995).
The old psychological contract was based on a world where there was full
employment, stability, growth and predictability and was built on steady finan-
cial rewards, investment in training and expectations of advancement in return
for hard work and loyalty (Sparrow, 1996). The new contract is based on a more
transactional model, with less security of employment and, in return, less
loyalty, combined with performance-based reward and promotion structures.
The idea of the traditional organisational career is changing and this may lead
to a new model of careers which may prove more favourable to women (and
men) who have responsibilities outside the workplace. At present, it is still too
early to tell what the impact of these changes will be.
In summary, this section has examined the key factors influencing the
ability of women to advance to senior levels of management within organi-
sations. The need for individuals who are sent on the majority of international
assignments to be seen as ‘high potential’ highlights the potentially negative
impact of perceptions that men are more ‘acceptable’ as managers and that
women are not keeping up with the normal model of career progression. In
Women’s Role in International Management 365