CAREER ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN: CHALLENGES FACED IN CAREER PROGRESSION

Abstract

This research aims to explore the factors that hamper the career advancement of middle level female employees in banking organizations in Sri Lanka. While reviewing the literature of women’s’ career advancement, it has been noted that a majority of the research has considered the individual, organizational and social factors as the barriers to advancement. However, since there is a difference between the nature and type of barriers with regard to different stages of a woman’s career, it would be interesting to investigate this for understanding any differences in women’s struggles in advancing in their careers at the different stages of their careers. Using the qualitative research approach, the researcher has carried out in-depth, in person interviews with 15 middle level female mangers, representing banking organizations. The findings of the study were derived from the thematic analysis and indicated that the most of the participants were adequately aware of what barrier existed at each stage of their career with regard to career advancement. The participants also commonly identified organizational factors to be the most hindering factor of career advancement in banking organizations. This study identified a number of insightful remarks to be further researched in women career advancement.