Search results

The purpose of this study is to analyse the impact of certain factors (such as working mothers’ attitudes towards career role salience, notion of career success, work-life balance and the impact of organisational support systems available for childcare) on career persistence, despite parenthood, and career re-entry after parenthood. It is conducted in relation to new age, young working mothers of the booming IT sector in India.

A survey questionnaire was administered to 138 working mothers in the IT sector to analyse the impact of working mothers’ career role salience, notion of career success, work-life balance and the impact of organisational support systems available for childcare on career persistence, despite parenthood.

The findings state that re-entry is also a growing phenomenon, in as much as career breaks are an accepted reality. Career role salience and notions of career success are important predictors of career re-entry of young mothers. Most importantly, this study highlights the significant role of the trusted, extended family support system, that is characteristically unique to Indian social fabric, in enabling women’s career persistence and career re-entry after motherhood.

Like most survey research, this study’s validity is also limited to the findings on the self-reported responses. Nevertheless, the study points to new areas to be researched, such as the possibility of the same findings with older mothers who have spent considerable years in their careers, or whether the same sample would answer differently after a few years.

The paper includes implications for society and organisations, concerning opting out, and for undertaking genuine initiatives to enable and support women to re-enter their careers after breaks, so that the decision to persist, exit or re-enter their careers remains the privileged choice of women employees.

The paper fulfils an identified need to study how parenthood affects women’s careers in the IT sector and need for organisations in India to understand the practicality of women employees’ needs to integrate work and life.

This study aims to explore the leaky pipeline issue (attrition of working women due to motherhood) in the Indian information technology (IT) sector. The study analyses the effect of organisational and supervisory support perceptions on the use of flexible work options and its relationship with career outcomes in terms of job satisfaction, work-life conflict and turnover intentions.

A survey questionnaire to test the hypotheses was returned by 203 working women of the Indian IT sector belonging to three categories, namely, women undergoing treatment for infertility, pregnant women and women who had recently given birth at the time of the survey.

The findings state that the use of flexible work options significantly reduce work-life conflict, decrease the intention to turnover and increase job satisfaction, with organisational and supervisory perceptions playing a significant moderating role.

The findings are based on self-reported responses. Nevertheless, the study provides insights into the work-life priorities of Indian women at the time of motherhood and opens up specific research opportunities to address the leaky pipeline due to pregnancy and childbirth.

Organisations should take genuine initiatives to effectively use the flexible work options and provide supervisory training for increased sensitivity to help reduce role conflict and let working women make informed choices in their careers and lives at the time of childbirth.

The paper could be the first known paper to study this special category of working women at the threshold of motherhood in the Indian IT sector.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

This research paper demonstrates that increased perceived supervisor support and organizational support for the use of flexible work options by women approaching motherhood in India's IT sector increases their job satisfaction, reduces their level of work-life conflict, and lowers their desire to quit. Cultural factors such as an inclination to quit a job upon becoming pregnant following successful fertility treatment present female talent retention challenges for these organizations, since many women do not return to work after becoming mothers.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.