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The purpose of this study is to explore the potential of coaching to develop female entrepreneurship by overcoming potential barriers. It sought to understand how entrepreneurial self-efficacy can be applied to development relationships, through on-line coaching, examining changes in the four key elements of entrepreneurial self-efficacy enactive mastery, vicarious experiences, social persuasion and psychological arousal. The study examines the impact of coaching relationships on female entrepreneurial self-efficacy compared to a control group. The participant group was matched with coaches and undertook a structured six months’ coaching programme.

This was a longitudinal study using a mixed methods approach. Questionnaires investigating entrepreneurial self-efficacy were collected at two time points for both the coaching and control group. After the first time point, the coaching group was supported through a six months coaching development programme. At the second time point, questionnaires were again completed by both groups and qualitative data gather via interviews with the coaching group.

The findings from this study showed that coaching relationships had a positive impact on coachees’ entrepreneurial self-efficacy, compared to the control group in terms of enactive mastery, vicarious experience, social persuasion and psychological arousal. This suggests that coaching is a development intervention which can be used to enhance self-efficacy beliefs of female entrepreneurs, thereby increasing their chances of engaging in successful business creation and operation.

The group size was a problem, with four of the coaching group and ten of the control group dropping out. The coaching participants left the intervention due to personal reasons but no reason could be established for the control group participants leaving the study. The problem of ‘Type II’ was considered and in an attempt to overcome this problem, data were shown at below 10% (p < 0.10). It would also have been useful to collect more qualitative data from the control group.

An online coaching programme provided by women for women, which is tailored to the individual, can support female entrepreneurs through the difficult stages of start-up and development phases of business development. Creating more successful women owned businesses will not only provide financial benefits, but should help provide additional entrepreneurial networks for women, as well as more positive female role models. Exposure to positive role models has been found to have a direct effect on entrepreneurial self-efficacy. This circular affect should in theory keep on increasing, if female entrepreneurs have access to the tailored support provided by coaching programmes such as the one used here.

Considering the current global economic climate, it is increasingly important for women to be supported in small business ownership (Denis, 2012). Countries which actively promote women entering into business ownership will ultimately share the gains in terms of wider issues, i.e. improving education and health, and economic growth (Harding, 2007). If female entrepreneurship is to be encouraged and supported, provision needs to be designed and developed based on female entrepreneurs’ needs and requirements, rather than simply conforming to traditional business support models.

This study contributes to learning and theoretical debates by providing an understanding of female entrepreneurs' needs with regard to business support and how this can be related to and supported by coaching. It also adds to the literature on entrepreneurial self-efficacy, coaching and learning by providing empirical evidence to illustrate how coaching interventions, including the use of online methods, can have a positive impact on female entrepreneurial self-efficacy.

Literature has shown that mentoring and career development programmes can assist women and minority groups in pursuit of more senior roles. The Challenging Perceptions 12-month, multi-faceted career development and mentoring programme was specifically designed to aid female mental health participants in their attempts to break the glass ceiling, which can be apparent within senior levels of the UK National Health Service. This study aimed to investigate the effects of a career development and mentoring programme on female mental health nurses' career and personal development compared to a matched comparison group.

A longitudinal, qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews conducted with female mental health nurse participants and a matched control group at four time points, six months apart over an 18-month period. Female mental health nurses at F, G, H, I and Nurse Consultant Level who applied to participate in the programme were selected by a panel consisting of members of the project team and subsequently randomly allocated a group. Twenty-seven female mental health nurses experienced the programme and 27 female mental health nurses constituted a comparison group.

Experience as programme participant influenced the career and personal development of participants, particularly compared to the matched control group. Career development outcomes included promotion and additional learning/study. Personal development outcomes included increased self-confidence and increased satisfaction with ability to deliver quality patient care.

Career development and mentoring programmes designed to affect diversity have an important role to play in fostering the career and personal development of nurses in healthcare organisations.

The purpose of this paper is to present a longitudinal, qualitative study exploring changes in the attributional constructions of sense-making in the perceptions and lived experiences of the glass-ceiling among a cohort of female mental health nurses in the National Health Service who participated in a 12-month multi-faceted career and leadership development pilot programme compared to a matched control group.

The authors interviewed 27 female mental health nurses in the UK who participated in a multi-faceted development programme specifically designed to support female nurses secure career advancement and 27 members of a matched control group who did not experience the programme. Participants engaged in semi-structured telephone interviews at three separate time points (six months apart) over a 12-month period.

Programme participants differed in their attributional constructions of sense-making in relation to the glass-ceiling over time compared to the matched control group, e.g., triggering understandings and awakenings and re-evaluating the glass-ceiling above when promoted. Findings are used to theorise about the glass-ceiling as a concept that shifts and changes over time as a function of experience.

Practical implications include important organisational outcomes in relation to fostering the career advancement and retention of talented female leaders at all career stages.

The authors present the first known longitudinal, qualitative study to explore changes in attributional constructions of sense-making in perceptions and experiences of the glass-ceiling among female nurses over time compared to a matched control group.

The purpose of this exploratory qualitative study was to investigate anticipated and real career decisions made by two cohorts of professional women in the UK at differing stages of the lifespan.

Career decisions made by two cohorts of professional women following the birth of their first child at different stages of the lifespan and satisfaction with these choices in retrospect were investigated. Data analysis followed a thematic approach, and comparisons between the two cohorts were made.

The study revealed much similarity between the two cohorts. The decisions women make regarding whether to return to work or not and the extent to which they are satisfied with their working arrangements are constrained by similar individual and organisational factors despite the 15-20 year gap.

Although mothers in the UK now experience strengthened legislation concerning maternity benefits and entitlements and there have been advances in flexible working, progress in relation to supporting women in reconciling work and home life when they return to work is arguably limited.

This paper offers insights into the extent to which the career decisions made by professional women following the birth of their first child and satisfaction with these choices in retrospect have changed (or not) among two cohorts of professional women (15-20 years apart). The findings stress the importance of understanding the complex issues faced by mothers in the workforce and providing appropriate organisational support.

This chapter draws on longitudinal case study research that focused on the experiences of hospitality employees working in a UK university who worked split shifts in the morning and evening while completing NVQ 2 and 3 apprenticeship training. We show how fragmented working time (Rubery, Grimshaw, Hebson, & Ugarte, 2015) rather than long hours led to the apprenticeship training further eroding an already blurred work-life boundary as workers were required to complete training activities in their non-work time which for them is during the middle of the day. We argue current depictions of the positive impact of training and development on low paid workers are decontextualized from the challenges and priorities of workers whose work-life interface is already complex because of working fragmented hours across the day. This is complicated even further by the dynamic and evolving experiences of workers themselves as they experience the highs and lows of combining paid work and training. We situate the research in the context of wider conceptual debates that call for a more inclusive approach to research on the work-life interface (Warren, 2021) and highlight implications for HR practitioners who want to offer such opportunities to low paid workers in sectors such as hospitality, while also recognizing the complex challenges such workers may face.

This chapter challenges middle-class bias in work-life literature by examining work-life balance dynamics through a social class perspective. It reveals class-based disparities in physical, temporal, and psychological outcomes, including the role of economic capital in work-life balance and the challenges encountered by the socially mobile in achieving psychological balance. It emphasizes the need to acknowledge social class implications for work-life balance and urges organizations to address class-based inconsistencies and inequalities in their practices.