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This study examines women entrepreneurs' understanding of motherhood and entrepreneurial career and how they negotiate this combination with their gendered understandings and social norms in Sri Lanka.

Data were collected using in-depth, semi-structured interviews from 20 entrepreneurial mothers in the Western Province of Sri Lanka. Sub-samples were taken to achieve demographic heterogeneity.

This study found that entrepreneurial mothers do not perceive their business as separate from their motherhood understanding. They believe that their profession is a part of motherhood responsibilities. This study also found that to negotiate a combination of roles, these mothers employed two coping strategies at different levels: family and business.

As the sample size is small, an extended research strategy would be more effective. Future research could seek to identify strategies that women entrepreneurs use to balance their business–family life.

This research provides implications for balancing business and family life for women entrepreneurs.

The paper extends the cultural and geographical scope of the literature on women entrepreneurs' business–family life experiences.

This paper aims to understand why women in Sri Lanka are reluctant to work in the hotel industry.

This study used a qualitative approach to gather in-depth information from existing women employees and prospective women employees and thematic analysis used as an analytical strategy.

This research identified a particular woman's career choice in the hotel industry is the outcome of a series of complex challenges and opinions. Second, these challenges include individual, societal and organisational factors and revealed how those factors affect women's career choice either reluctant voluntarily or by force or by their preference. Finally, parental influence is also a challenge that has supportive (prefer to work) or hindering (reluctant to work) effects on their children's career.

As the sample size is small, extensive research is warranted.

This research suggested two practical implications: should create a women-friendly environment at the hotel industry and educate women that they have many opportunities to explore their careers in the hotel industry.

This study has provided new research avenues and this would be the first known qualitative review directly focused on existing and potential women employees in the hotel industry.

This purpose of this paper is to examine how working mothers understand childcare practices and perception on existing childcare centres in a different social context like Sri Lanka.

A thematic analysis approach is used to analyse mothers’ narratives, drawn from in-depth qualitative interviews, along with data from some representative secondary sources.

The paper considers women professional and managerial employees in Sri Lanka, and demonstrates that working mothers use diverse childcare arrangements to harmonise their work and family life, strongly believing their own mother as the best caregiver for their small children.

This study represented only middle-class mothers, therefore the research suggested that different mothers (professional and managerial) take their decisions differently. Based on this argument, it can be expected that mothers of different occupations are more likely to take different decisions as they believe what is “right and proper”. Thus, extensive research is warranted.

This paper discusses the implications while extending the geographical scope of the literature on mothers’ gender ideology on childcare and existing practices in childcare centres.

State and private organizations should consider investments in childcare support and other flexible work options so that women continue to remain in their careers.

The paper extends the geographical scope of the literature on mothers’ gender ideology on childcare and existing practices in childcare centres. This would be the first research article directly focused on the impact of working mothers’ gender ideologies on childcare and perception on existing childcare centres in Sri Lanka. Thus, the present study provides a number of new research avenues for future researchers to use.