In this article we present a qualitative study of spousal support for the careers of women managers. The research material consists of the narratives of 25 women managers in Finland.The study has two main implications. Firstly, unlike previous studies, we use a narrative approach to demonstrate that a woman manager's career and spousal support are experienced as ambiguous and evolving over the career. The support was constructed by the women managers as flourishing, irrelevant, deficient or inconsistent. Secondly, to increase our knowledge about gender relations, we combine discussion of the topic with gender order analysis and suggest that gender order is critical for an understanding of the nature of spousal support. We conclude that a male spouse who is willing to break the traditional gender order and provide his wife with various forms of support is often constructed as having a positive influence on the career of his woman manager wife. The study calls attention to families as sites of doing gender.

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the role of the spouse, specifically the husband, for the woman manager's career by focusing on the gender role construction between spouses, and the relationship of these roles to the woman's career.Design/methodology/approachThe topic was investigated within a Finnish context by analyzing the narratives of 29 female managers. A common feature among the women was their managerial position and extensive work experience. All the women had or had had one or more spouses in the course of their careers, and all but one were mothers, mostly of teenage or adult children.FindingsA typology distinguishing five types of spouses was constructed: determining, supporting, instrumental, flexible, and counterproductive. The results suggest that fluidity in gender roles between spouses is associated with the woman manager's sense of success and satisfaction in her career compared with more conventional gender role construction. It seems that traditional gender roles between spouses can be one reason for women's difficulties in attaining (top) managerial positions in Finland.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the prior literature concerning the work‐family relationship by extending research into an area so far overlooked: namely, the role of the spouse in relation to the woman manager's career. The study calls into question the straightforward and unequivocal view of the family – so typical in discussions about work‐family issues – by showing the many different meanings that women managers attach to one of the family members.

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PurposeThis paper aims to provide a framework for career counselling designed particularly to support the career development of mid‐career women managers. This approach is referred to as an autobiographical approach to career counselling. The practical application of the approach is described.Design/methodology/approachThe autobiographical approach draws upon social constructionism and narrativity. It was developed and applied together with 22 women managers. Various methods were used as narration tools.FindingsAt mid‐career, women managers are often in a transition process in their career. They can be expected to benefit from counselling that focuses on their long work experience and from their willingness to make new career moves, and contributes to their own understanding of their strengths and motivation in their search for more meaning into their careers – and into life in general. The career autobiographies of women do not reflect the continuous, uninterrupted upward mobility that is traditionally considered typical of a “normal” managerial career. The study suggests that there is a need to change the dominant understanding of a “normal” career in management.Originality/valueThe contribution of this study lies particularly in bridging the gap between theory and practice by applying an action‐oriented approach.

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