Back on the career path : a qualitative study of employment transitions for women who take a career break and their re-entry experiences

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative interpretative phenomenological study was to examine how six women made sense of their experience from leaving the workforce to trying to return after staying home for an extended period of time to raise their children. The research question was: How do professional working mothers who choose to leave their career to raise children make sense of their experience from opting out to opting back in? The data analysis revealed five superordinate themes including; self-assurance, anxiety, surprise, growth and renewal. The overall results of the study indicate that with a better understanding of the potential challenges to re-entry, professional working mothers could take a pre-emptive approach when leaving the workforce. Maintaining a relationship with their employer, keeping up professional networks and skills, and utilizing firms dedicated to helping mothers return to work, may allow women wanting to re-enter to avoid the challenges experienced by the research participants. In addition, although some organizations are starting to capitalize on the amazing talent pool of women wanting to re-enter, so much more could be done including; more partnerships with firms focused on placing re-entry women, leveraging technology to create more flexible working conditions for mothers; and creating a network for talented females that have left the organization, but may someday want to return.