Between Restriction and Liberation: Women’s Career Aspirations in Terms of Culture Perspectives in Asia

Abstract

Women in Asia still experiencing difficulties in flourishing their career aspirations optimally due to strong cultural perspectives. This systematic literature review aims to explore the factors that influence Asian women’s career aspirations in various cultural settings. PRISMA 2018 was used in this study. Through Scopus, ScienceDirect, Springer, and Ebsco Host databases, we found eight articles that met the inclusion criteria after passing the article selection. This study resulted women’s career aspirations in Asia are influenced by internal enabler factors (including self-efficacy, career orientation, abilities and knowledge, need for usefulness, desire for family cohesion, and marriage prospects expectation), external enabler factors (including education, social support, contextual support, and cultural support), internal barrier factors (including fear of marriage prospects, beliefs on choice restrictions, and awareness of domestic roles), and external barrier factors (including social pressure, gender stereotype, peer conformity, financial hardship, and career consequences). Future research to examine women’s career aspirations in the wider cultural setting of various countries in Asia is needed.