Human and social capital as influencers on women’s careers

Abstract

Purpose In 1979, Rosemary Pledger became the first female President of the Academy of Management (AOM). AOM, through scholarship and teaching about management and organizations, is well known for its contributions to the development of modern management theory. The purpose of this paper is to understand and analyze the human and social influencers which enabled Pledger’s career success. She climbed to the top of her profession and became a role model for other professional women, especially in the academic field; she successfully cracked the glass ceiling. Design/methodology/approach The authors used a qualitative methodology as most appropriate to examine the research question of how Pledger used human and social skills to overcome barriers to career success. In addition to her biographical data, the authors analyzed 1,593 pages of documents from the AOM Archives at the Khell Center, Martin P. Catherwood Library, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. Findings Pledger succeeded because she developed strong human and social capital critical for career success and career mobility. Becoming part of the top management team in three organizations – the AOM, the Southwestern AOM and the University of Houston – Clear Lake City is evidence of her skill in using her capital to crack the glass ceiling. Research limitations/implications The limitation of author interpretation of secondary data is recognized. Practical implications This work illustrates the appropriateness of qualitative research, specifically, in placing important management figures in context, and it makes clear how human and social capital factors are critical to career success for women. Originality/value AOM’s contribution to the development of modern management theory is widely recognized; however, there is a lack of studies related to the career successes of AOM’s female leaders. This paper chronicles the career life of Rosemary Pledger who became the first female president of the AOM and a successful Dean and examines the factors that contributed to her career success despite the presence of a glass ceiling.