Predictors of subjective career success amongst women employees: moderating role of perceived organizational support and marital status

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between subjective career success (SCS) and proactive career behavior as well as family support, with a focus on women professionals in India. The study also investigates the moderating role of perceived organizational support and marital status on these relationships. Design/methodology/approach The sample consists of 363 women professionals working in the information technology-enabled services industry in India. The study is cross-sectional in design. Findings Findings from this study posit the positive moderating role of perceived organizational support on the relationship between proactive career behavior and SCS and on the relationship between family support and SCS. As a moderator, marital status has a positive impact on the relationship between proactive career behavior and SCS but has a negative impact on the relationship between family support and SCS. Practical implications The results from this study will help organizations understand the predictors of career success of women employees. Another practical implication is that this study establishes knowledge of perceived organizational support, a controllable organizational factor as a moderator in positively influencing the success of women’s careers. Leaders and managers can, therefore, use organizational factors to facilitate the success of women employees. Originality/value This study is perhaps the first to examine the relationship between antecedents of career success for women professionals in the context of India.

The mediating effect of self-efficacy on career aspiration and organizational support with subjective career success among Malaysian women managers during the Covid-19 pandemic

“…A recent study by Chauhan et al ( 2021 ) revealed that family responsibilities, mentoring and perceived organizational support variables significantly impacted the perceived career success of women; this finding is a wake-up call for women executives to overcome these impediments so as to achieve successful career advancement. Findings from another study showed that perceived organizational support played a positive moderating role in the relationship between proactive career behavior and subjective career success (Agrawal and Singh, 2022 ). Career success is defined as an accomplishment and positive work-related outcome associated with work experiences over time and the corresponding career goal-setting across the lifespan (Gunz and Heslin, 2005 ; Hupkens et al, 2021 ) Much has been written about the definition of career success from two aspects, viz.…”

Antecedents of economic empowerment: an empirical study of working women in Delhi-NCR

“…The third factor is workplace HR policies which accounts for 9.683% of the variation. The literature also supports the prominent role organisational HR factors as promoters of successful careers of women and enablers of WEE (Desai et al, 2011;Shanmugam and Agarwal, 2019;Mehrajunnisa and Jabeen, 2020;Agrawal and Singh, 2021). A Sub-Saharan African report advocates the need for higher education, additional training and decent maternity leave, among other women-specific business practices in the apparel, mining and mobile telecommunication sectors, to exacerbate the challenges to WEE (Chichester et al, 2017).…”

Female career success

“….] an individual's perception of achieving personally meaningful career outcomes" (Agrawal and Singh, 2022).…”

“…That is, the employee’s perception of their overall career goals, income aims and their plans for career advancement. SCS is defined as “[…] an individual’s perception of achieving personally meaningful career outcomes” (Agrawal and Singh, 2022).…”

“…Whilst there has been much written about women's career satisfaction, there have been few studies that have endeavored to identify the drivers and moderators of career satisfaction. The authors of a recent study, Agrawal and Singh (2022), aimed to rectify this deficiency in their new paper.…”