Women's Career Development : A Case Study of the Career Paths of Female Middle Managers at Banks in Sweden

Abstract: Understanding differences between women and men’s career development and promoting equality is important in today’s society. “A growing body of evidence shows that utilizing the skills and talent of both men and women is beneficial for enterprises and for society in general” (Guy Ryder, Director General, International Labour Organization ILO, 2015, p.3). Women are under-represented in management level and measures that can be taken to advance women in business should be analyzed and taken into focus for the future. Especially interesting is banking industry, which is dominated by women in terms of employees but men are the majority in management level. The study offers a perspective from female middle managers point of view. The purpose is to contribute to the understanding of what causes women’s under-representation in management level in the banking industry. Moreover, the aim is to demonstrate women’s career path as well as factors that influence on women’s career development. The data was analyzed by using White’s (1995) age-linked stage model of women’s career development, Super’s (1963) self-concepts and Super’s (1980) life roles. The study shows that there has been much progress to reduce inequality between women and men, and special programs have been developed in order to increase the number of women in management level in banks. However, there are some negative factors influencing women’s career development that remain the same through the time. The findings emphasize that women still have to deal with a number of challenges and for instance fight against stereotypes. Thus, seven suggestions how to increase the number of women in management level in the banking industry are made.