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The spouse of the female manager: role and influence on the woman's career

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the role of the spouse, specifically the husband, for the woman manager's career by focusing on the gender role construction between spouses, and the relationship of these roles to the woman's career.Design/methodology/approachThe topic was investigated within a Finnish context by analyzing the narratives of 29 female managers. A common feature among the women was their managerial position and extensive work experience. All the women had or had had one or more spouses in the course of their careers, and all but one were mothers, mostly of teenage or adult children.FindingsA typology distinguishing five types of spouses was constructed: determining, supporti…

Career counselling for women managers at mid‐career

PurposeThis paper aims to provide a framework for career counselling designed particularly to support the career development of mid‐career women managers. This approach is referred to as an autobiographical approach to career counselling. The practical application of the approach is described.Design/methodology/approachThe autobiographical approach draws upon social constructionism and narrativity. It was developed and applied together with 22 women managers. Various methods were used as narration tools.FindingsAt mid‐career, women managers are often in a transition process in their career. They can be expected to benefit from counselling that focuses on their long work experience and from …

Narratives by women managers about spousal support for their careers

In this article we present a qualitative study of spousal support for the careers of women managers. The research material consists of the narratives of 25 women managers in Finland. The study has two main implications. Firstly, unlike previous studies, we use a narrative approach to demonstrate that a woman manager's career and spousal support are experienced as ambiguous and evolving over the career. The support was constructed by the women managers as flourishing, irrelevant, deficient or inconsistent. Secondly, to increase our knowledge about gender relations, we combine discussion of the topic with gender order analysis and suggest that gender order is critical for an understanding of …