Professional trajectories of executive women: what is the price for success?

Abstract

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/2175-8077.2012v14n33p130

This article aims at describing how executive women perceive the impact of issues relating to employability and gender in the construction of their careers in private companies in Brazil. The theoretical framework identifies changes in the workplace that make new career models emerge as well as issues related to gender and its impact on building professional trajectories. The field research, based on twelve in-depth interviews, sought to understand how the group perceives and traces their careers - what elements are identified as facilitators and what difficulties are perceived in this process, as well as strategies to overcome them. The results pointed that employability is considered crucial in building the careers of this group of women, through educational background. The gender issue only arose when discussing the family roles, more specifically, motherhood and marriage. Interviewees reported that the career is important as a source of personal fulfillment, but not letting go of motherhood and / or marriage. They make it clear they face obstacles in assuming different roles, but do not see impossibilities, but difficulties in their choice and seek to manage and consider the different roles assumed.