Sociologický ústav AV ČR, v.v.i.

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2002:08 Life strategies of women managers: case study

Alena Křížková

The sociological study at hand is a qualitative analysis of life conditions and strategies of
women in managerial positions based on a case study of a group of managers at one work-
place. The subject of study was, primarily, the study of strategies aimed at harmonising work
and family responsibilities and the attitudes and values related to these two spheres ex-
pressed by these women deeply involved in their careers. I analyse female career and family
strategies based on subjectively perceived social and professional conditions for harmonising
demanding career and family responsibilities. The life strategies in women ‘s narratives be-
come a way of coming to terms with the conflict between the professional and family roles.
Based on an analysis of in-depth interviews which revealed two basic variables determining
the type of a life strategy, the age and the motherhood,three groups of strategies have been
defined which women managers employ to succeed. Young managers without children form
their strategies based on their career ambitions and the reflection of strategies adopted by
women managers with children. The strategy adopted by successful women managers who
have a family is a type of a „recipe “to arrange a career and a family. The strategy of child-
lessness is perceived by women managers as a call to develop one ‘s career. The construction
of childlessness depends significantly on the generation of women without children. The atti-
tudes and opinions of the family and surroundings –in the work environment and otherwise –
as well as the gender structure of institutions of which these women are part contribute sig-
nificantly to the strategies, life plans and especially their construction in the biographical
narratives of women managers. The variability of the strategies adopted by women managers
is, on the other hand,a proof of the heterogeneity of the female population, and should be
taken into account in the creation of policies or measures aimed at harmonising work and
family.

Summary

The work Life Strategies of Women Managers: Case Study is the first phase of the
project Life Strategies in the Czech Business Sphere in the 90s (supported with Grant of AV
ČR Registration No.B7028201). The objective in this phase was to map the managerial envi-
ronment from gender perspective. The work is a qualitative analysis of gender relations and
strategies in managerial positions.
The study is a qualitative research of the lives of women in managerial positions. The
goal was not to compare the female and male populations but to capture characteristics of
women and their ways of dealing with the gender conflict.The survey is a case study of the
life strategies of women at one workplace. In-depth interviews and their qualitative analyses
have shown that the categories of motherhood and age are critical in the creation of life strat-
egies. The resulting analysis is therefore divided into three parts. In the first part I analyse
biographical narratives of young childless women managers who plan to have a family. Their
life strategies are based on work experience that has been hardly touched by the worsened
working conditions of women with children and family plans. Their plans to harmonise ca-
reer and family are, to a large extent, reflections upon the strategies adopted by women who
already have children. This group of women is typical of an instability of plans and ideas that
is due,to a large degree, to the professional conditions that are not conducive to having
a family.These women postpone the decision to have a child and contemplate their life pref-
erences.The relationship with a partner is a frequent problem,specifically both the issue of
starting and maintaining a relationship while having a demanding job but also the issue of
mutual harmonisation of the partners ‘ideas about the division of men ‘s and women ‘s roles.
The second section is dedicated to women who have, to a lesser or greater extent, man-
aged to harmonise their family responsibilities with a demanding career in a competitive
managerial environment. Their strategies thus present possible roads to success. The analysis
has revealed certain strategies adopted by these women and at the same time the fact that
these are not deliberate steps in their career paths.In order to achieve professional success,
a woman with children must rationally use the given rules and conditions on the labour mar-
ket.The basic condition and prerequisite of success are „value strategies “which lie espe-
cially in the rejection of gender stereotypes and the appreciation of the women ‘s own need of
work self-fulfilment.
The third section of the case study concerns the strategies of older childless women for
whom the absence of motherhood offered an opportunity to fully realise their potential and
develop their career. These women do not belong to the generation of „programmatically “
childless women because they explain their childlessness with other circumstances.It is typi-
cal that this group of women refuses to call gender inequalities ,discrimination ‘.They per-
ceive disadvantages they have often experienced themselves to be an unalterable fact.These
women have come to terms with the worse conditions on the labour market (that do not affect
only women with children)with hard work.They claim that often, they had to perform con-
siderably better than their male counterparts.
The gender arrangement in society influences the attitudes,strategies and position of
women in managerial positions. Women are well aware of this fact even if they often refuse to admit it openly,and accordingly,they develop strategies that correspond to this situation.
More or less,they are reconciled with this status quo . Women who want to achieve in man-
agement often have to perform better than men. The reflection of the existing conditions,
however,often leads women to strategies that are built upon the gender definition of
women ‘s and men ‘s roles to their own benefit.The results of this unique study of life strate-
gies of women in managerial positions offer an important starting point for the study of strat-
egies of women and men managers.

Key words

Harmonisation of work and family responsibilities,gender conflict,gender roles,life
strategies,gender in management,the position of women in managerial positions