Familial Support as a Determinant of Women Career Development: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Although women’s participation in the workforce has increased remarkably in recent times but women are still lagging behind because of the traditional thinking and attitudes of their families in the context of Bangladesh. The purpose of the current study was to explore the role of the family in shaping women’s career development. The study was conducted in a qualitative approach and it was exploratory in nature. The study was conducted during November-December, 2019 in Khulna division, Bangladesh. The purposive sampling procedure was used to select the 25 respondents of the study. The respondents constituted of working women from different professions. Primary data was collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews extending from 35 to 45 minutes. The collected data were analyzed using thematic analysis method and nine themes emerged from the transcripts. The emerged themes were acceptance and aspiration from family, spousal support, being a mother, grown-up children as helping hands, family and work balance, family as a social network, family as a barrier, family as a lever, and gender inequality. This research highlighted the fact that women’s career practices and its development depended highly on familial roles. The family possesses the ability to affect women’s career success both positively and negatively. The study revealed that women who received positive support from their families were more motivated and achieved greater success in their professional life. Family can serve both as a lever as well as a barrier in shaping a woman’s career.