Women’s access to employment and career advancement : towards more supportive HR practices and systems -

Abstract

The dissertation aims to untangle the organizational and societal hindrances to women’s access to employment and career advancement in the Lebanese private sector by suggesting and implementing Human Resource Management (HRM) Practices as possible facilitators of women’s access to employment and career advancement in the workforce. First, the research presents literature pertaining to societal (macro-level) influences on women’s career entry and advancement, such as patriarchal values, economic stagnation, and political unrest. The research then diverts to presenting reasons at the meso-level, such as occupational stereotypes, limitations to networking, and the gendered organizational culture. After uncovering the hindrances that women experience, I adopt an institutional theory framework in order to uncover which HRM practices can be implemented in order to support women’s access to employment and career development. Notably, the literature presents several elements to shed light on, such as the coercive, normative and mimetic pressures placed on HRM as well as the initiatives conducted by organizations to advance women’s positions that are currently in place but should be revised in order to support women in their careers and more importantly their entry into the labor force. The research also uncovers and presents the perspectives of HR professionals in Lebanon, as well as the views of women who have reached their desired career destinations, or are still in the process of doing so. This is presented through the methodology adopted, which makes use of interviews conducted on a sample of 20 women, 5 who are HR professionals, and the remaining 15 women being working women at their early and mid level career stages. The data is analyzed using a thematic analysis approach in order to identify, from women’s own perspectives, what is blocking their access to employment and their career development opportunities. Furthermore, the analysis of the interviews conducted with HR m