WOMEN, WORK, AND LEADERSHIP: EXAMINING THE ROLE OF FAMILY-FRIENDLY POLICIES

Abstract

“Think leader, think male”, “career is fundamentally a male thing”, and many more… Despite gradual increases in the presence of women in the workforce and in leadership positions, these stereotypical notions hinder the career advancement of women worldwide. Women also face other structural and cultural barriers, such as informal networks, the motherhood penalty, and biases in 
recruitment, performance assessment and promotion. These obstacles create an invisible glass ceiling for women, resulting in their underrepresentation in top positions globally, especially in India. Being a patriarchal society, women in India often prioritise family over career, make suboptimal choices in their life and career that may limit their chances to reach top management positions and boards. Although family-friendly policies have been implemented to ease the dual burden faced by women and support their career progression, research on the effectiveness of these policies is limited and mixed. The present study, based on primary survey of 253 female employees from companies of Delhi/ NCR region, explores the impact of family friendly policies on the career advancement of women to top management positions and boards. Career advancement of women to top management positions and boards has been measured using dichotomous variables indicating women’s presence at these levels, (coded “0” for 0-10% and “1” for Above 10%), based on the participants’ knowledge of  their organisations. Binary logistic regression was applied for data analysis. The study found that only day care services and sabbaticals facilitate the women’s career progression to top, whereas maternity leave and flexible hours hinders it, due to negative notions tied to these policies. The findings highlight the need for systemic and cultural changes 
within organisations as well as society to fully leverage the benefits of family-friendly policies for women’s career advancement.