Expression of proactive career behavior and its predictors among women depending on the professional sphere

Abstract

Proactive behavior is important for building a successful career, while agentic behavior in women may elicit negative feedback in both social and economic domains. The ‘Lack of Fit’ model explains women’s lower professional success by the perceived mismatch between their gender characteristics and job requirements. The question of how a particular professional sphere influences the manifestation of women’s proactive career behavior remains relevant. A study was conducted on a sample of residents of Russian megalopolises with at least one year of work experience with the same employer (n=160, 69% women). We assessed proactive career behavior (our modification of P. Tharenou and D. J. Terry’s EMA), career selfefficacy (a Russian-language adaptation of N. E. Betz’s scale), general proactivity (A. Bakker’s scale adapted by S. A. Manichev), and the subjective perception of gender barriers within the organization (S. D. Gurieva, O. E. Gundelakh et al.). Subsamples were formed of women working in typically ‘male’ and ‘female’ professional spheres. Results. Statistically significant differences were found between women working in different spheres in the component of career self-efficacy ‘gathering occupational information’. Differences were also revealed in the perception of gender barriers within the organization: women in typically ‘male’ spheres perceive gender barriers as generally more pronounced. In ‘male’ workplaces, women report stronger barriers related to management opportunities (‘glass ceiling’) and networking opportunities (‘glass box’); ‘glass walls’ barriers are also expressed. In addition, among women working in ‘male’ spheres, the perception of gender barriers within the organization is negatively associated with their selfperceived ability to solve career problems, which, in turn, is positively associated with proactive career behavior. Thus, the ‘Lack of Fit’ model is confirmed.