Abstract
Working lives face several interruptions, either due to employers’ decisions, new regulations or individuals’ choices, resulting in breaks, slumps, stagnations or even exits. Several types of job seekers thus arise due to such interruptions, of which one category comprises individuals seeking to re-enter the workforce after a period of voluntary exit. Most South Asian countries face a challenge of low labor force participation of women with the exit of women significantly high in middle and senior levels of an organization. The Indian workforce reports a reduction in the number of women at higher organizational positions. While the percentage of women employees hired at the entry level across industries is 21, it shrinks to 15% at higher positions; of these 28% quit their jobs at the executive levels. One of the primary reasons for women leaving the workforce is child-birth. However, recent years have seen such women seeking to return to full-time work after a voluntary exit. This chapter shall focus on the experiences of women who left their jobs post child-birth and returned to the industry after a prolonged absence. We use the term re-entry women to describe such women and seek to understand their experiences of re-entry. Based on interviews with 15 women in various professions, we present the work and family expectations as perceived by women and try to understand how they navigate these during re-entry.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Under a recently passed Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 in India paid maternity leave has been increased to 24 weeks (as against the previous 12 weeks limit) in case of women having less than two surviving children.
- 2.
Public sector jobs in India refer to positions in companies in which the Union Government or State Government or any Territorial Government owns a share of 51% or more. Other companies comprise the private sector.
- 3.
Gurgaon, a city in the Indian state of Haryana is part of the National Capital Region of India. It was officially renamed ‘Gurugram’ in April 2016. However, many companies continue to use “Gurgaon” in their addresses or signage.
- 4.
We have used pseudo-names for names of all participants and organization throughout the chapter.
- 5.
Thane is an area in the Mumbai Metropolitan region.
- 6.
Naukri.com is a popular Indian job portal offering a platform for jobseekers, recruitment consultants and employers to meet. ‘Naukri’ is a word in Hindi language that means ‘job’.
References
Acker, J. (1990). Hierarchies, jobs, and bodies: A theory of gendered organizations. Gender and Society, 4(2), 139–158.
Andersson, K. (2015). Predictors of re-employment: A question of attitude, behavior, or gender? Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 56(4), 438–446.
Arun, S. V., Arun, T. G., & Borooah, V. K. (2004). The effect of career breaks on the working lives of women. Feminist Economics, 10(1), 65–84.
Berdahl, J. L., & Moore, C. (2006). Workplace harassment: Double jeopardy for minority women. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(2), 426.
Blair-Loy, M., & Wharton, A. S. (2002). Employees’ use of work-family policies and the workplace social context. Social Forces, 80(3), 813–845.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101.
Cahusac, E., & Kanji, S. (2014). Giving up: How gendered organizational cultures push mothers out. Gender, Work and Organization, 21(1), 57–70.
Catalyst. (2013). Census: Fortune 500 Research Project, Catalyst, 2013.
Catalyst. (2014). Quick take: Women in management, global comparison. New York: Catalyst.
Confederation of Indian Industries. (2015a). Second innings-barriers faced by Indian women on re-entering the corporate workforce. Survey Report, Confederation of Indian Industry – Indian Woman Network – Maharashtra Chapter.
Confederation of Indian Industries. (2015b). Hiring women makes business sense. CII Media Releases. New Delhi: Lalitha Kumaramangalam.
Diekman, A. B., & Goodfriend, W. (2006). Rolling with the changes: A role congruity perspective on gender norms. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 30(4), 369–383.
Diekman, A. B., & Steinberg, M. (2013). Navigating social roles in pursuit of important goals: A communal goal congruity account of STEM pursuits. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7(7), 487–501.
Diekman, A. B., Brown, E. R., Johnston, A. M., & Clark, E. K. (2010). Seeking congruity between goals and roles: A new look at why women opt out of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers. Psychological Science, 21(8), 1051–1057.
Eagly, A. H. (1987). Reporting sex differences. American Psychologist, 42(7), 756–757.
Eagly, A. H., & Diekman, A. B. (2005). What is the problem? Prejudice as an attitude-in-context. In J. F. Dovidio, P. E. Glick, & L. A. Rudman (Eds.), On the nature of prejudice: Fifty years after Allport (pp. 19–35). Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Eagly, A. H., & Karau, S. J. (2002). Role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders. Psychological Review, 109(3), 573.
Eagly, A. H., Wood, W., & Diekman, A. B. (2000). Social role theory of sex differences and similarities: A current appraisal. In T. Eckes & H. M. Trautner (Eds.), The developmental social psychology of gender (pp. 123–174). Mahwah, NJ: Taylor & Francis Group.
Ericksen, K. S., Jurgens, J. C., Garrett, M. T., & Swedburg, R. B. (2008). Should I stay at home or should I go back to work? Workforce reentry influences on a mother’s decision-making process. Journal of Employment Counseling, 45(4), 156–167.
Evans, C. D., & Diekman, A. B. (2009). On motivated role selection: Gender beliefs, distant goals, and career interest. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 33(2), 235–249.
Fontana, A., & Frey, J. (1994). The art of science. In N. Denzin & Y. Denzin (Eds.), The handbook of qualitative research (pp. 361–376). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Glass, J. L., & Riley, L. (1998). Family responsive policies and employee retention following childbirth. Social Forces, 76(4), 1401–1435.
Halpert, J. A., Wilson, M. L., & Hickman, J. L. (1993). Pregnancy as a source of bias in performance appraisals. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 14(7), 649–663.
Hirsh, W. (1992). Beyond the career break. A study of professional and managerial women returning to work after having a child. BEBC Distribution, Poole.
Hoobler, J. M., Wayne, S. J., & Lemmon, G. (2009). Bosses’ perceptions of family-work conflict and women’s promotability: Glass ceiling effects. Academy of Management Journal, 52(5), 939–957.
Houston, D. M., & Marks, G. (2003). The role of planning and workplace support in returning to work after maternity leave. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 41(2), 197–214.
International Labour Organization. (2015). World employment and social outlook: Trends 2015.
Joshi, A., Neely, B., Emrich, C., Griffiths, D., & George, G. (2015). Gender research in AMJ: An overview of five decades of empirical research and calls to action thematic issue on gender in management research. Academy of Management Journal, 58(5), 1459–1475.
Kanji, S., & Cahusac, E. (2015). Who am I? Mothers’ shifting identities, loss and sensemaking after workplace. Human Relations, 0018726714557336.
Koch, A. J., D’Mello, S. D., & Sackett, P. R. (2015). A meta-analysis of gender stereotypes and bias in experimental simulations of employment decision making. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(1), 128–161.
Koenig, A. M., & Eagly, A. H. (2014). Evidence for the social role theory of stereotype content: Observations of groups’ roles shape stereotypes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 107(3), 371–392.
Leibowitz, A., Klerman, J. A., & Waite, L. J. (1992). Employment of new mothers and child care choice: Differences by children’s age. Journal of Human Resources, 27, 112–133.
Leslie, L. M., Manchester, C. F., Park, T. Y., & Mehng, S. A. (2012). Flexible work practices: A source of career premiums or penalties? Academy of Management Journal, 55(6), 1407–1428.
Little, L. M., Major, V. S., Hinojosa, A. S., & Nelson, D. L. (2015). Professional image maintenance: How women navigate pregnancy in the workplace. Academy of Management Journal, 58(1), 8–37.
Lovejoy, M., & Stone, P. (2012). Opting back in: The influence of time at home on professional women’s career redirection after opting out. Gender, Work and Organization, 19(6), 631–653.
Maheshwari, M. (2014). Dynamics of being a ‘good employee’ and a ‘good mother’: Dilemmas of professional Indian working women. Indian Institute of Management Udaipur Research Paper Series (2012-2171274).
Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: A sourcebook. Beverly Hills: Sage.
Park, J.-M., & Kim, H. (2015, October). Thomson Reuters Foundation, Juggling work and home most critical issue for G20 women, particularly in Asia. Retrieved January 20, 2016, from http://news.trust.org//item/20151012230204-rjo66
Patton, M. Q. (1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods (2nd ed.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Pedulla, D. S., & Thébaud, S. (2015). Can we finish the revolution? Gender, work-family ideals, and institutional constraint. American Sociological Review, 80(1), 116–139.
Powell, R. (2010). Good mothers, bad mothers and mommy bloggers: Rhetorical resistance and fluid subjectivities. MP: An Online Feminist Journal, 2(5), 37–50.
Rajesh, S. (2013). Second career of women professionals in India: A corporate perspective. Asian Journal of Management Research, 4, 27–47.
Raver, J. L., & Nishii, L. H. (2010). Once, twice, or three times as harmful? Ethnic harassment, gender harassment, and generalized workplace harassment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(2), 236–254.
Ravindran, B., & Baral, R. (2013). Determinants of career exit and professional re-entry of working women in India. Review of HRM, 2, 189–201.
Ravindran, B., & Baral, R. (2014). Factors affecting the work attitudes of Indian re-entry women in the IT sector. Vikalpa, 39(2), 31–42.
Rubin, H. J., & Rubin, I. S. (2011). Qualitative interviewing: The art of hearing data. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Sabnavis, C. (2015, August 30). What holds back women? Livemint. Retrieved November 23, 2016 from http://www.livemint.com/
Seierstad, C., & Kirton, G. (2015). Having it all? Women in high commitment careers and work–life balance in Norway. Gender, Work and Organization, 22(4), 390–404.
Sheroes.com. (2015, July 6). Retrieved November 23, 2016, from https://sheroes.com/articles/8-indian-companies-with-great-back-to-work-programs-for-women/OTQ4
Sheroes.com. (2018, January 2). Retrieved March 8, 2018, https://sheroes.com/articles/25-returnee-programs-for-women-in-india/Njg0NQ
Silverman, D. (2000). Doing qualitative research: A practice handbook. London: Sage.
Singh, S. (2015, August 16). The diversity dialogue. Livemint. Retrieved January 10, 2016, from http://www.livemint.com/Catalyst
Stone, P., & Lovejoy, M. (2004). Fast-track women and the “choice” to stay home. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 596(1), 62–83.
Theunissen, G., Verbruggen, M., Forrier, A., & Sels, L. (2011). Career sidestep, wage setback? The impact of different types of employment interruptions on wages. Gender, Work and Organization, 18(s1), e110–e131.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kaushiva, P., Joshi, C. (2020). Women’s Re-entry into Workforce: Experiences from India. In: las Heras Maestro, M., Chinchilla Albiol, N., Grau Grau, M. (eds) The New Ideal Worker. Contributions to Management Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12477-9_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12477-9_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-12476-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-12477-9
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)