Abstract
Career decisions among women in different developmental stages are more complicated than the men’s career. Women’s career decisions vary at different career development stages due to their personal, family, and other drivers embedded throughout their life. The objectives of this study are to clarify the variation of career decisions and the drivers affecting Malaysian married professional women’s career decisions at early, mid and late career stages. The three-phase model of career development by O’Neil and Bilimoria and Kaleidoscope Career Model by Sullivan and Mainiero were integrated in this study. A quantitative approach was employed by collecting data among 236 married professional women based on these three distinct groups via online survey questionnaires. Descriptive statistics were tested using SPSS whereas proposed hypotheses were analyzed using Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling. The descriptive analysis revealed that young married professional women had higher intention to leave the workforce. Family supportiveness organizational perception is found to be the most significant driver influencing the married professional women’s career decisions at all three career stages. From the practical lens, the results of this study will help human resource practitioners develop appropriate talent retention strategies and policies to minimize the talent drain phenomenon among elite women group in Malaysia.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Allen, T.D.: Family-supportive work environments: the role of organizational perceptions. J. Vocat. Behav. 58, 414–435 (2001)
Bartosz, K.L, Stevens, P., Stevens, E.: Women career decisions in different developmental stages. VISTAS Online (2006)
Buddhapriya, S.: Work-family challenges and their impact on career decisions: a study of Indian women professionals. Vikalpa 34(1), 31 (2009)
Clark, S.C:. Work/family border theory: a new theory of work/family balance. Human Relat. (2000)
Department of Statistic Malaysia. Key statistics of Labour Force Malaysia. https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/cthemeByCat&cat=124&bul_id=dkk0WCtZL01MVjl3NWFBeWp5VmZsQT09&menu_id=Tm8zcnRjdVRNWWlpWjRlbmtlaDk1UT09. Accessed 22 Mar 2023
FMT. TalentCorp: women leaving workforce a worrying trend. Free Malaysia Today. http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2017/02/05/talentcorp-women-leaving-workforce-a-worrying-trend/. Accessed 3 Jan 2021
Greenhaus, J.H., Kossek, E.E.: The contemporary career: a work–home perspective. SSRN (2014)
Greenhaus, J.H., Powell, G.N.: The family-relatedness of work decisions: a framework and agenda for theory and research. J. Vocat. Behav. 80, 246–255 (2012)
Griffeth, R.W., Hom, P.W., Gaertner, S.: A meta-analaysis of antecedents and correlates of employee turnover: update, moderate tests and research implication for the next millennium. J. Manag. 26(3), 463–488 (2000)
Hair, J.F., Jr., Hult, G.T.M., Ringle, C., Sarstedt, M.: A Primer on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Sage, Thousand Oaks (2016)
Hair, J.F., Risher, J.J., Sarstedt, M., Ringle, C.M.: When to use and how to report the results of PLS-SEM. Eur. Bus. Rev. 31(1), 2–24 (2019)
Hassan, S., et al.: Individual factors, facilitating conditions and career success: insights from Malaysia female entrepreneurs. J. Enterpr. Cult. 28(4), 375–400 (2020)
Hastie, R.: Problems for judgment and decision making. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 52, 653–683 (2001)
Henseler, J., Ringle, C.M., Sarstedt, M.: A new criterion for assessing discriminant validity in variance-based structural equation modeling. J. Acad. Mark. Sci. 43, 115–135 (2015)
Hewlett, S.A.: Off-ramps and On-ramps: kee** talented women on the road to success. Human Resource Management International Digest (2008)
Hoe, S.L.: Issues and procedures in adopting structural equation modeling technique. J. Appl. Quant. Methods 3, 76–83 (2008)
Ismail, M., Hoo, S.: Cultural values and career goals of the millennial generation: an integrated conceptual framework. J. Int. Manag. Stud. 9(1), 38–49 (2014)
Ismail, M., Lawrence, A.: Exploring mentoring as a tool for career advancement of academics in private higher education institutions in Malaysia. J. Int. Soc. Res. 1(1), 135–148 (2007)
Ismail, M., Ramly, E.: Career aspirations of R&D professionals in government research institutes and multinational corporations in Malaysia. Organ. Mark. Emerg. Econ. 1(2), 32–34 (2010)
Kline, R.B.: Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling, 3rd edn. Guilford Press, New York (2010)
Kock, N., Hadaya, P.: Minimum sample size estimation in PLSSEM: the inverse square root and gamma-exponential methods. Inf. Syst. J. 28(1), 227–261 (2018)
Lee, M.D., Kossek, E.E., Hall, D.T., Litrico, J.: Entangled strands: a process perspective on the evolution of careers in the context of personal, family, work and community life. Human Relat. 64(12), 151–153 (2011)
Lent, B.: Hackett: towards a unifying social cognitive theory of career and academic interest choice, and performance. J. Vocat. Behav. 45(1), 79–112 (1994)
Leys, C., Klein, O., Dominicy, Y., Ley, C.: Detecting multivariate outliers: Use a robust variant of the Mahalanobis distance. J. Exp. Soc. Psychol. 74, 150–156 (2018)
Lim, W., Mohd Rasdi, R.: Opt-out’ or pushed out? Factors influencing married women professionals’ decision in leaving the workforce. Eur. J. Train. Dev. 13(9), 785–800 (2019)
Lim, W., Mohd Rasdi, R: Factors influencing career decisions among malaysia married women professionals and the moderating effect of career stages. In: 13th The Joint Virtual Conference of AHRD-ARACD Proceedings, Universiti Putra Malaysia, pp. 429–454 (2021)
Mainiero, L.A., Sullivan, S.E.: Kaleidoscope careers: an alternative explanation for the “opt-out” revolution. Acad. Manag. Exec. 19(1), 106–123 (2005)
Marks, S.R.: Understanding diversity of families in the 21st century and its impact on the work family areas of study. In The Work and Family Handbook: Multi-disciplinary Perspective and Approaches (2006)
Mohd Rasdi, R., et al.: Career aspirations and career success among managers in the Malaysian public sector. Res. J. Int. Stud. 9(3), 21–35 (2009)
Mustapa, N., Noor, K., Mutalib, M.: Why can’t we have both? A discussion on work-life balance and women career advancement in Malaysia. J. Asian Finan. Econ. Bus. 5(3), 103–112 (2018)
Ng, T.W.H., Sorensen, K.L., Eby, L.T., Feldman, D.C.: Determinants of job mobility: a theoretical integration and extension’. J. Occup. Organ. Psychol. 80(3), 363–386 (2007)
O’Neil, D.A., Bilimoria, D.: Women’s career development phases: idealism, endurance, and reinvention. Career Dev. Int. 10(3), 168–189 (2005)
O’Neill, M.S., Jepsen, D.: Women’s desire for the kaleidoscope of authenticity, balance and challenge: a multi-method study of female health workers’ careers. Gend. Work. Organ. 26(7), 962–982 (2019)
Ostroff, C., Clark, M.A.: Maintaining an internal market: antecedents of willingness to change jobs. J. Vocat. Behav. 59(3), 425–453 (2001)
Ramayah, T., Cheah, J., Chuah, F., Ting, H., Memon, M.A.: Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) USING SMART PLS 3.0: An Updated Guide and Practical Guide to Statistical Analysis, 2nd ed. Pearson, Kuala Lumpur (2018)
Poelmans, S.A.Y.: The decision process theory of work and family. In: Kossek, E.E., Lambert, S.J. (eds.) Work and Life Integration: Organizational, Cultural, and Individual Perspectives, pp. 263–286. Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah (2005)
Podsakoff, N.P., Lepine, J.A., Lepine, M.A.: Differential challenge stressor-hindrance stressor relationships with job attitudes, turnover intentions, turnover, and withdrawal behavior: a meta-analysis. J. Appl. Psychol. 92(2), 438–454 (2007)
Powell, G.N., Greenhaus, J.H.: Sex, gender, and decisions at the family-to-work interface. J. Manag. 36(4), 1011–1039 (2010)
Powell, G.N., Mainiero, L.A.: Cross currents- in the river of time: conceptualizing the complexities of women’s careers. J. Manag. 18, 215–237 (1992)
Sara, D.H., Greenhaus, J.: Building a sustainable career: the role of work-home balance in career decision making. In: Handbook of Research on Sustainable Careers (2014)
Sarstedt, M., et al.: Estimation issues with PLS and CBSEM: where the bias lies! J. Bus. Res. 69(10), 3998–4010 (2016)
Schumacker, R.E., Lomax, R.G.: A Beginner’s Guide to Structural Equation Modeling, 3rd edn. Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group, New York (2010)
Sluss, D.M., Ashforth, B.E.: Relational identity and identification: defining ourselves through work relationships. Acad. Manag. Rev. 32, 9–32 (2014)
Sullivan, S.E., Mainiero, L.A.: Kaleidoscope careers: benchmarking ideas for fostering family- friendly workplaces. Organ. Dyn. 36(1), 45–62 (2007)
Sullivan, S.E., Mainiero, L.A.: The changing nature of gender role, alpha/beta career and work life issues: theory driven implications of human resource management. Career Dev. Int. 12(3), 238–263 (2007)
Sullivan, S.E., Mainiero, L.: Using the kaleidoscope career model to understand the changing patterns of women’s careers: designing hrd programs that attract and retain women. Advances in Develo** Human Resources (2008)
TalentCorp. Spurring Growth Through Malaysia’s Human Capital. https://www.mdbc.com.my/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/MDBC-HR-Forum-TalentCorp-26-Sep-2017.pdf. Accessed 18 Jan 2023
The Edge Markets. 56% of women surveyed in Malaysia have taken career break. http://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/56-women-surveyed-malaysia-have-taken-career-break. Accessed 16 Feb 2022
Valcour, M., Bailyn, L., Quijada, M.A.: “Customized Careers. In: Funz, J.H.P., Peiperl, M. (eds.) Handbook of Career Studies, pp. 188–210. Blackwell Publishing, London (2007)
Wesarat, P., Sharif, M., Abdul Majid, A.: A review of organizational and individual career management: a dual perspective. Int. J. Human Res. Stud. 4(1), 101–113 (2014)
Williams J.C., Manvell J., Bornstein S.: “Opt Out” or Pushed Out? How the Press Covers Work/Family Conflict. Worklife Law. University of California, US (2006)
Women’s aids organization. Budget 2021: a better country for women. https://wao.org.my/publications/budget-2021-a-better-country-for-women-2/. Accessed 28 Feb 2023
Wong, S., Mohd Rasdi, R.: Predictors of protean career and the moderating role of career strategies among professionals in Malaysian electrical and electronics (E & E) industry. Eur. J. Train. Dev. 39(5), 409–428 (2015)
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank Universiti Putra Malaysia for funding this project: Grant Putra Berfokus (GP-F_FPP 6301003-10901).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Ling, L.W., Rasdi, R.M. (2024). Women Career Development Phases: Drivers Influencing Malaysian Married Professional Women’s Decisions to Stay or Leave the Workforce. In: Ng, Y.G., Daruis, D.D., Abdul Wahat, N.W. (eds) Human Factors and Ergonomics Toward an Inclusive and Sustainable Future. HFEM 2023. Springer Series in Design and Innovation , vol 46. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-60863-6_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-60863-6_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-60862-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-60863-6
eBook Packages: Intelligent Technologies and RoboticsIntelligent Technologies and Robotics (R0)