Women constructing careers and identities in masculine arenas

The context of this research is the career development of women in high professional positions in the field of STEM. This research will describe their career development paths, and thus increase the knowledge of how women’s careers are constructed in STEM, which has typically been seen as a male-dom...

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Main Author: Tiihonen, Donna
Other Authors: Jyväskylän yliopiston kauppakorkeakoulu, Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics, Jyväskylän yliopisto, University of Jyväskylä
Format: Master's thesis
Language:eng
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access: https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/100505
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author Tiihonen, Donna
author2 Jyväskylän yliopiston kauppakorkeakoulu Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics Jyväskylän yliopisto University of Jyväskylä
author_facet Tiihonen, Donna Jyväskylän yliopiston kauppakorkeakoulu Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics Jyväskylän yliopisto University of Jyväskylä Tiihonen, Donna Jyväskylän yliopiston kauppakorkeakoulu Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics Jyväskylän yliopisto University of Jyväskylä
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description The context of this research is the career development of women in high professional positions in the field of STEM. This research will describe their career development paths, and thus increase the knowledge of how women’s careers are constructed in STEM, which has typically been seen as a male-dominated sector. In addition to describing women’s career development paths, the construction of their identity is also explored. Both perspectives, career development, and identity, will help to understand why so few women are in management positions within organizations. The research is conducted in a company that operates globally in the technology sector. Women with current or past experience working for the organization have been invited to participate in the research. This includes 11 women, both in management positions and various expert roles. The research uses a qualitative approach, with a strong emphasis on narrativity, allowing women to naturally reflect on their career actions and helping the researcher understand their behavior through theme-centered interviews. Particularly, women who have chosen to build their careers in STEM can provide valuable information on their mechanisms to succeed in the field. Research results show that women’s careers in STEM can be seen as cyclical, involving different stages, emerging and ordered patterns, breaks, and challenges. By having the narrative approach, women’s career stories highlight that career development is a very personal and unique journey. This research challenges existing theories of women’s career development which are often based on models designed for men. Using a narrative approach in research offered an excellent way to deeply understand women’s careers and their perspectives on their own career paths. Therefore, narrativity will have the potential to offer much more in future research as well. Tämän tutkimuksen kontekstina toimii korkeissa ammatillisissa tehtävissä olevien naisten urakehitys STEM-alalla. Tutkimus kuvaa heidän urakehityspolkujaan, ja lisää näin ollen tietämystä siitä, miten naisten urat rakentuvat STEM-alalla, joka on tyypillisesti nähty miesvaltaisena ympäristönä. Naisten urakehityspolkujen kuvaamisen lisäksi tarkastellaan heidän identiteetin kehittymistä. Molemmat näkökulmat, urakehitys ja identiteetti, auttavat ymmärtämään, miksi naisia on edelleen hyvin vähän organisaatioiden johtotehtävissä. Tutkimus toteutaan globaalisti teknologia-alalla toimivassa yrityksessä. Tutkimukseen on kutsuttu naisia, joilla on joko aiempi tai nykyinen kokemus kohdeorganisaatiossa työskentelystä. Tutkimukseen osallistuu yhteensä 11 naista sekä johtotehtävistä että erilaisista asiantuntijatehtävistä. Tutkimusta lähestytään laadullisesta näkökulmasta, jossa painotetaan vahvasti narratiivisuutta, joka mahdollistaa naisille luontevan tavan pohtia omaa uraa sekä auttaa tutkijaa ymmärtämään heidän toimintaansa omalla urallaan teemahaastattelujen avulla. Naiset, jotka ovat tehneet päätöksen rakentaa uransa STEM-alalla, tarjoavat arvokasta tietoa omista mekanismeistaan menestyä alalla. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että naisten ura STEM-alalla voidaan nähdä syklisenä, sisältäen eri vaiheita, odottamattomia ja suunniteltuja piirteitä, katkoksia ja haasteita. Narratiivisen lähestymistavan avulla naisten uratarinat korostavat, että urakehitys on hyvin henkilökohtainen ja ainutlaatuinen polku. Tämä tutkimus haastaa olemassa olevat teoriat naisten urakehityksestä, jotka perustuvat usein miehille suunniteltuihin malleihin. Narratiivinen lähestymistapa tarjosi tutkimukselle erinomaisen tavan ymmärtää syvällisesti naisten uria ja heidän näkemyksiään omilla urapoluilla, ja omaa potentiaalia tarjota paljon enemmän myös tulevaisuuden uratutkimuksessa.
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spellingShingle Tiihonen, Donna Women constructing careers and identities in masculine arenas Johtaminen Management and Leadership
title Women constructing careers and identities in masculine arenas
title_full Women constructing careers and identities in masculine arenas
title_fullStr Women constructing careers and identities in masculine arenas Women constructing careers and identities in masculine arenas
title_full_unstemmed Women constructing careers and identities in masculine arenas Women constructing careers and identities in masculine arenas
title_short Women constructing careers and identities in masculine arenas
title_sort women constructing careers and identities in masculine arenas
title_txtP Women constructing careers and identities in masculine arenas
topic Johtaminen Management and Leadership
topic_facet Johtaminen Management and Leadership
url https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/100505 http://www.urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-202502282294
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