Women’s Careers in a Patriarchal Context: Through the Lens of the Kaleidoscope Career Model

Women in patriarchal societies are known to be oppressed in a variety of ways within their families. Although patriarchy is one of the key impediments to women’s progression and growth, how private patriarchy translates into career behaviors is yet to be understood. Using an intersectionality approach, this study investigates the impact of private patriarchy on women’s career. Career behaviors of authenticity, balance, and challenge are investigated through semi-structured interviews with 40 educated and professional women living and working in the patriarchal context of Bangladesh. As the first study to use the kaleidoscope career model in a patriarchal context, findings demonstrate that household restrictions as daughters, social exclusion as women, and post-marriage adjustments as wives, daughters-in-law and mothers contribute to determine women’s career behaviors. Although household restrictions and discrimination experienced before marriage hinders women’s performance at work, sustaining and advancing women’s career in patriarchal contexts depends on receiving permission to work from both husbands and parents-in-law. Findings from this study differ from previous findings by showing that women in both early and late career stages tend to prioritize authentic career behavior. Furthermore, balance and challenge career behaviors largely depend on the women’s marital status, rather than their career stages.