Coping patterns of female managers in male dominated industries - Differences within a minority group

Numerous studies have disclosed a multitude of factors that make it difficult for female managers to make it to the top. Among the most cited factors figure the lack of mentors and role models and the exclusion from powerful networks as well as work-life balance issues.
Very few studies have looked at these factors in combination. This work looks at 50 female middle managers in male dominated professional service firms (PSFs) such as consulting, audit and banking. Using in-depth interviews we study how these women deal with the above mentioned challenges. We find that the networking strategies and the ways these female managers deal with mentors and role models as well as how compatible they find their work
with outside work activities form coherent interdependent yet distinctive patterns that holistically describe how women cope with their minority status. We find two distinctively different configurations of coping mechanisms. Our study describes these prototypes and
discusses their implications for future research and practice.

, 2012