Personal Cognitive Factors Affecting Career Aspirations of Women Working in Financial Sector in India

Abstract

Although much has been researched on the external contextual forces as barriers to women’s career development, there is a need to assess the role of women’s internal forces (personal cognitive) in determining their aspirations for advancement in career. The study aims at investigating the direct linkages among several personal cognitive factors in shaping up the career aspirations of working women. AMOS-based ‘structural equation modelling’ was performed and the results revealed a significant influence of occupational self-efficacy, proactive personality, work role salience and gender role attitude as cognitive factors in explaining the aspirations of working women for advancement in career. The findings present important implications for women as individuals, families, supervisors and organizations.

Keywords

Career Aspirations Indian Working Women Personal Cognitive Factors Gender Role Ideology

Introduction

The structural and economic transitions taking place in the country have positively impacted the female-based demographics in terms of improved sex ratio from 927 females per 1,000 males in 1991 to 940 females per 1,000 males in 2011 and increased Gross Enrollment Rate in higher education from 24.5% in 2015–2016 to 27% in 2017–2018 (Census India, 2011). However, despite the educational gains, women plight in India has remained underrepresented in workforce participation (Catalyst, 2018). According to the Global Gender Gap Index (World Economic Forum, 2018), India ranked 139 in a survey of 144 nations as far as female economic participation in the country is concerned. What is more appalling is that the female labour force participation rate has notably fallen from 33.3% (2004–2005) to 25% (2011–2012) in rural areas and from 17.8 % (2004–2005) to 16% (2011–2012) in urban areas (NSSO 68th round, 2011–2012) which woefully indicates that the country’s projected economic boom has failed to augment required opportunities to enhance and sustain participation of women in the workforce.

Various national and international surveys and research studies have cited several social, economic and political reasons for low female workforce participation in India. Analysing NSSO data for a period from 1987 to 2012, Sorsa et al. (2015) stated the rising level of women education, lack of decent employment opportunities for educated women, marriage and stability in household income as reasons for Indian women dropping out of workforce. The World Bank study (Andres et al., 2017) on ‘Reassessing Patterns of Female Labor Force Participation in India’ emphasized that social norms with respect to working women disincentivize women from joining the workforce. The cultural, religious and social mores that have remained a matter of debates and analyses concerning appropriate role of women in the Indian society have also been observed to impact the dominant thinking of Indian women and hence their participation in the workforce (Sorsa et al., 2015).

Although a majority of the research concerning career development of women has emphasized the role of external contextual forces limiting women’s career aspirations, the role of women’s own psychology cannot be overruled in determining their desire to progress in career (McKelway, 2018). Women’s internal dispositions in terms of their own beliefs, attitudes and perceptions, may also enable or constrain their career ambitions (Gottfredson, 1981, 1996; Gutman & Akerman, 2008; McKelway, 2018). Morrison, White and Velsor (1992) emphasized the positive psychology of women in terms of their zeal to succeed, selfconfidence and ability to take decisions representing women’s strong cognitive attributes behind their career success. While fear of success, perceived role-conflict and low self-esteem as internal beliefs may inhibit their progression in career (O’Leary, 1974). The impact of such cognitive forces on women’s vocational behaviour becomes even more imperative in traditional cultural settings like those in India where gender-based social learning that women are exposed to during adolescence, make them believe that they are less competent than men and hence they possess low self-efficacy which further restrict them from aspiring the various career-related outcomes (McKelway, 2018). Henceforth, it will be worthwhile to know how the Indian working women themselves describe their longing for career progression and to what extent their personal dispositions are shaping up their career aspirations. The present study intends to add to the existing literature on women’s career behaviour by exploring the role of personal cognitive forces which might enable or restrict their career aspirations for advancement in career.

Career Aspirations of Women Professionals in the Indian Context

Not only Indian women’s entry to workforce participation is restricted but also evidence hints that there exists a shrinking pipeline for women’s career growth (Datta & Agarwal, 2017). Hence, those who manage to cross the entry-level barriers to employment are further exposed to harsh realities of workplace environment where women are still viewed as less committed to work due to their inclination towards family responsibilities and are therefore denied higher positions despite their successful performance at work (Nath, 2000). In spite of having equal credentials, Indian women’s career progression as compared to men suffers because of unfavourable labour market conditions such as long working hours, stressful appraisal systems, workplace gender ideology and inescapable career breaks to assume family responsibilities (Arun & Arun, 2001). Not surprisingly, Indian women themselves are found to be adjusting their career patterns, rolling back their career aspirations, adopting slow track in career growth and even quitting their jobs while attempting to balance their work and family roles (Pande, 2015; Valk & Srinivasan, 2011). Approximately 50% of the working women exit employment before they even reach the middle level due to various work and non-work-related issues (Community Business, 2017). According to NDTV (2014) Business India report, out of 28% of women entering the workforce, 14.91% reach the middle level and only 9.3% actually make it up to the top level. Extant literature suggests a number of reasons for Indian women’s slow progression in career including the existence of glass ceiling, workplace discrimination, gender stereotyping, family responsibilities and lack of contextual support (Chawla & Sharma, 2016).

Although the middle-class households in India have started extending support to working daughters and daughters-in-law, the challenges and stereotypes against working women continue to persist (Srinivasan et al., 2013). Apparently, Indian women especially married are expected to prioritize family over career despite being economically active and substantial contributors to family income (Desai et al., 2011). They still remain solely responsible for household chores and are often expected to roll back their aspirations which leave them emotionally strained (Sahu & Rath, 2003). The unsupportive stereotypes and gender norms in the country create unconscious biases against women resulting in disproportionate division of work at home, limited occupational choices, restricted access to resources at work and lesser career mobility which ultimately force them to opt-out of work (Unilever, 2017). Grafton and Gordon (2018) also quoted lack of role models, respect and insufficient development opportunities in Indian organizations as critical push factors driving Indian women aspirants to seek employment overseas. Hence the paucity of women on upper echelons is a major concern and needs investigation from Indian women’s psychological perspective to understand the factors that affect their aspirations for advancement in career.

Personal Cognitive Factors Affecting Career Aspirations of Women

Aspirations represent future-oriented goals which motivate an individual to invest resources in terms of time, effort and money to realize such goals (Sherwood, 1989). In the context of ‘social cognitive career theory’ (SCCT), career aspirations have been conceptualized as an individual’s internally directed ambitions for academic or occupational attainments/performances (Lent et al., 1994). SCCT posits that the personal factors representing self-perceptions of an individual with respect to own competencies interact with contextual factors to determine various career-related behaviours (Lent et al., 1994). Drawing upon the precepts of SCCT, the current study identifies several personal cognitive variables that are proposed to influence working women’s aspirations for career development. Hence, career aspirations in the context of this study have been conceptualized as women’s desire to obtain higher positions in the organization and are on the ‘desired aspirations’ dimension of the dual faceted construct of career aspirations as suggested by Tharenou and Terry (1998).

Literature in Indian and global context was rigorously examined to identify the factors that affect the career aspirations of women. Several studies on career development of women have examined many personal factors such as self-concept, sex role stereotypes and role conflicts (O’leary, 1974); ability, agentic characteristics and gender role attitude (O’Brien & Fassinger, 1993); women’s self-efficacy beliefs as cognitive strengths and outcome expectations (Lent et al., 1994); women’s attitude towards their gendered role (Warner Colaner & Warner, 2005); women’s own inherent or developed inclination for work and career development (Gregor & O’Brien, 2015) and their attitude towards work and family responsibilities as impacting their career aspirations (Lent et al., 2000; Mayrhofer et al., 2007).

Extant research on women’s career aspirations in the Indian context has emphasized the role of contextual factors such as glass ceiling and discriminatory organizational attitude affecting the career progression of women (Datta & Agarwal, 2017; Chawla & Sharma, 2016; Srinivasan et al., 2013; Dashora, 2013). While some have emphasized the role of internal factors (Menon-Sen & Kumar, 2001; Rajadhyaksha & Bhatnagar, 2000; McKelway, 2018), much of the existing observations are based on qualitative studies. Considering the patriarchal nature of the Indian society where women are groomed through gender-based socialization, it can be presumed in the context of Indian women that they perceive low career self-efficacy (McKelway, 2018), still hold stereotypical attitude towards their career (Chawla & Sharma, 2016), exhibit low work role salience as they still idealize homemaking as their primary role (Batra & Reio, 2016; Rajadhyaksha & Bhatnagar, 2000) and are not expected to be proactive in their career (Patwardhan et al., 2016).

The above-discussed factors represent the cognitive constraints the Indian women ~~are~~ facing and which are bound to exert influence on their desire for career advancement and are therefore the variables of interest in the current study (see hypothesized model in Figure 1). Hence there is an obvious gap regarding women’s internal dispositions which might enable or obstruct their desire to advance in career and which needs to be investigated empirically. Whilst, the research in developed countries has often incorporated these intrapersonal or cognitive variables in research models used to study women’s career development, there is a need to study whether these variables contribute towards the career aspirations of working women in the Indian context as well.

Theoretical Background and Hypothesis Development

Occupational Self-efficacy and Career Aspirations of Working Women

The concept of ‘self-efficacy’ can be understood as one’s belief in own capabilities to accomplish a task in a set of existing conditions (Bandura, 1977). Based on Bandura’s concept of self-efficacy, ‘occupational self-efficacy’ as a type of domain-specific assessment refers to an individual’s perceived competencies to tackle situational odds at work and to successfully carry out the job-related tasks in a given environment (Rigotti et al., 2008).

Extensive literature suggests that self-efficacy is a significant determinant of an individual’s career aspirations and affects career choice behaviours (Bandura, 2001; Brown & Lent, 1996). Several studies indicate that individuals perceiving high level of self-efficacy not only set higher aspiration goals (Bandura, 1977; Bandura, 1999 and seek challenging tasks (Bono & Judge, 2003) but also remain committed and persistent in their career actions despite the occupational challenges (Brown et al., 2005). Betz and Hackett (1997) reported women’s low occupational self-efficacy for male-dominated occupations as a reason for their underrepresentation in non-traditional careers. The SCCT regarded self-efficacy as the core construct (Lent et al., 1994) as it not only impacts the women’s initiative behaviour but also determines the degree of effort they would put in for sustaining their subjective behaviour (career) in spite of the presence of challenges and thus shaping the content and context of career-related decisions (Hackett & Betz, 1995).

The career-related self-efficacy in women has been observed as directly influencing women’s career behaviour in three distinct manners (Bandura, 1986). First, women’s perceptions of their abilities enable or disable them to choose or negate a course of action (career option in this case). Second, it affects the level and consistency of performance of women across the area of their choices (Bandura, 1986; Judge & Bono, 2001). Third, it enables women to face or give up in view of the mounting challenges that come across their path to the successful realization of their chosen career aspirations in social context (Bandura, 1977). Literature confirms that individuals who perceive high occupational self-efficacy tend to set high career goals in terms of salary and hierarchical status (Abele & Spurk, 2009). Hence, the following hypothesis is set to test for working women in the Indian context.

H₁: Occupational self-efficacy is positively related to desired career aspirations of women working in financial sector in India.

Work Role Salience and Career Aspirations of Working Women

Work role salience is referred to as women’s attitude towards their career which is reflected in the relative importance of work in their life (Almquist & Angrist, 1971). A host of studies points towards the prevalence of work role salience shaping the impetus for work-related outcomes including career aspirations (Gregor & O’Brien, 2015), career commitment (Greer & Egan, 2012) and career development (Super & Nevill, 1984). Career-oriented women do not restrict themselves to the traditional role of marrying and rearing children but intend to combine family with work and believe in role balance instead of choosing one over the other (Kerpelman & Schvaneveldt, 1999). Career salient women choose to make progress in career along with performing their traditional role of mother–daughter–wife (Turner, 1964), see their life in terms of dual role of family and career (Gregor & O’Brien, 2015), are more engaged in career even after childbirth (Kan, 2007) and are less affected by the work-family conflict (Noor, 2004). The centrality of work in life affects career commitment which in turn determines career intentions to persist or withdraw (Aryee & Tan, 1992).

The career salience has been observed as correlating positively and consistently with career aspirations vis-a-vis the occupational choices made by women (Greenhaus, 1971). Gregor and O’Brien (2015) established the empirical relationship between work role salience, career orientation and willingness to compromise career for family to conclude that career salient women endorsed high career aspirations for leadership, achievement and education attainment in their career and were prepared to manage their both career and family. Vianen (1999) also confirmed that career salience is an important predictor of managerial and leadership aspirations among women. Highly career salient non-traditional women are more likely to meet their work demands to achieve their career goals while simultaneously retaining their family priorities (Hatchman, 2009). The discussion above builds a sound base for examining the role of work salience in determining the career aspirations of women in India. Hence, the following hypothesis is formulated:

H₂: Work role salience is positively related to desired career aspirations of women working in financial sector in India.

Proactive Personality and Career Aspirations of Working Women

An individual’s self-perceptions of his/her personality traits predict their career aspirations and accordingly, they would perceive themselves capable of performing different types of jobs (Mendez & Crawford, 2002). Proactiveness as a personality trait has been defined as the extent to which people take action to influence their environments (Crant, 1995). Proactive individuals do not restrict themselves against situational odds (Bateman & Crant, 1993) rather they are intrinsically motivated to confront the problems (Crant, 2000), take charge of planning and managing their own career (Hall, 1996) and strive to achieve their career goals (Gould & Penley, 1984). Evidence exists that proactive people are self-motivated to improve their current situations and remain determined towards their work which ultimately impacts their career-related outcomes (Seibert et al., 1999)

Research on Individual’s own cognitive conceptualization of future self at work representing career-related aspirations also vindicated the crucial role of proactive career behaviour in motivating an individual to take up the challenge and shoulder the responsibilities (Strauss et al., 2012). Vos et al. (2009) found that there is a direct relationship between proactive career behaviour and career success indicating that proactive behaviour leads to career success. Research suggests that proactive individuals tend to indulge in various innovative career initiatives and cognitive processes which would help them achieve success at work despite situational complexities (Seibert et al., 2001). Thus, women’s perceptions of their personality traits explain meaningful implications that can assist or obstruct their career development (Seibert et al., 2001)

Proactive personality as an internal disposition of an individual (Bateman & Crant, 1993) has also been found significantly related to career adaptability which refers to an individual’s career-related aspirations (Strauss et al., 2012). Gupta and Bhawe (2007) while emphasizing the impact of proactivity on women’s entrepreneurial intentions put forth that proactive women are more likely to hold entrepreneurial intentions albeit they are also more prone to stereotypical threats than less proactive women. Presbitero (2015) while studying the relevance of proactivity in career development strongly asserted that proactivity predisposes an individual to indulge in proactive planning and proactive enacting wherein proactive planning is concerned with visualizing where one wants to be in the future and setting career goals. Proactive individuals are self-motivated to set goals and are more persistent in their efforts to realize them (Greguras & Diefendorff, 2010). Although the proactive personality trait of women has been extensively researched as related to leadership and entrepreneurial aspirations of women, the construct needs to be further explored in relation to the aspirations of women for career advancement. Hence, for all the evidence stated above, the study predicts that

H₃: Proactive Personality is positively related to career aspirations of women working in financial sector in India.

Gender Role Attitude and Career Aspirations of Working Women

The ‘early socialization’ theory posits that the values that get internalized of an individual through early socialization determine the perceptions and attitudes that an individual adopts in later part of life (Danziger & Eden, 2007) which ultimately leaves a substantial impact on career-related choices, decisions and behaviours (Dolan et al., 2011; Warner Colaner & Warner, 2005). Literature reveals that the classification of gender roles ideology attributes to an exercise of segregating the appropriate behaviours for men and women on the basis of gender (Baird, 2012).

There is ample evidence that women who have a liberal attitude towards gender put extra efforts in performing better in career and thus are internally encouraged to take up further levels in career (Heilman, 2012). On the contrary, women who have a traditional attitude towards gender remain satisfied with their current level of career, hence do not aspire for further advancements in career (Ming et al., 2007). Gender stereotyping proves to be harmful when it hinders the growth of women by making them rate themselves less capable and less competent than men (Hentschel et al., 2019). Hence, they exhibit a fear of success in career due to gender role socialization which is the reason that they assess their abilities and perceive success or failure in the career under the influence of cultural and social norms (Buddhapriya, 1999).

Figure 1.

Source: The authors.

Research shows that females are often viewed as warm and caring but less capable than males leading them to have less confidence than boys in their general intellectual abilities and to have lower expectations for success at difficult academic and vocational activities (Fiske et al., 2002). They hold a stereotypical view about career choices and are reported to have higher self-efficacy for female-dominated careers (Hardie, 2015). Research regards these gender-based stereotypes as barriers towards the successful realization of career such that the traditional gender ideology of women tends to limit their aspirations for advancement in career (Warner Colaner & Warner, 2005). Hence, the study assumes that:

H₄: The egalitarian attitude of women is positively related to their career aspirations.

Research Methodology

Post liberalization, the phenomenal growth of the Indian financial sector has created a wide array of employment opportunities for women so much so that the Indian banking sector is being globally acclaimed for its contribution to gender diversity profile (Jain & Mukherji, 2016). The entry of foreign banks, private sector banks and insurance companies have made women’s entry easier in the historically known male-dominated financial sector. As a result, the proportion of women across various positions in the banking sector has almost doubled from 13.79% in 2001 to 24.62% in 2018 (RBI, 2001, 2018; Table 1.29), with maximum growth recorded in private sector banks wherein the proportion of women officers has increased substantially from 6.2% in 1996 to 21.21% in 2018 (Bezbaruah, 2016; RBI, 2018, Table 1.29). On the similar terms the opening up of 23 private insurance companies in India, where LIC enjoyed 40 years of monopoly, an increasing number of women are constituting workforce in insurance sector at all levels. The remarkable role of Indian financial sector in gender diversity and concurrent existence of shrinking pipeline of women’s career growth in the financial sector indicating a smaller number of women reaching up to the top positions, the sector provides a sound background to conceptualize and comprehend working women’s career aspirations. Moreover, the existing research also suggests that women’s vocational behaviour is different in traditional and non-traditional career trajectories (Chatterjee & McCarrey, 1989). Hence, the Indian financial sector typically considered as male bastion has particularly been chosen to examine the career aspirations of women for further advancement of their career.

Sample frame of the study consisted of top 10 private sector banks including HDFC, ICICI, AXIS Bank, YES Bank, IndusInd, Kotak Mahindra, The Karur Vysya Bank Ltd, The Federal Bank Ltd, IDFC and City Union Bank Limited (India’s Top Banks 2016’ Ranking, Dun & Bradstreet, 2016) and top 10 private insurance companies including ICICI Prudential, HDFC Standard Life Insurance, SBI Life, Max Life, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, ICICI Lombard, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, IFFCO-Tokio, HDFC ERGO, TATA AIG (IRDA ranking 2015) (IRDAI, 2017).

Multistage Systematic Sampling technique was used wherein top five branches (in terms of maximum number of women employed therein) of each of these banks were selected from four major cities of Punjab, namely Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala which had the maximum number of functioning offices of Scheduled Commercial Banks as on 31 March 2017 (RBI Database, 2017). The sample frame included all branches of the banks wherein the number of branches of such bank in any of the selected city was less than five. Since all the private insurance companies had less than five branches in each of the four cities so all branches were included in the sample.

Responses were collected through a self-administered questionnaire from 438 women employees working in the selected branches of banks and insurance companies. The sample constituted female employees with a mean age of 32.9 years with 66% belonging to urban and 16% to semi-urban background. Respondents’ years of work experience ranged from 3 to 14 years (mean = 6.19). Further 51.6% of the respondents reported postgraduation, 44.3% graduation and 4.1% professional qualification as their highest level of education completed. Among the total, 35.4% constituted unmarried while 64.6% constituted married of which 44.7% reported to have children. Further 52.1% of the respondents reported being on the middle level, 24% on sub senior level with only 7.3% on the senior level and 16.7% on the entry-level.

Measures

The questionnaire consisted of five scales measured on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree) except stated otherwise. The instrument also sought information on respondents’ demographics.

Desired Career Aspirations

Eleven items ‘desired career aspiration scale’ developed by Tharenou and Terry (1998) was used with a replacement of the word management with organization to measure the participants’ desired aspirations for further advancement within their chosen career. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for this scale in the current study was 0.933 and the sample items included, ‘I would like to move into a high position within the organization’.

Occupational Self-efficacy

To measure the occupation related self-efficacy of the participants a short version of the ‘occupational self-efficacy scale’ (Rigotti et al., 2008) consisting of six items was used with a sample item, ‘When I am confronted with a problem in my job’. The reliability coefficient of the scale was 0.919 in the present study.

Work Role Salience

To measure women participants’ attitude towards their career, a short version of ‘work salience scale’ developed by Greenhaus and Sklarew (1981) was used. The scale consisted of five items which were also adapted by Vianen (1999) in study 3. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the five-item scale in this study was 0.864 and the sample item included, ‘I look at a career as a means of expressing myself’.

Proactive Personality

Proactive aspect of the respondent’s personality was assessed with the help of 10 items shortened version ‘proactive personality scale’ (Seibert et al., 2001). The reliability coefficient of the scale was 0.927 with sample item, ‘Nothing is more exciting than seeing my ideas turn into reality’.

Gender Role Attitude

Six items self-report ‘gender role ideology scale’ (Vespa, 2009) was used to measure gender role attitude of women respondents on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = strongly agree to 7 = strongly disagree. A high score on the scale indicated respondent’s liberal attitudes toward their role, while a low score signified traditional or conservative attitudes towards their gender role. The reliability coefficient of the scale was 0.920.

Demographics

Since age, tenure and marital status of women might significantly influence their desired aspirations to progress in career, the variables were controlled statistically. While age and tenure (work experience in years) represented continuous variable, marital status was measured as categorical variables and hence was coded as single = 0 and married = 1.

Data Analysis

Findings of the descriptive analysis (see Table 1) revealed a mean score of all the constructs ranging from 5.16 to 5.54, thus indicating a fair level of agreement with various constructs. Nearly 62% of the participants scoring above the average on career aspiration scale indicated the strong desire of majority of women to achieve higher position in the organization. Similarly, 67.3% and 23.2% of respondents reported having a high and moderate level of occupational self-efficacy respectively. Furthermore, nearly 51% of the respondents reported a mean score of more than 6 indicating being highly proactive in their approach in identifying occupational opportunities at workplace and taking initiatives for the constructive changes in their work life. 62% of the respondents exhibited high work role salience in life and on the positive notes, 63.7% of women in the sample reported a positive attitude towards their gender role depicting the egalitarian attitude of most of the respondents.

Pearson’s correlation coefficients were calculated to explain the correlations among variables and significant correlations were observed (see Table 1). Age (r = –0.189, p < 0.01) and marital status (r = –0.217, p < 0.01) were found to be negatively related to desired career aspirations indicating that as compared to young and single women, mature and married women tend to have lower aspirations for advancement in career probably due to their increased involvement in family responsibilities. However, tenure (r = 0.034, p > 0.05) was found not significantly related to career aspirations and hence was dropped from further analysis.

Table 1.

Mean, Standard deviation and Inter-Construct Correlations

		Mean	SD	DCA	OSE	PROA CT	WRS	GRA	Age	Tenure	Marital Status
1.	DCA	5.440	1.234	1
2.	OSE	5.546	1.289	0.286**	1
3.	PROACT	5.491	1.083	0.194**	0.039	1
4.	WRS	5.168	0.992	0.254**	0.412**	0.144**	1
5.	GRA	5.481	1.203	0.254**	0.412**	0.144**	1.02**	1
6.	Age	32.93	3.689	–0.189**	–0.173**	–0.132**	–0.131**	–0.131**	1
7.	Tenure	6.190	2.009	0.034	–0.041	0.057	–0.017	–0.017	0.519**	1
8.	Marital Status	0.640	0.480	–0.217**	–0.157**	–0.091	–0.062	–0.062	0.645**	0.340**	1

Source: The authors.

Notes: ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). OSE: Occupational self-efficacy; PROACT: Proactive personality; WRS: Work role salience; GRA: Gender role attitude; DCA: Desired career aspirations.

Occupational self-efficacy (r = 0.286; p < 0.01), proactive personality (r = 0.194; p < 0.01), work role salience (r = 0.254; p < 0.01) and gender role attitude (r = 0.254; p < 0.01) were found positively correlated to desired aspirations. All correlations were found to be less than 0.60 indicating lack of multicollinearity (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2007).

Measurement Model

Before testing the structural relationships among the latent variables in structural equation modelling (SEM), the hypothesized model is required to be examined for covariances among the indicators and the latent construct and to check for the unidirectionality, reliability and validity of the constructs. The measurement model fit indices (χ² = 592.291; df = 517; p < 0.05) GFI: 927; NFI: 0.939, CFI: 0.992, IFI: 0.992; TLI: 0.991 and RMSEA: 0.018; CMIN/DF: 1.146) indicated good fit of data. The measurement model was further tested for reliability and validity. The average variance extracted (AVE) and composite reliability (CR) indicated that the items of respective constructs have adequate convergent validity. The AVE estimates were found greater than the squared correlation estimates which indicated discriminant validity (see Table 2).

Table 2.

Psychometric Properties of The Latent Constructs

	CR	AVE	MSV	ASV	GRA	OSE	PROACT	WRS	DCA
GRA	0.920	0.656	0.201	0.086	0.810
OSE	0.919	0.693	0.201	0.092	0.448	0.832
PROACT	0.927	0.560	0.043	0.024	0.163	0.056	0.748
WRS	0.864	0.560	0.069	0.050	0.208	0.258	0.150	0.748
DCA	0.933	0.637	0.097	0.071	0.274	0.312	0.207	0.263	0.798

Source: The authors.

Notes: Diagonals values (in parenthesis) indicate squared correlation estimates. GRA: Gender role attitude; OSE: Occupational self-efficacy; PROACT: Proactive personality; WRS: Work role salience; DCA: Desired career aspirations.

Structural Equation Modelling

After validation of the measurement model, SEM was executed with maximum likelihood approach to test the postulated hypothesis. Table 3 reveals the incidence of statistically significant relationships amongst the constituent factors and the functional modelling of chosen variable in the model highlighted the significant path diagram fit across the selected variables. The structural model fit indicators suggested an acceptable fit of data (χ² = 543.82; df = 476; p < 0.05) OSE: 932; NFI: 0.940, CFI: 0.992, IFI: 0.992; TLI: 0.991 and RMSEA: 0.018; CMIN/DF: 1.142)

SEM results (see Table 3) indicate that age (β = –0.023, p > 0.05) was found having a negative but insignificant impact on desired aspirations among women. While marital status (β = –0.150, p < 0.05) was found significantly affecting the desired career aspirations of women, the direction of beta coefficient indicated that marital status, that is, being married negatively affected working women’s aspirations to progress in career. Further, all independent variables were found positively and significantly affecting the desired aspirations of women for advancement in career. In comparative stance, occupational self-efficacy was observed to be bearing the strongest possible impact (β = 0.180, p < 0.01); on the tendency to owe and harness career aspirations at individual level across women working in banking and insurance sectors followed by work role salience (β = 0.160, p < 0.01); proactive personality (β = 0.146, p < 0.01) and gender role attitude (β = 0.125, p < 0.05) significantly affecting the desired career aspirations of women.

Table 3.

SEM Results

Hypothesized Path			Standardized β	SE	CR	p
DCA	←	OSE	0.180	0.053	3.202	0.001
DCA	←	PROACT	0.146	0.051	2.963	0.003
DCA	←	WRS	0.160	0.069	3.083	0.002
DCA	←	GRA	0.125	0.060	2.268	0.023
DCA	←	Age	–0.023	0.019	–0.381	0.703
DCA	←	Marital status	–0.150	0.142	–2.521	0.012

Source: The authors.

Notes: OSE: Occupational self-efficacy; PROACT: Proactive personality; WRS: Work role salience; GRA: Gender role attitude; DCA: Desired career aspirations.

Results and Discussion

The findings of the present study disapprove of the traditional assertions that Indian women are less capable in terms of career abilities and are expected to be adhering to the strict societal norms of being responsible for homemaking and parenting. However, the respondents of the present study who are working in the Indian banking and insurance sector are found having stronger self in terms of believing in their cognitive strengths and changing perceptions of their role in society. The findings are in line with observations of Jain and Mukherji (2016) who also emphasized that Indian women, especially from urban background, have been shredding off their gendered image, embracing both work and family and are redefining their role in the society. The study provides empirical evidence that Indian women are not only embracing work along with familial roles but also proactively preparing themselves to take charge and manage their career. The change is being witnessed across women working in the banking and insurance sector which is typically considered as male-dominated career trajectory in India. Hence, this positive change is expected to spill over across other sectors as well which would facilitate India in mitigating the gender diversity gap.

The hypothesized relationship (H₁) is confirmed which is in conformity with the findings of Abele and Spurk (2009) and Bandura (2001) who reported a significant influence of occupational self-efficacy on aspirations of women for career advancement. The findings also align with the previous research emphasizing the role of self-efficacy in determining career outcomes (Gregor et al., 2019; Raque-Bogdan & Lucas, 2016). The results suggest that women who perceive a greater level of occupational capabilities would be more ambitious towards their career goals. However contrary to the expectations, women in the study were observed to be holding high occupational self-efficacy.

Work role salience has also been found having a plausible impact on the career aspirations of working women thus supporting H₂. Similar results were observed by Gregor and O’Brien (2015) who also emphasized that women who perceive career as important in their life would set higher career goals in life and strive to achieve them. The finding, therefore, attests to the changing perspective of Indian women towards work who have started seeing managing family expectations and children along with work as their potential to handle multiple roles and are moving on to make substantial strides in career.

The proactive personality has been found significantly impacting women’s career aspirations for career advancement, thus supporting (H₃). The findings are in line with the earlier observations of Seibert et al. (2001) that proactive personality leads to career progression. Although proactivity as a personality trait has been extensively explored in predicting the entrepreneurial intentions of women and has remained under documented in the context of women’s career aspirations for advancement, the finding of this study, therefore, contributes to the existing literature by providing insights on the role of proactive personality as a determinant of career aspirations. It can, therefore, be inferred that in the protean and boundaryless career perspective which requires an individual to take charge and manage their own career instead of relying on the organizational initiatives, Indian women, who are still juggling with conflicting demands of multiple roles in life, would assume the responsibility of not only carefully visualizing their future self in the organizations and set higher goals but also preparing themselves for managing and realizing their career ambitions.

In conformity with the earlier findings of Gray and O’Brien (2007), Warner Colaner and Warner (2005) and Ming et al. (2007) the gender role attitude of women was found to be significantly affecting the career aspirations of women for advancement in their career hence supporting H₄. The moderate level of liberal attitude of women respondents in the study indicates that though a long way to go, Indian women have started negating the social fallacies which in turn are empowering them to identify their potential, set higher goals and chase their career dreams.

Implications and Conclusion

While most of the research on women’s career behaviour focuses on external contextual forces as barriers to women’s career development, this study provides unique insight into women’s career aspirations through the lens of personal cognitive forces that are internal to women’s psychology. As the Indian society opens up globally, career psychology across Indian women is also bound to change. The findings of the current study point towards positive psychological transitions taking place across Indian women in terms of having greater faith in their capabilities and changing attitude towards their expected role in the society (Centre for Social Research, 2009). The study further examines how these changing internalized beliefs, attitude and perceptions play an important role in determining their career goals. The study empirically established that women’s own cognitive strengths, their personality trait, the importance of work in their life and their attitude towards their role in the society representing their internal cognitions account for the extent to which they aspire for advancement in career.

The findings of the study suggest that interventions are required on the part of women as individual, family, society, organization and government to strengthen women’s internalized beliefs and attitudes which would further change their perspective towards external contextual constraints believed to be restricting their progression in career. Although no anecdote solution can be suggested to resolve the issue of gender-based socialization of women, young women at home should be allowed and encouraged to speak up their mind and question the social fallacies which would strengthen their beliefs of personal capabilities and selfconfidence. The self-confidence so acquired would lead them to opt non-conventional careers and they would aspire to achieve higher goals in the future. Women themselves should realize their potential and they should assertively pursue their ambition if they aspire to advance in career.

The study also puts forth important implications for the Indian financial sector. The policymakers in the sector need to acknowledge that women accord differential value to the determinants shaping the phenomenon and that individual-based perceptions account for women’s career ambitions. Hence, banks and insurance companies should strive to provide a conducive environment where women employees are not discriminated in recruitments, promotions or getting access to organizational resources. Flexible working hours or part-time work arrangements can be designed for married women employees especially with children to accommodate their multiple role requirements. The capacity building programmes should be designed to make them potentially equipped to assume higher positions in the organizations. Strengthened support to women in terms of non-discriminatory training and development opportunities at work would enable them to gain a foothold and better employability skills. ‘The model organization’ as suggested by Rath et al. (2019) for public banks can be designed for women working in private banking sector too which would involve providing holistic support to women for career progression along with recognizing their priorities for family and parental care at home as well.

Furthermore, the government should also come up with policies requiring the financial sector to give proper representations to women at leadership and managerial levels which would further influence adolescent girl’s educational and career aspirations (Beaman et al., 2012). However, the government’s role does not end only with the enactment of laws rather proper adherence to such laws should also be ensured to facilitate women to aspire and reach upper echelons in Indian organizations. The government should initiate a variety of programmes at the national level at its own as well as provide financial support to NGOs running such programmes which would lead to the empowerment of women. Society at large should also acknowledge the efforts and contributions that women make to the family and economy. Concerted efforts on part of all stakeholders are required to redefine the gender norms and to mitigate social and structural barriers that impede women’s career progression.

Although the research outcomes possess important implications for women-based participation in formal economic institutions when she holds herself responsible for her career ambitions, the findings are needed to be interpreted cautiously. Considering the fact that the present research is limited to the financial sector of the economy and the sample represented young, urbanites and highly educated women respondents working in the state of Punjab, the results may vary across women coming from different regions and different professions. Hence, future studies are suggested to include women employees from other work domains and backgrounds as well to upraise the generalizability of the findings of the impact of personal cognitive factors on women-based aspirations for career advancement.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

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