Senior Executive Women’s Views on Female Solidarity: The Role of Perceived Gender Salience

Abstract

The study explores senior female executives’ views on supporting female subordinates in managerial careers (i.e., female solidarity). The chapter provides a distinctive approach to female managerial career development by contextualizing the study in Turkey, where several socioeconomic trends with competing influences on women’s place in society are observed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 29 Turkish senior executive women. Evidence of support for improving women’s representation in the boardroom was limited. Positive views were anchored where gender was most salient: on patriarchal norms that are imposed on most Turkish women and the senior executive women’s perceived need to fulfill a moral obligation. The great majority of participants referred to the meritocratic context of managerial careers, which renders gender irrelevant. The findings highlight the role of perceived gender salience of the context on which senior executive women anchor their views. The study also contributes to the current debates on the gendered nature of merit and has implications for policy and practice concerning women’s career development through HRM, most notably on standards of merits.