Unmasking the Sociocultural Constraints to Career Growth of Married Women in Ghanaian Organizations

Abstract

This study investigated the question of how culture and activity can be explored towards understanding the professional career development of married women and the relative constraints associated with such development in the Ghanaian environment. Guided by the cultural–historical activity theory (CHAT) framework, data was collected from a sample of 141 married Ghanaian women professionals engaged in white collar jobs in the public and private institutions located in Accra. It is established that the acceptance by the Ghanaian traditional society of the married professional woman as a capable person who can equally perform in an organization and thus need to be trusted, supported and recognized is of relevance to her career development. This observation provides learning on the impact of the inflow of socio-cultural dynamics into a gender-oriented organizational life and the complexities that it generates in understanding the constraints to the professional career development of married women.