Typology of career paths of international Top Women Managers - Global orientation pattern for qualified women in management (English shop)

Typologie der Karrierewege von internationalen Topmanagerinnen - Orientierungsmuster für qualifizierte Frauen im Management

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Five Career Patterns for Women in Senior Management: Bounded – Unbounded global – Stop and Go – Flexible hoppers – Lean on and move up

Five career types are the result of an international academic study conducted with women in top management. The study shows that the majority of women top managers from various nations build their careers through local company changes or the global change of employers. There is not just one career pattern or one right career path for women managers worldwide. Of the five career types described here, three are dominant. Career patterns in which family decisions are central are prevalent in this international study for only 17 % of the women in the Stop-and-Go group. The majority of women pursue unbounded and global careers, which can be described by numerous company changes. The female role models for advancement in management have a strong career orientation, pursue self-directed careers and subordinate other life roles to their primary role as a manager.
Precisely because women worldwide continue to be in the minority in senior management, the career paths and career patterns of successful women who have already reached the top of companies can inspire other women and support them in planning their careers more strategically. Career typologies that systematise the career paths and patterns of successful women in management can serve women as orientation models for making their own career decisions and plans on the basis of insights from role models, or can be used as a framework for reflection, for example within the context of executive coaching.

Five patterns of women in senior management: Bounded – Unbounded global – Stop and Go – Flexible hoppers – Lean on and move up

Women worldwide are still often the minority in top management so the career paths and patterns of successful role models can offer guidance and real inspiration for other women. Career typologies of women in senior management functions can support other women when they set their career plans and need to make decisions.
One outcome of the international research driven from the Global Women Career Lab is an intercultural career typology of top women managers in various countries, which offers valuable insights into women strategies for building careers. The typology analysis role model focuses on how women who achieved top management positions around the world built their careers and the characteristics go with it. The analysis describes the five career types which were most frequent in the research group.
Different to the handful of existing typologies for women in management, more than 80 % of the women researched here show patterns and paths where career decisions are not made with a focus on family or other external conditions. Most women have pursued an unbounded career, often globally and changing employers in order to rise up the corporate hierarchy.
Experienced coaches can use the Global Women Career Lab typology to stimulate reflection on career decisions and shed light on the choices of women in management levels. The typology also shows HR experts that talented women chose companies according to the opportunities they offered for women to rise in senior management.