Karriärutveckling på lika villkor? : En kvalitativ studie om kvinnors och mäns möjligheter att göra karriär inom HR-branschen

Sammanfattning: There has been a rapid shift regarding the gender distribution of management positions within HR. Although the profession is female dominated, most management positions have belonged to men up until a few years back. Today the managerial positions are more equally distributed between the genders. The aim of this study is to get a better understanding of the barriers and enablers that men and women experience in their career development within the HR-branch. Previous research shows that the HR-profession has become more equal, but women and men are still working in different areas within the profession. The study is based on a qualitative research method. Semi structured interviews were held with seven HR-managers from different parts of Sweden. The results show that men encounter more enablers and less barriers in their careers than women. Networking and support from managers are two enablers that both genders experience. Men encounter more enablers because of the way they are socialized to society and women's careers are facilitated by the support from other women within the profession. Barriers that affect both genders are the low status of the HR-profession and the struggle to combine the managerial position with family-life. Men only encounter one barrier in their career development which is that managerial positions in female dominated professions often are reserved for women. Women encounter more barriers, for example they are socialized to a society in which they are supposed to be reserved and therefore they are more reluctant when it comes to applying for higher positions.