Social production in a collectivist culture: Exploring structure and agency in the work-life balance of Indian women executives
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study the relationship between structure and agency of Indian women executives in the area of work-life balance in a developing and globalized context. It examines social production in a collectivist culture.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach is qualitative and interpretative. Semi-structured interviews of 105 senior women executives from major metropolitan cities in India (Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai) form the rich data for this research. It uses sociological theories of McNay and Bourdieu to discuss the narratives of women executives.
Findings
The agency of women executives in India is influenced by cultural meta-narratives of marriage and motherhood. They experience conflict in the home front and less at the work place. Their negotiations with their structures reveal a nuanced agency wherein they try to fit cultural roles and also seek self fulfillment in a career.
Research limitations/implications
First, it includes women executives only from the corporate sector. Second, opinions expressed by women executives alone have been taken for this study and is not cross-validated by opinions of others. This study is also limited to socio-cultural roles and expectations from women executives. Other variables that affect agency are not examined.
Practical implications
This study contributes to the understanding of how women executives, who have a greater agency, negotiate their structural constraints and how these actions contribute to social production.
Social implications
It studies the societal impact of the agency of women executives in India.
Originality/value
The study provides a theoretical insight into structure and agency of women executives in India and thus adds an Indian perspective to the gender discourse.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author provides gratitude to Prof John Adams, Organizational Systems, PhD Program, Saybrook University, USA, for his valuable suggestions and encouragement. The author sincerely thanks Prof Soumya Sivakumar, Director of the Marketing Course, Marymount University, School of Business Administration, USA, for the support and practical suggestions she provided. The author sincere thanks Prof Peter Pruzan, (Professor emeritus) B.Sc.(Princeton), MBA (Harvard), PhD (Case-Western), Dr Polit (University of Copenhagen) and Mr Mandip Sandhu (Senior Management Consultant, IBM Global Business Services) for the meticulous editing and constructive criticism they provided. Much appreciation and gratitude to the anonymous reviewers of GM who painstakingly improved the quality of this article.
Citation
Uppalury, S. and Bhaskar Racherla, K. (2014), "Social production in a collectivist culture: Exploring structure and agency in the work-life balance of Indian women executives", Gender in Management, Vol. 29 No. 6, pp. 352-374. https://doi.org/10.1108/GM-09-2012-0070
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014, Emerald Group Publishing Limited