Influence of cultural norms on the career progression of women executives in India

Purpose India, one of the world’s most rapidly growing economies, has one of the world’s lowest rates of female workforce participation, particularly in senior management, which constrains the pool of management talent and the benefits of gender diversity. This study explores the reasons for the low participation of women in India’s senior management. Design/methodology/approach Face-to-face in-depth interviews with women in middle management, identified through snowball sampling. Findings The cultural norms of Indic communities and the internalisation of cultural norms influence women’s career aspirations and decisions. Originality/value The study draws on the concept of internalising cultural norms from the social-behavioural sciences, thereby contributing to the advancement of management and human resource optimisation theory. It also adopts snowball sampling, a sample selection and sample size determination methodology predominantly used in health and nursing sciences, thus introducing a novel approach in management research.