Original Research

Career development of SA professional women who take career breaks

H. M. Geber
SA Journal of Industrial Psychology | Vol 26, No 2 | a701 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/sajip.v26i2.701 | © 2000 H. M. Geber | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 26 June 2000 | Published: 26 June 2000

About the author(s)

H. M. Geber, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

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Abstract

This article reports the findings of a study of career development and return to work of a group of professional South African women with children who work in a wide range of traditional and non traditional careers. The patterns of their career breaks and return to work are investigated alongside their activities during the break. There is a significant tendency to continue academic and professional qualifications and to embark on second careers when they return to work. The implications for Human Resource professionals are noted and factors such as mother tongue, self-employment and age at the birth of the first child that help or hinder the return to work are discussed.

Opsomming
In hierdie artikel word die bevindinge van'n studie gerapporteer wat gehandel het oor n groep professionele Suid-Afrikaanse vroue se loopbaanontwikkeling en hulle terugkeer na die beroepswereld na n werksonderbreking weens die geboortes van hulle kinders. Die vroue se beroepe het oor n wye reeks tradisionele en nie-tradisionele werke gestrek. Die studie het spesifiek gekonsentreer op die patroon van loopbaanonderbreking, die aktiwiteite tydens die onderbreking, asook die terugkeer na die werkplek. Die bevindinge dui daarop dat professionele vroue daartoe geneig is om hulle akademiese en professionele kwalifikasies tydens hulle werksonderbreking te verbeter en dat hulle eintlik met n tweede loopbaan begin na die hervatting van hulle werks aktiwiteite. Faktore soos huistaal, ouderdom ten tye van die geboorte van die eerste kind en self-geemplojeerdheid, is van die belangrikste determinante in die bepaling of professionele vroue weer na die beroepswereld sal terugkeer. Die menslike hulpbronbestuursimplikasies van die bevindinge word ook in die artikel uitgewys.


Keywords

Career development; SA professional women; Career breaks

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