The river and the path as professional careers: contrasting gendered stories

Abstract

There are countless occasions in which literature refers to visible, perceived or narrated differences between the working trajectory of women and that of men. What comes out of such references is that women’s career is often depicted as multidirectional and non-linear, as well as unfolded through multiple settings and life experiences. This study is aimed at analyzing professional careers through the point of view of agents’ own experiences in terms of stories and from a longitudinal approach that started during the 90’s and came to an end in 2010. The analytic perspective is guided by the life stories of the last twelve years in the professional career of agents, as well as the contrast made between cases: woman and man. The analysis is focused in the elements and conditions that enable or constrain the professional promotion process, whether they are individual, organizational or social. Results reflect how subjectivity is engaged in a world of prescriptions and proscriptions that grants differences applicable to both women and men.