Plugging the leak: leveraging the protean career concept in organizations

Purpose The steady dropout of senior women from the corporate ladder motivated us to gain insights into their opting out decisions. This exploratory study revealed internal aspiration as a contributory factor of opting out beyond the well-established push and pull factors. Design/methodology/approach Nineteen senior women executives who had opted out of successful careers due to their internal aspirations were interviewed and grounded theory was leveraged to derive the emergent themes. Findings The spirit of autonomy and strong personal value emerged as a common thread amongst the women and the basis for their opting out decision. These factors led these senior women to embark upon newer pastures, which included entrepreneurship, dedication to a cause, a passion or academics. The findings were mapped with the protean career concept. Practical implications Recommendations would help organizations reimagine and strengthen the existing interventions for the retention of women at the senior levels while simultaneously empowering the women to align their career with their aspirations. Originality/value The study uniquely identifies the protean career concept as the force behind the journey undertaken by these women executives. This is in contrast with the push and pull factors that have been vastly studied as reasons for the opting out decisions.