Integrating Inequality Regimes and Social Cognitive Career Theory: Female Physicians' Resilience in India

Abstract

This study integrates Acker's institutional inequality regimes and social cognitive career theory (SCCT) to explore career resilience amongst highly qualified women professionals in a developing country context. Despite women undergraduate students outnumbering men in Indian medical schools, female physicians continue to face systemic barriers to long-term career advancement into executive roles. This research investigates how gendered organizational structures and patriarchal socio-cultural norms impact individual level behaviors, personal goals and circumstances. A thematic analysis of semi-structured qualitative interviews with 30 practicing female and male physicians in northern India highlights a national government policy context of female empowerment or “Nari Shakti”. Four themes emerged based on “family first”; “passion first”, such as surgery or entrepreneurship; accepting inequities; and developing competencies to cope with and overcome challenges to career advancement. Our research contributes to inequality regimes and SCCT literature by using a holistic, integrated and multi-level approach to understanding career resilience. It applies non-Western centric perspectives to examine career resilience amongst highly qualified professional women. The findings offer nuanced approaches to gender discrimination beyond social cognition related to emotional and physical tensions at various career stages. Finally, this empirical study provides recommendations for policy and practice.