Forgone identities: a study on the long tenure of women leaders in companies with no upward mobility prospects

Abstract

This study analyzes the forgoing of leader identity by women who exercise leadership informally, addressing factors that favor their retention in a company where there are no prospects for upward mobility, and the psychological impacts triggered by persistent institutional denial of their identities. The research draws on in-depth interviews with professionals who experienced this in the technology sector. The analysis reveals that acceptance of the contextual constraints was facilitated by the presence of surrogates for the leader identity and by the use of job crafting, the latter having ambivalent emotional consequences. The repeated refusals to formally grant the leader identity to them gave rise to identity threats signaled by defense mechanisms. These threats undermined the individual internalization of this identity, contributing to the long tenure of these professionals in the organization.

Keywords:
Women and leadership; Forgone professional identities; Identity threats; Job crafting; Technology sector