Structural impediments to managerial mobility in industrialised nations

The relationship between gender and managerial mobility is explored by examining distinct structural elements unique to industrialized nations that have been overlooked in prior occupational opportunity research. Using country specific files of the database, “Comparative project on class structure and class consciousness” the analysis provides a multicultural comparison of female managerial attainment in the UK, Sweden, and the USA. By examining managerial attainment by gender, the findings suggest that the combined associational effects of gender and labor force participation patterns by nation better assess the severity of occupational barriers to managerial mobility experienced by women, than when examining gender participation patterns alone. The data indicate that barriers for female occupational mobility are not merely limited to decision making at the interpersonal level, but provide empirical evidence to suggest that impediments are more institutionally ingrained and culturally distinct than previously imagined.