Career Advancing Practices of Senior Executives

There exist many lists of best practices (strategies) for managing a high profile corporate career. These lists often include the following strategies:

• making one’s accomplishments visible
• getting bottom-line results
• mobilizing teams
• developing a style that appeals to top executives
• creating a support network
• pursuing line jobs over staff jobs
• choosing the right employer
• creating a work/life support structure (with or without children)
• building strong peer relationships

What are less well understood are how corporate career executives implement these best practices.

The Boston Club (TBC) has commissioned Wellesley Centers for Women to undertake research and analysis of the strategies that senior executive women and men have used to advance their careers in the corporate world. Dr. Erkut will conduct a review of the literature of recent findings in the area of women’s leadership and, in conjunction with TBC, will develop a survey instrument designed to uncover new data on career advancing practices of both men and women. TBC will provide a list of senior women executives of large public companies from which to draw the survey sample of women. Dr. Erkut, with input from TBC, will develop a list of male executives who occupy similar positions as the women from which to draw the survey sample of men. Dr. Erkut will use the survey instrument to interview a minimum of 30 women and 30 men by phone, or in person if deemed appropriate. The results will be analyzed using grounded theory. Additional interviews may be conducted, if early results suggest that there may be more material to uncover.