Research has consistently demonstrated the existence of a leaky career pipeline where the ratio of women vis-à-vis men keeps decreasing as they move into higher echelons of management. Evidently Human Resource Practices (HRPs) don’t seem to be helping in enhancing gender equity in managerial careers. Following Theory of Gendered Organization (Acker, 1990), this research explores whether and how gender bias may still be embedded within formalized HR practices with respect to their impact on career motivation and development. Employing a sequential mixed methodology, data was collected in two phases. In the first phase of the study data was obtained using quantitative methods from a sample of managers (N = 403), at various stages of their careers, drawn from 11 large global and Indian MNCs operating in India. This was followed by a qualitative study using in-depth interviews with 31 women professionals across various levels of management in the second phase. The quantitative study reveals that HRPs impact career motivation of men and women in significantly different ways. Further, the qualitative research suggests that HRPs when filtered through the lens of gender identity and interwoven with gendered social support lead to unintended effects on career motivation and thereby career development of female managerial employees. Implications of the research for both theory as well as practice are discussed.
