Social Cognitive Factors Affecting Working Mothers’ Career Advancement in the Service Industry in Klang Valley, Malaysia

Abstract

Working mothers struggle to reconcile their personal and professional lives while under pressure at work. Working mothers currently worry about maintaining a healthy work-life balance while concentrating on improving their quality of life. Considering this, the objective of this study is to examine the relationship between individual, organizational, and family factors towards the career advancement of working mothers. This study employs explanatory research design, and a quantitative research method was adopted. Primary data for the study were collected through questionnaires sent to the organization under study. A total of 145 responses out of 200 distributed questionnaires were used for data analysis. All research variables were operationalized, based on the literature and each of the variables was defined by a set of factors, which were rated according to the 5-point Likert Scale. The study utilized the SPSS software (latest version) to perform an analysis on the data obtained through the research. The result of the study showed career advancement is significantly impacted by independent variables (individual, family and organizational). The reliability test has been conducted to measure the consistency of the test scores, and the questions related to career advancement have high internal consistency, indicating that the survey questions are reliable. The results of this study could be used to improve the productivity of women workers, which would be good for the organization and business. As this could be a guideline for an organization to have a plan to help female employees, especially married women, feel less stressed and do a better job on the job.