Woman at Work: Can Self-Efficacy Enhance Perceived Career Advancement Opportunity? The Boundary Role of Work Volition

Despite increased participation in the workforce, women continue to report constrained access to career advancement opportunities. This study examines how self-efficacy (SE) beliefs in women influence their perceived career advancement opportunity (PCAO) and the underlying role of career aspiration (CAS), as well as the boundary condition of Work Volition (WV) on the SE-PCAO relationship. The study gathered responses from 392 women employees in the Information Technology Enabled Services (ITeS) sector in the country’s northern region (Delhi and NCR + Chandigarh). The study tested the measurement model (validity and reliability) and the structural model (path coefficients) using Smart-PLS Version 3.0. Results showed that women with higher scores on SE reported stronger perceptions of career advancement opportunity and that CAS partially mediates this relationship. Furthermore, WV emerged as a significant boundary condition. The paper examined socio-psychological variables relevant for understanding women’s perceptions of career advancement opportunity in the ITeS sector, adding to the limited literature on socio-psychological antecedents of women’s perceived career advancement opportunity in emerging economy contexts. The findings of the current research bear strong theoretical and practical implications for behavioural studies and for career management practices addressing gender inequality, respectively. As the study centres on perceptual appraisals, further studies could explore how these perceptions eventually translate into actual outcomes.