CAREER ADAPTABILITY AS A MEANS TO MITIGATE GLASS CEILING; THE MEDIATING ROLE OF RESILIENCE

Abstract

The current global workforce includes almost 40% of women. The rate of female employees in Pakistan amounts to 22.85 percent. Pakistan shows the worst picture of glass ceiling against female professionals when 48% of women work in entry-level job positions. This paper investigates working women's careers in the twenty-first century by exploring how career adaptation helps working women to be resilient and how this resilient capacity facilitates in breaking the glass ceiling. The growing trend for workforce diversity combined with approved equal opportunity legislation fails to produce sufficient representation of women in senior decision-making roles.  A quantitative study pursues to explain female positions in the microfinance banking sector alongside their experience of gender discrimination. The study also throws light on how women managers adopt different coping strategies to create and utilize resilient capacity through career adaptability. This study examines the issue of the glass ceiling, which reflects discrimination for prompting to higher level positions against women within firms, how career adaptability enables women to be resilient, break through the glass ceiling, and advance to crucial managerial positions. This research investigates the glass ceiling phenomenon where firms discriminate against female promotions and examines how career adaptability assists women in becoming resilient and reaching important management roles. A structured questionnaire checks the relationship between career adaptability and breaching the glass ceiling. Research outcomes demonstrate the full acceptance of the connection between IV and DV together with solid evidence supporting professional resilience as a mediating variable. The study presents useful implications for HR professionals to develop career adaptability and resilience which will enable women to break through the glass ceiling and reach leadership positions to sustain business development.