| Abstract [eng] |
This master's thesis examines how Lithuanian middle-aged women (35–50 years old) experience career stagnation, what challenges they face, and what coping strategies they employ. In this work, career stagnation is understood as a subjectively experienced sense of being stuck, arising from limited opportunities for growth in terms of both hierarchical advancement and job content. The study is relevant in the context of lengthening careers, as well as due to the scarcity of similar research: career stagnation among women in Lithuania has not previously been empirically investigated, even though women's careers are shaped by specific factors. A qualitative research method is applied in this work. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten middle-aged women whose experience of stagnation lasted at least six months and occurred within the past two years. The data were analyzed using the reflexive thematic analysis method of Braun and Clarke (2006, 2022). The research findings yielded six main themes: (1) the inner experience of career stagnation manifests as emotional discomfort and a lack of meaning and growth; (2) the organizational context influences the experience of stagnation through value misalignment, burnout, and a lack of meaning; (3) the social and biographical context — age discrimination, gender inequality, and the impact of motherhood on career — contributes to the experience of stagnation; (4) women experiencing career stagnation are troubled by internal psychological conflicts — identity uncertainty and tension between the needs for growth and security; (5) the coping process employed involves experimentation and reorientation toward self-directed activity; (6) internal and external resources play an important role in the coping process. The study demonstrates that career stagnation is a multifaceted phenomenon shaped by the interplay of individual, organizational, and biographical factors, and that overcoming it is a non-linear process. |
