Data, at the level of the corporation, revealed that the percentage of lower-level managerial positions held by women in the 1980s and early 1990s was positively associated with the number of work-life human resource practices provided in 1994 and with the percentage of senior management positions held by women in 1999. In turn, the number of work-life human resource practices provided in 1994 was positively associated with the percentage of senior management positions held by women in 1999 and partially mediated the effect of lower-level female representation on senior level female representation. These results support the blending of a social contact theory perspective and a strategic human resource management perspective when explaining the glass-ceiling phenomenon, and have important implications for managing human resources and individual careers.
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