Patterns of Priority in Careers among Managerial and Professional Women in Bulgaria: Costs of the Mommy Track?

Abstract

This study examined correlates of patterns of priority in careers, anchored at the extremes by career-primary and career-family orientations, among 218 managerial and professional women in Bulgaria. Data were collected using anonymously completed questionnaires to replicate similar research conducted in Canada. Career-family women were more likely to be married, have more children, work fewer extra hours per week, been with a present employer for a longer period of time and reported less job involvement than did career-primary women. There were no differences on job and career satisfaction or on measures of psychological well-being. Many of the relationships present in the Canadian sample were absent in the Bulgarian sample.