An assessment of the role of training and development in career histories of federal women managers in selected organizations

This study assessed the participation of six contributors to the career histories of fourteen women managers in five federal organizations. Briefly, the contributors included: (1) the processes of gaining managerial skills and abilities through informal and formal learning activities; (2) the demonstration of management skills through job responsibilities that were imposed upon or selected by the individual and which were observed by individuals as potential for positions of greater power and influence; (3) the attainment of positions of power and influence; (4) the development of sensitivity to organizational cultural phenomena; (5) the management of personnel decisions affecting career advancement; and (6) the development of integrity of values and behaviors over time and through experiences.

The study showed how these women managers moved upward in organizations through a limited extent through participation in training and development programs and, to a greater degree, by understanding and adapting to various organizational structural phenomena.

Through qualitative methodologies of interviews, document analysis, and participant observation, data were collected, analyzed, and written in the form of case histories. A model summarizing the six constructs contributing to career histories was developed.