Abstract:
INTRODUCTION : Research on women’s career success has been the subject of
extensive investigations, emphasizing the barriers they encounter in their careers.
However, far less attention has been given to the personal resources that
promote women’s career success. The purpose of our study was to provide more
conclusive evidence regarding the role that personal resources such as resilience
and grit can play in the relationship between women’s person-environment fit
and the perceptions of their career success. Underpinned by the Job Demands
Resources and social cognitive theory, our study aims to investigate whether
resilience and grit could either explain how person-environment fit translates into
feelings of subjective career success or could strengthen this relationship.
METHOD : A cross-sectional online survey research design was used, and a
convenience sample of 408 female employees was obtained. Relationships were
explored through structural equation modelling.
RESULTS : When controlling for age, the findings of this study revealed significantly
positive relationships between the constructs, with person-environment fit,
resilience, and grit, explaining a large portion of the variance in subjective career
success. Although our data supported the mediating role of grit and resilience
in the person-environment fit and subjective career success relationship, the
moderating effects of grit and resilience could not be established.
DISCUSSION : These findings illustrate both grit and resilience as mechanisms
that indirectly affect the person-environment fit and subjective career success
relationship of women. However, our findings indicate that resilience and grit
cannot be considered mechanisms that would buffer against poor personenvironment
fit’s effect on their career success perceptions. Firstly, our study advances our understanding of the roles personal resources such as resilience
and grit play in women’s career success as ways to overcome obstacles and
workplace barriers. Secondly, using the motivational process of the Job Demands
Resources Framework as theoretical background, we contribute by shedding light
on how personal resources (resilience and grit) can be considered underlying
factors influencing the person-environment fit and career success relationship
for women. If women experience good person-environment fit, there is a greater
opportunity for developing resilience and grit and, consequently, subjective
career success.
