Experiences of Dilemmas to Gain 'Access to Entry' to Work : Insights from Women's Narratives

The aim of this study is to understand how gendered practices produce or counter inequalities in organization entry processes. Through a qualitative research methodology, this paper takes up the relatively neglected issue and unravels the interaction of gender with hiring related human resources practices through the voices of sixty-eight Indian women working on diverse jobs and roles. This study shows that the workplace hiring related experiences of women are guided by their interface and interactions at both their social and work space informing about the variation in experiences of women across jobs and roles. It discusses the gender dilemmas experienced by women during their interactions at both these spaces rooted in the social constructions. The study also presents the responses and resolutions as displayed by these women to resolve their experiences of these gender dilemmas. The study grounded in the lived experiences of working women opens the platform for discussion to visualise the efforts of women to establish their working identity by gaining access to the work domain