Still a man's world : Implications for managerial and professional women in a Turkish bank

Purpose – Although qualified women are entering professional and managerial ranks within organizations, they continue to have difficulties in advancing their careers. It has been suggested that the biggest obstacle to women's career advancement lies in the attitudes, biases and prejudices of their male colleagues and their organizational cultures. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship of perceptions of organizational bias among managerial and professional women and their work satisfactions and levels of psychological well‐being. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 215 women, a 67 percent response rate, using anonymously completed questionnaires. Respondents worked for a large Turkish bank that had offices in several cities. Findings – Women reporting greater perceptions of bias indicated less job satisfaction, lower levels of work engagement and higher levels of job stress; perceptions of bias were not related to intentions to quit however. In addition, women reporting greater perceptions of organizational bias indicated higher levels of exhaustion but these perceptions were unrelated to levels of self‐reported psychosomatic symptoms. Interestingly, more educated women reported higher levels of perceived organizational bias. Research limitations/implications – Implications for women's job performance and career advancement as well as suggestions for addressing potential gender bias are offered. Originality/value – The paper adds to knowledge about the work and career experiences of women in Turkey and the challenges they face.