Deterrents to Women's Participation in Continuing Professional Development

Abstract

This study was designed to explore and define key factors that deter women from participating in continuing professional development (CPD) in the workplace. Four dimensions of deterrents that are caused by women's social roles, gender inequality and gender dimensions are discussed: family and time constraints, cost and work constraints, lack of support systems, and lack of career advice and resources. Further, the article discusses the anticipation and interpretation of women's involvement in CPD in relationship to their pre–adulthood experiences. Recommendations are provided to assist human resource development professionals in their efforts to increase women's participation in CPD, promote a gender equal workplace, and create a learning organization environment.

Keywords

Continuing professional development deterrents to learning participation gender inequality women's social role gender occupational segregation

Because of the rapid pace of technological change and the increased complexity of the workplace, the solution to unemployment is lifelong learning and continuing development (Ahl, 2006). In 2010, the European Union (EU) set a goal for the rate of employees’ participation in lifelong learning to be 12.5%, which has not yet been achieved in many countries because of a variety of factors, including provisions for individual education, regulating authorities, and socio–economic context (Boeren, Nicaise, & Baert, 2010). Efforts to foster continuing development generally involve assimilating new, and updating old knowledge and skills (Ariffin & Torrance, 2008). In this respect, obtaining new knowledge and meeting new people are no longer the primary reasons to participate in learning. Research on adults’ participation in learning activities has been a major issue in the field of human resource development (HRD). To develop employees’ maximum potential and promote a highly educated workforce, HRD practitioners need to know what influences workers’ motivation and decision to participate in continuing professional development (CPD). Employees need assistance to overcome deterrents to participation in continuing development, and that has been a critical, but difficult task for HRD practitioners. In this paper, CPD is defined as a self–directed and an ongoing approach to enhance and maintain individual's knowledge, skills and competences, whether formally or informally. It involves various learning and development activities that contribute to one's continued effectiveness as a professional. Everything that upgrades one's skills and capabilities is considered as CPD. Individual learners are responsible to manage their own professional and personal development on an ongoing basis.

Research has demonstrated that demographic, social, economic and technological changes have made adult development increasingly important and caused barriers that are perceived by women in particular (Malhotra, Shapero, Sizoo, & Munro, 2007). Over the past two decades, scholarly research on women's experiences in continuing education, workplace learning, and professional development have been a focal area in adult education and the HRD literature, and findings have led to the conclusion that a gender gap exists in CPD (Hopkins, O'Neil, Passarelli, & Bilimoria, 2008; Howell, Carter, & Schied, 2002; Prins, Toso, & Schafft, 2009). For example, women have had a higher rate of participation than men in adult education (mainly in personal interest courses) since 1978, but a lower rate in CPD (mainly in work–related learning activities) (Dieckhoff & Steiber, 2011; Merriam & Caffarella, 1999). Women may face more difficulties and deterrents in CPD participation because of their roles and position in society. Such socially constructed gender roles often give rise to issues of gender inequality in the workplace, such as the glass ceiling effect, the gender wage gap, and gender stereotypes. Hence, it is critical to include the perspective of social roles in human resource studies of women.

Gender inequality exists globally. In Germany, for example, the effect of traditional gender occupational segregation has influenced women's job opportunities continually, especially for those who are over 55 years old (Humpert, 2013). In Spain and Belgium, older women also have had fewer employment opportunities than older men or, in fact, men of any age (Coral & Olga, 2010; Vandenberghe, 2011). In the UK, the primary barriers to women's CPD participation in the construction industry are male–dominated organizational cultures and inflexible working practices (Worrall, Harris, Stewart, Thomas, & McDermott, 2010). In the USA, gender bias and the intersection of work and family life have affected female faculty job satisfaction and their status in higher education because they tend to perceive more gender discrimination in promotions, salaries, space/resources, access to administrative staff, and graduate student than male faculty (Shollen, Bland, Finstad, & Taylor, 2009). In Southern Asia, Indian women still have a lower status in society, with many deterrents to entrepreneurial development, such as a male dominant social order, family obligations, lack of management and organizational skills, low levels of negotiation and bargaining skills, low levels of risk taking, and lower education, among others (Mathapati, 2013). In the same vein, Malaysian working women tend to face greater conflicts between CPD participation and family obligations (e.g., childrearing responsibilities) because of cultural norms (Ariffin & Torrance, 2008). These examples manifest the fact that there is an entrenched and global discrimination against women. It is clear that gender bias in culture and in organizations has severely interfered with the success of working women, and childbearing and family responsibilities continue to have a significant effect on women's career choices and professional development. As was also pointed out by Bundy and Norris (1992), women are more concerned about fringe benefits related to childrearing or childcare (such as employer–paid pregnancy leave and on–premises daycare facilities) when selecting a job, while men tend to focus more on office support and afterhours social activities. As such, women are likely to hold unequal positions in the economy, to perform different socially determined responsibilities, to face different constraints, and to respond to CPD differently from men.

Even though Western women have gained more access to lower levels of management or leadership, gender equality has not yet been achieved. According to Fapohunda (2013), regardless of the significant headway women have made, men continue to dominate in the workplace and receive more promotions. For example, women account for only 16% of corporate officers in U.S. Fortune 500 companies, and an average of only 4% of the presidents of EU corporations are women (Eagly & Sczesny, 2009). In another example, according to a 2010 World Economic Forum report on corporate practices in 20 countries, although approximately 60% of companies offered mentoring and networking programs and about 28% of them provided women–specific programs, such efforts did not lead to equal opportunities for promotions and appointments (Ibarra, Carter, & Silva, 2010). There was great concern that cultural stereotypes, as well as gender differences in personality traits and occupational preferences, may have contributed to these results.

Due to the broad expectations based on sex and different family and occupational roles, men and women differ in their political attitudes, social network communication, participation in continuing education, work burnout, personality traits, gender–related occupational preferences, approach to information sharing, and methods of handling workplace conflict (Dieckhoff & Steiber, 2011; Diekman & Schneider, 2010; Lippa, 2010; Purvanova & Muros, 2010; Thompson & Lougheed, 2012). From the results of the Flemish Eurostat Adult Education Survey of 3,104 respondents in nearly all European countries, Boeren (2011) found that women tend to participate in adult learning with a greater focus on inter– and intra–personal factors (e.g., having fun, gaining self–confidence, and building relationships). Compared with men, women often emphasize the workplace value of “soft issues” (e.g., relationships, respect, communication, fairness, equity, collaboration, and work–family balance) and share information to build relationships (Fapohunda, 2013).

Accordingly, people typically associate women with kindness, sensitivity, and empathy and men with aggressiveness, ambition, and competitiveness (Eagly & Sczesny, 2009). Yet, according to Ibarra et al. (2010), women are also deemed as “risky appointments” and are least likely to get the sponsorship necessary to move up to leadership positions. Specifically, sponsors tend not to actively advocate their female mentees, to go beyond providing advice, and to broaden the female mentees’ visibility in the company in the same way male mentees have (Ibarra et al., 2010). Eagly and Sczesny (2009) asserted that social–psychological issues have created women's lesser representation in leadership roles. The “think manager–think male” stereotype, coined over 40 years ago by Schein (1973), still exists today in people's mind (Ryan, Haslam, Hersby & Bongiorno, 2011). Traditional gender stereotypes continually influence women to reach higher–level jobs. To examine the variations in managerial and gender stereotypes, Ryan et al., (2011) suggested that situational flexibility, such as a tendency of increased representation in particular sectors (e.g., healthcare or retail) or roles (e.g., human resources or administration) among women, should not be an oversight.

Importance and Purpose of the Study

Patterns of participation in lifelong learning are strongly gender–biased (Leathwood & Francis, 2006). The literature has shown repeatedly that women tend to receive fewer opportunities for CPD (Blackburn & Jarman, 2006; Boeren, 2011). The factor structure of deterrents to women's participation in CPD is a complex phenomenon. Reasons for non–participation (why they do not) seem more difficult to identify than participation (why they do; Cross, 1981). However, the value of identifying the effect of deterrents to adult women's engagement in CPD is profound (Vaccaro & Lovell, 2010). Women have different motivations and learning processes from men that require HRD practitioners to respond to those differences pedagogically. Further, because of women's special needs in family and social roles, they must be considered as a specific target group for all developmental programs (Mathapati, 2013).

To build a gender–equitable society, it is critical to examine how they respond to personal and professional development that is required in today's complex workplaces. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to explore and define key factors that deter adult women from participating in CPD in order to promote their success in the workplace via a literature review. Specifically, the study sought to contribute by (a) examining and synthesizing challenges or barriers that are specific to women's participation in CPD and (b) demonstrating implications and offering recommendations for HRD practitioners to increase women's participation and promote a gender equal workplace and learning organization. The snowballing approach was used to conduct the literature review because the scope was uncertain. Both backward snowballing (using the reference list) and forward snowballing (finding citations to the papers) techniques were used to identify new papers to include. The searched keywords included women's participation in continuing professional development, deterrents to learning participation, women's barriers to participation in adult education, etc. The snowballing process started with identifying and evaluating a tentative set of papers (eleven relevant articles that covered several different publishers, years and authors) for inclusions and exclusions in the snowballing procedure. The number of inclusions was expanded with the help of the initial ones. Studies related to the topic were selected objectively in order to avoid a biased set of readings for the review.

Deterrents to Women's Participation in CPD

Adults’ involvement in CPD can take various forms, such as attending organizational training programs, enrolling in education institutions, and becoming involved in informal work–related learning activities. Because of advanced technology, online professional development courses have significantly increased learning opportunities for many adults. Participating in continuing educational activities can assist workers in overcoming low levels of education, cognitive ability, and skills. Despite the fact that increased numbers of women participate in adult education, challenges and deterrents to their involvement in continuing development still remain. Carp, Peterson and Roelfs (1974) identified situational barriers, institutional barriers and dispositional barriers as three primary deterrents that influence people's participation in adult education. Each barrier includes various factors that challenge adults to participate in learning. For example, dispositional barriers involve individuals’ attitudes and feelings. Feeling too old and inertia with respect to learning can both be barriers for adult women. Some non–participants simply do not like to attend a learning program without anyone they know because of their need for a social network. Cost, lack of time, childcare needs, job responsibilities, transportation needs, and lack of a place to study are considered to be situational barriers that are likely to be derived from personal factors. In contrast, institutional barriers are unknowingly constructed by the educational institution, and include lack of information or appropriate advising, lack of sufficient motivators to return to school, and promotion of fears with regard to the amount of time required to complete a program. Darkenwald and Merriam (1982) added informational barriers, which specify the difficulties in obtaining information about educational opportunities that can influence adults’ decisions to participate. In addition to these four, O'Mahony and Sillitoe (2001) distinguished financial barriers that could also deter employees from taking advantage of formal study opportunities.

Moreover, the decision to participate in continuing education relies on a variety of factors at the individual level, educational provision level, and socio–economic context level (Boeren et al., 2010). Despite the common deterrents to adults’ participation in learning (e.g., lack of benefits, quality of course offerings, personal health problems, lack of confidence, negative personal attitudes, etc.), women often face more barriers and higher degrees of difficulty in continuing development than do men (Heenan, 2002). The following four constraints and barriers to women's participation in CPD, which are likely to be caused by women's social roles, gender inequality and gender dimensions, are identified and highlighted based on the review of the relevant literature.

Family and Time Constraints

As business has become increasingly competitive, many employees are required to participate in work–related learning activities that take more time away from family and social life. Yet, the traditional woman's role (having the main responsibility at home) is still present in our society and continues to cause great difficulty for women who attempt to combine family responsibilities with other life tasks (Boeren, 2011). According to Katz–Wise, Priess and Hyde's (2010) study on gender–role attitudes and behavior across the transition to parenthood, among 205 first–time and 198 experienced parents from an ongoing longitudinal Wisconsin Study of Families and Work, parents (especially first–time parents and women) became more traditional in their gender–role attitudes and behavior after the birth a child due to a process in the transition to parenthood. Therefore, most working mothers are struggling to balance their family, work, and social lives, which often reduces their motivation to participate in CPD. Boeren (2011) found that in European countries, many women are less often employed, and less active in learning than men, because of their responsibilities for childcare and household management. It is common to see women drop out or fail to participate in learning opportunities due to the overwhelming burden of family responsibilities (Vaccaro & Lovell, 2010). In short, women tend to place the highest priority on childrearing and family responsibilities and the lowest priority on work–related learning activities for CPD purposes.

Cost and Work Constraints

The literature has identified a clear economic gender inequality. Because of the tendency of women to have lower incomes and fewer job opportunities, they often are less able than men to pay for training courses that are available. A relatively recent study by Boeren (2011) showed that women were also more likely to be employed in less difficult or technical jobs with fewer opportunities for work–related training. Such occupational segregation can create a significant gender disparity in income, which not only limits women's finances, but also constrains their opportunities to participate in continuing development. Because cost (e.g., a variety of fees, time away from work or family) is one of the main reasons that adult women do not participate in CPD, one critical concern is whether they can gain support from their families and organizations. This perspective draws on the idea that family members have a great influence on women's decisions to participate and persist in CPD, as well as their academic achievement and future goals (Plageman & Sabina, 2010). Moreover, work responsibilities often constrain adult women from educational engagement (Vaccaro & Lovell, 2010). Female employees with greater job responsibilities are less likely to have the time and energy to participate in learning, especially for those with additional family constraints. Therefore, it is not surprising that Purvanova and Muros’ (2010) meta–analysis of the relationship between gender and burnout found that female employees tended to experience work burnout more often and become more emotionally exhausted than male employees.

Lack of Support Systems

Because, unlike males, female employees are expected to have the primary responsibilities for the household, they need more CPD opportunities in managerial, confidence and communication–based skills, as well as networking and support systems, to facilitate their retention and advancement in the industry sector (Daniels, 2010; Worrall et al., 2010). The adult education literature has demonstrated that learning through social support networks and group sharing provides encouragement and overcomes the frustrations of adult female employees (Lin, Tang, & Kuo, 2012). Working mothers need a support system of family members, colleagues, other learners, managers, and instructors.

To identify their decision–making in training participation, HRD practitioners should gather multiple accounts from social networks. Women are social learners who need to create and maintain their social interactions with others through institutional support. According to Lester (2010), barriers for female students to participate and succeed in male–dominated career and technical education programs, which have been segregated continually by gender, are subject to gender bias in the classroom and a lack of emotional and institutional support. In general, women tended to dominate enrollment in healthcare, childcare, education, and cosmetology, with different outcomes from enrollment and certificate completion (Lester, 2010). Therefore, for those with limited social support and social ties, Prins et al. (2009) recommended that training professionals need to ensure that learning programs enable women to enjoy social contact with their instructors and peers and to seek self–discovery and development.

Moreover, it has also been found that women have different social network behavior and communication than men. Thompson and Lougheed (2012) discovered that young adult females tend to spend more time than males on social networking sites (e.g., Facebook), lose sleep because of this, and sometimes become addicted to such sites. Similarly, Muscanell and Guadagno (2012) indicated that women used online social networking websites (e.g., Facebook and Myspace) to maintain relationships, while men used them to form new relationships. It is clear that women have a greater need than men for social support systems. Grant–Vallone and Ensher (2011) noted that many mothers could function successfully with flexible work schedules, part–time work, and/or being involved in home–based entrepreneurial endeavors when they were clear about why they were working, managed their careers by finding the right organizational fit, and maintained excellent networks of friends, supervisors, colleagues and daycare providers. Therefore, the lack of a support system, especially a social support system, can greatly affect women's decisions and ability to participate in CPD.

Lack of Career Advice and Resources

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal (2010), women tend to begin their businesses with less capital and less training in planning for growth than do men (Mathapati, 2013). Women tend not to participate in CPD due to lack of information, career advice and the ability to participate (Heenan, 2002; Malhotra et al., 2007). In leadership development programs, for example, women may receive support and guidance through a mentoring program, but they still receive fewer promotions than men due to the fact that men are more likely to be mentored by a CEO or senior executive (Ibarra et al., 2010). Such gender inequality has interfered with women's leadership development, promotion to senior leadership roles, and participation in training. Leathwood and Francis (2006) confirmed this, finding that women's skills were less valued, and they were more likely to be employed in dead–end jobs, which decreased their opportunities to participate in CPD activities. Interestingly, Ely, Ibarra and Kolb (2011) proposed that, because gender dynamics are involved in developing a leader, it may be beneficial to offer women–only leadership programs to maximize their strengths in order to help them advance into more senior leadership positions. Fapohunda (2013) supported this viewpoint, stating that women need customized professional training programs that are specially structured with consideration of the many caretaking responsibilities and gender issues they face.

The idea of “women–only” programs has been addressed more widely than before in efforts to bridge the gender gap and unravel gender stereotypes. According to Brew and Garavan (1995), women–only training (WOT) can be applied in career–focused personal development as a “training–bridge” to overcome women's underrepresentation in training. A WOT environment can (a) facilitate successful reentry programs for females returning to the workforce and (b) be used as a positive response to gender inequality in workplace training by providing women with confidence and encouraging them to apply their feminine qualities in their work (Brew & Garavan, 1995; Greer, 2013). However, there is still a lack of evidence in the literature that shows that women–only development programs can promote gender equality significantly in CPD participation and in the senior ranks of the workforce.

Anticipation and Interpretation of Women's Involvement in CPD

In order to achieve clarity with respect to the deterrents to women's participation in continuing development, it will be helpful to briefly revisit the nature of the adult development field. In Levinson's (1986) “Eras Model of Adult Development,” one's lifetime can be divided into pre–adulthood (less than 17 years old; childhood and adolescence), early adulthood (17–40 years old), middle adulthood (40–60 years old) and late adulthood (more than 60 years old). The childhood family structure (e.g., two–parents, single parent, stepparents) can affect young adults’ behaviors and traits (Hill, Yeung & Duncan, 2001). The influences of less peer support, stress and overwhelming judgments by others on young adults are likely to persist into adulthood (Rapport & Meleen, 1998).

Accordingly, we may be able to anticipate and interpret the barriers to adult women's participation in CPD from their pre–adulthood phase using Darkenwald and Merriam's “Psychosocial Interaction Model,” which determined the probability of participation in organized adult education, with a strong emphasis on “social environmental forces” (or socio–economic status: SES). In the pre–adulthood phase, initial individual and family characteristics (i.e., sex, IQ, SES) and preparatory education and socialization (i.e., amount, quality, values, and aspirations) determine one's values, motivation, and participation in continuing development. This emphasizes the importance of the social environment. If one is influenced or constrained by negative experiences from the past, the individual is likely to have a low SES and learning press—“the extent to which one's total current environment requires or encourages further learning” (Merriam & Caffarella, 1999, p. 65).

After entering the adulthood phase, there are six components (i.e., SES, learning press, perceived value and utility of adult education, readiness to participate, participation stimuli, barriers, and probability of participation). Each component is related to the other with a value. Individuals with a high SES are likely to have high levels of other components as well, except for barriers. Thus, there is a high probability that they will participate in continuing development. In contrast, individuals with a low SES and a high level of barriers tend to perceive that adult education has a lower value and utility, and thus they are less willing to participate in learning. The significance of these pre–adult factors are acknowledged and have been tested empirically by various follow–up research (e.g., processes occurring across the life span, adults’ participation in continuing development, work–related training activities) (Cervero & Kirkpatrick, 1990; Clair, 2008; Wang & Wang, 2006). This model explains the phenomenon of participation and non–participation in adult continuing development and predicts subsequent learning activity. Most importantly, it provides a starting point to clarify the complexity of deterrents to women's participation in CPD.

Furthermore, the literature is increasingly recognizing the need to explore the relationship between childhood deprivation (e.g., poverty, abuse, violence, injury, etc.) and adult behavior and psychology (Crane & Martin, 2002; Healey, Knapp, & Farrington, 2004). Previous research has suggested that childhood deprivation is likely to influence adult women's job performance and produce situational and dispositional barriers toward learning. For example, Lansford, Miller–Johnson, Berlin, Dodge, Bates, and Pettit, (2007) conducted a longitudinal study of 574 children (followed from age 5 to age 21) to examine the links between early physical abuse and later violent delinquency and concluded that maltreatment has more deleterious effects on women than on men. Specifically, women who had been physically abused were approximately three times more likely to have a higher risk of being fired, and of being a teen parent (Lansford et al., 2007). One should bear in mind that women who have experienced poverty, abuse, violence or injury during childhood are likely to be excluded from fundamental education and continuing development. A significant relationship was found between childhood experience and adults’ attitudes and behavior (Thompson, Aspinall, & Montarzino, 2008). However, the literature on the subject of the continuing effects of childhood deprivation upon adult women's CPD participation remains limited.

Conclusions and Recommendations for HRD Practitioners

This study attempted to explore challenges and key deterrents to women's participation in CPD. It was designed to provoke ideas and to open a new way of thinking about women's non–participation from various perspectives on gender inequality, gender dimensions, women's social roles, and gender occupational segregation. This study reached the following four conclusions regarding factors that deter women from CPD participation.

First, women's participation in CPD is restricted by gender inequality and social status. Although we have witnessed progress towards “women–only” programs in professional development, most of these corporate efforts are not sustained or have not resulted in equal opportunities for promotion for both genders. Women's involvement in the workplace still needs to be encouraged in order to achieve a higher proportion of women in the workforce, and an increase in different viewpoints in the workplace. Even though many companies have made efforts to promote active performance of their female workforce, they are not actively seeking to empower women. We can see clearly that gender inequality has continued to play a major role in this phenomenon.

Second, women's participation in CPD is restricted by their traditional roles in childrearing and family responsibilities. From a gender perspective, the challenge is not only the barriers of gender inequality, but also the constraints regarding women's social roles and gender occupational segregation. Yet much research suggests strongly that the most difficult problem in non–participation lies in family constraints based on women's traditional social roles. The tendency for women to place a higher priority on family responsibilities than on professional development has significantly influenced their career decisions, level of job positions, social status, and opportunities for CPD participation. Because women are expected to accept most of the responsibilities in the home, their decision to participate and persist in CPD is greatly influenced by family members.

Third, women's participation in CPD can be enhanced via a social support system. The literature has again revealed that gender inequality has continually interfered with women's professional development and promotion to senior leadership roles. Because of the specific female traits in social networking behavior and communication, women learn more effectively through social support networks and group sharing. In this respect, the gender dimension is an important factor in women's CPD participation.

Finally, deterrents to women's participation in CPD can be anticipated and interpreted by their pre–adulthood experiences. Childhood experiences in the pre–adulthood phase were found to be significantly related to adults’ job performance and the situational and dispositional barriers toward learning. Evidence of the effects of childhood deprivation on adults’ attitudes, behavior and psychology has begun to appear in the literature and has yielded mixed findings. However, much less is known at present about the continuing effects of childhood deprivation upon adult women's participation in CPD. As the literature has already demonstrated that maltreatment has more deleterious effects on women, it is important to consider childhood deprivation as a critical factor in the structure of deterrents to women's participation in CPD in order to assist in the accommodation of their individual needs.

According to Ahl (2006), adults will be naturally motivated to learn when dispositional, situational and structural impediments are removed. In this respect, HRD practitioners play a major role in empowering adult women in the workplace and assisting them to overcome the deterrents to participation in continuing development. The following recommendations for HRD practitioners seeking to increase adult women's involvement in CPD, and to promote a gender equal workplace and learning organization are based on the results of this study: •

Be aware that there are reasons for adult women to disengage from CPD participation and these reasons can be identified and interpreted.

•

Develop flexible CPD programs that take into account the work, family and time constraints women tend to have as a result of their social roles.

•

Consider women's special needs for social interaction and social support systems from family, peers, and corporations and incorporate those into training program development.

•

Use strategic work–related informal learning (based on social networks) to promote women's participation and involvement in learning.

•

Recognize the potential effects of childhood deprivation upon women's commitment to continued learning and treat those effects as the driving needs for their personal development.

•

Encourage women to apply their feminine qualities in their work and learning.

Recommendations for Future Research

Deterrents to women's participation in CPD are an important subject in the HRD field. A great deal of research is still needed to help HRD practitioners and researchers better understand the influence of learning deterrents on women's participation in CPD in order to promote women's success in the workplace and a gender–equitable society. First, one missing component in the literature is the continuing effect of childhood deprivation upon women's continuing development from early adulthood and into late adulthood. To continue to explore the persistent effects of childhood deprivation on women's participation in CPD, investigations can be conducted using a qualitative case–study method, which is a powerful research tool for collecting and investigating experiential data (Padula & Miller, 1999). Second, research is also recommended regarding whether the effect of technology applications (such as an online learning system, social networking websites, mobile apps for learning, etc.) could significantly overcome women's family and time constraints in CPD participation.

Another important area for investigation is a deeper analysis of whether women–only development programs can effectively promote gender equality in the workforce and in CPD participation. Because the women–only approach takes the feminine qualities into consideration and focuses on women's needs, specific subjects, such as a women–only support group in CPD, may reveal significant findings for HRD practitioners to facilitate their female workers in CPD participation.

According to national research with a representative sample of 2,188 hiring managers and HR professionals from CareerBuilder and Economic Modeling Specialist International in 2014, 21% of companies have cut positions in information technology, financial services, and manufacturing in favor of automation. Yet, 68% of these companies reported that such replacements have created new positions at their companies (Meinert, 2014). Thus, it is critical to sufficiently prepare women for more knowledge–based jobs. Because of women's occupational segregation, they tend to work in lower–level jobs and lack the opportunities to upgrade their knowledge, skills, and abilities for more knowledge–based jobs. As there is a high possibility that women will be excluded from the workforce, future research can investigate the impact of automation on women's employability and the specific supports and resources they need to upgrade themselves and navigate their way up into higher–level positions. In addition, research on the effects of gender inequality and women's social roles on their ability to overcome deterrents to CPD participation could focus the conclusions of this and prior research.

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