Women’s Career Development in Virtual Remote Work Environments

This book examines the challenges and opportunities that women face with their career development aspirations while participating in virtual remote (VR) work. The historical workplace disparities experienced by women, such as pay gaps and underrepresentation in leadership, have been exacerbated by the pandemic. Already penalized for motherhood, the ability to work virtually and remotely offered an opportunity to democratize the workplace, giving women greater flexibility in managing their non-work responsibilities while fulfilling their work obligation. Nevertheless, VR work also has a tendency to make women more invisible and, therefore, less likely to have networking opportunities and more likely to be overlooked for promotions.

The author explores these challenges and opportunities faced by women in the era of VR work and addresses some human resource development (HRD) issues that contribute to the talent retention of VR women workers and offers models, theories, and frameworks to examine the challenges and opportunities women encounter in VR work environments. This book will appeal to HR scholar and scholar practitioners interested in the ongoing hurdles confronting women in the professional sphere, despite the new opportunities presented through VR work. It also appeals to gender studies scholars who are interested in VR work’s effect on women.

Claretha Hughes is Professor of Human Resource Development at the University of Arkansas, USA. Her research interests include valuing people and technology in the workplace, technology development, diversity intelligence®, learning technologies, and ethical and legal issues.