一般社會大眾的刻板印象為：女性事業成就高，一定還沒結婚，或家庭不幸福；本研究即據此導出研究問題：「有婚姻家庭與無婚姻家庭之高成就女性主管，其事業發展與家庭生活的種種面向為何，其自我評價是否會因為婚姻家庭的有無而有所不同？」研究者採用質性研究方法，藉由訪問四位四十歲以上的高階女性經理人(已婚者與單身者各半)，來了解女性經理人面對家庭與事業的心理調適歷程與自我評價狀況。 研究結果如下： 1. 已婚受訪者積極主動、勇於面對和解決問題的人格特質，對於其工作與家庭生活的適應具有決定性的影響，且處於不同的家庭發展階段，其適應的狀況也不同，無法單純以「資源有限假說」或「資源擴張假說」來解釋。 2. 已婚女性受訪者的家庭與工作生活是處於同一個系統當中，彼此會相互影響、扶持。 3. 無論結婚與否，受訪者都或多或少能從家庭中獲得社會支持，如單身者因為與父母同住，所以能得到原生家庭的支持。 4. 單身受訪者因為沒有婚姻的負擔，所以初期對工作的承諾感和企圖心很高，往往因過度投入工作而忽略了其他生活面向的平衡發展。 5. 對於本研究的受訪者而言，結婚與否對其目前的自我評價並無影響。 最後，研究者根據研究過程與結果提出建議。 第一章 研究動機 ……………………………….1 第二章 文獻探討…………………………………5 第一節 工作生活的適應 ……………………7 一、 學習男性典範……………………7 二、 高階女性主管的適應……………9 第二節 家庭生活的適應 ………………12 一、已婚者 …………………………12 1. 資源有限假說 ……………13 2. 資源擴張假說 ……………17 二、單身者 ………………………19 第三節 女性主管的生涯曲線 …………22 第三章 研究問題 ……………………………27 第四章 研究方法 ………………………………28 第五章 結果與討論 …………………………36 第一節 女性經理人的工作歷程 ……36 第二節 已婚女性經理人的家庭生活歷程 51 第三節 單身女性經理人的生活 ……66 第四節 女性經理人的生涯特徵 ………74 第六章 結論 …………………………………81 第七章 研究限制與建議 …………………85 參考文獻 ……………………………………87 附錄一：研究參與同意書 附錄二：訪談大綱 / Managers are often stereotyped as a man’s job in the public eye. Thus, female managers usually have to conceal their feminine characteristics and imitate their male colleagues’ behaviors in order to fit in the existing managerial culture. This may cause high pressure for them and make them lose their flexibility and energy. At the same time, married female managers are expected to be good wives and mothers. As for single females, although they can devote all their efforts to their work, the social support they have is less than married female managers. Many negative impressions are put upon them, such as people regarding them as too ambitious to be good women. To sum up, female managers are faced with many difficulties both in their work and family lives. This study would focus on how they deal with their demanding lives and how they evaluate themselves under traditional value system of our society. Four female executives- two of them are married, and the others are single- were interviewed in depth. Due to high pressures in the working environment, all four interviewees reported they tried to act like men in the beginning of being managers. Two of them (one is married, and the other is single) had a very difficult period in their careers. They felt extremely tired and anxious all the time. They were irritated because they were so worried about their performance that they became burnt out. Fortunately, they both left their work temporary and found ways of releasing the pressures so that they could get rid of the ‘ burn out’ syndromes and promote their quality of lives. The married interviewees’ life qualities depended on which family stages they were in. When the interviewees’ children were very young, they needed to spend lots of time and energy on being mothers. They reported that they were exhausted then, and could not handle so many requirements of different roles at the same time. But as their children grew up, the load of being mothers decreased. Meanwhile, as a manager for several years, they learned many problem-solving skills in their jobs, so they could take active strategies to solve the problems in their families. They felt they could manage these roles well now. It was also reported that the married interviewees’ family and work lives interacted with each other. Their work experiences could diffuse into their family lives. What they learned from the families could also help them deal with business. Different from the married interviewees, the single female managers mainly concentrated on their works. They still lived with their original family so they could get support from their parents and siblings. But they indeed got involved in their work too much that they started to ignore other aspects of their lives. One interviewee discovered that she was completely sensible and could not feel the emotions in her mind. She lost her feelings due to putting on professional mask for a long time. The other felt really unhappy in her thirties because of exhaustion. Now they both try to enrich their lives with things other than work. The four interviewees were not satisfied with themselves before. However, after reflecting the meanings of their lives in the middle age, they gained new insights about themselves. They all said they were satisfied with themselves now, despite being married or single, and all believed they would be better in the future.