With a few notable exceptions, most research into the occupational experiences of women is typically
macro-social and based on large-scale, impersonal, aggregated, and static data. Whilst such data reveal the
position of women in the workforce relative to men, they do not provide sufficient processual insight into
the career development of women. Through a case study approach, this study aims to discern patterns in the
career development of women managers , and to examine if these patterns conform to career models such as
those proposed by White, Cox, and Cooper (1992) and White (1995, 2000). The case data comprise of the
career journeys of 20 women managers from a broad cross-section of occupational sectors in New Zealand.
The data reveal that although the majority of women managers display high career centrality, they do not
work continuously as they have several years of interruptions for bearing and rearing children, and work
part-time and retrain themselves through further education before returning to the workplace. Interestingly,
they do not seem to plan their careers.