Boundarylessness and Boundaries In Women’s Careers

Research on career boundaries has increasingly shifted its focus from the study of existing boundaries to the concept of boundaryless careers. In an increasingly globalized world, employees are more likely than ever to move across organizational, occupational, and geographical boundaries. Individuals may also transition between employment and non-employment, reflecting the growing fluidity of career trajectories. Consequently, the notion of boundarylessness has become a central theme in the sociology of careers.

However, boundarylessness itself may constitute a form of boundary. Access to boundaryless career opportunities is unevenly distributed across social categories such as age, gender, locality, social class, ethnicity, and nationality. As a result, the capacity to transcend traditional career boundaries is itself constrained by structural and social inequalities. These “boundaries of boundarylessness” may be powerful and enduring, limiting individuals’ ability to move across careers and life domains. While some of these boundaries evolve over time, others remain remarkably persistent.

This session invites papers that explore the boundaries and/or boundarylessness of women’s careers from these perspectives. We welcome both theoretical and empirical contributions, drawing on either qualitative or quantitative methodologies. Studies from diverse disciplinary and geographical contexts are encouraged.