The purpose of this paper is to explore how multinational corporations’ (MNCs’) women leaders in South Korea (Korea) have overcome career challenges in the process of becoming CEOs. The two guiding questions for this study included: what career challenges have MNCs’ women leaders in Korea faced to become CEOs? How have they overcome their career challenges?,The authors used a basic qualitative research design, the goal of which is to understand how people make sense of their lives and experiences. Qualitative data were collected by semi-structured interviews with 15 women CEOs at MNCs in Korea to capture their lived experiences (challenges and strategies) in their careers. The authors used NVivo 11, a qualitative data analysis software, to analyze the interview data.,From data analysis, the authors identified five themes including: becoming a CEO, key success factors, MNC culture, career challenges and career development strategies. The authors found that in the process of becoming CEOs, 15 women leaders faced career challenges that are largely generated by traditional culture, work stress and work–life balance. The authors also found that the women leaders became CEOs through diverse on-the-job experiences (e.g. marketing and sales) and positions (e.g. managers, senior managers and regional directors) with organizational support (e.g. supervisor support).,Given research on organizational support for leadership, human resource practices and working conditions, this study’s findings have qualitatively confirmed the importance of organizational support for women CEOs’ career success. For theory building in women in leadership, the authors suggest that researchers investigate the complex process of becoming women CEOs, including their early experiences in their career in tandem with family background, organizational climate and national culture.,The study findings on women CEOs’ career strategies can be used as a reference for women in the leadership pipeline who aspire to take leadership positions in organizations. A lack of role models or mentors for women leaders is one of the reasons why women give up on their career. Learning career strategies (e.g. global development programs, mentoring and networks) that women CEOs have employed to overcome their career challenges can help women in the leadership pipeline from their early career on.,The authors found that both internal and external factors combined were instrumental in the women CEOs’ career success. What stood out from this study was that the women’s desirable personality attributes might not have materialized without the MNC culture that has been supportive for these women. The women CEOs shared their company’s values and philosophy that is based on gender equality, received supervisor support that is crucial for their career success, experienced diverse jobs and positions along the way and were recognized for their work ethic. Given research on women leaders conducted largely in western contexts, this qualitative study on the lived experiences of women CEOs in MNCs contributes to emerging non-western research by capturing the importance of culture that is uniquely Korean.

中文翻译：

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“女首席执行官？您最好三思！”

本文的目的是探讨韩国（韩国）的跨国公司（MNCs）女性领导人如何在成为CEO的过程中克服职业挑战。这项研究的两个指导性问题包括：跨国公司在韩国的女性领导人要成为首席执行官面临哪些职业挑战？他们如何克服职业挑战？作者使用了基本的定性研究设计，其目的是了解人们如何理解自己的生活和经历。通过与韩国跨国公司的15位女性CEO进行半结构化访谈，收集了定性数据，以记录她们在职业生涯中的经历（挑战和策略）。作者使用定性数据分析软件NVivo 11来分析访谈数据。通过数据分析，作者确定了五个主题，包括：成为首席执行官，关键成功因素，跨国公司文化，职业挑战和职业发展策略。作者发现，在成为首席执行官的过程中，有15位女性领导人面临着职业挑战，这些挑战主要是由传统文化，工作压力和工作与生活的平衡所产生的。作者还发现，女性领导人通过组织支持（例如主管支持）的各种在职经历（例如营销和销售）和职位（例如经理，高级经理和区域总监）成为首席执行官。支持领导力，人力资源实践和工作条件，这项研究的结果定性地证实了组织支持对女性CEO的职业成功的重要性。为了建立领导力女性的理论，作者建议研究人员调查成为女性CEO的复杂过程，包括她们在家庭背景，组织氛围和民族文化方面的职业早期经历。有关女性CEO的职业策略的研究结果可作为参考。领导力中渴望在组织中担任领导职务的女性。女性领导者缺乏榜样或指导者，是女性放弃职业的原因之一。学习女性首席执行官用来克服职业挑战的职业策略（例如全球发展计划，指导和网络）可以帮助女性从早期职业生涯开始进入领导力管道。作者发现，内在和外在因素共同作用于女性。女性首席执行官的职业生涯成功。从这项研究中脱颖而出的是，如果没有支持这些女性的跨国公司文化，这些女性的理想人格特质就不会实现。女首席执行官分享了公司基于性别平等的价值观和理念，获得了主管的支持，这对她们的职业成功至关重要，在此过程中经历了各种各样的工作和职位，并获得了职业道德的认可。鉴于对女性领导者的研究主要是在西方背景下进行的，因此这项关于跨国公司女首席执行官生活经历的定性研究通过抓住独特的韩国文化的重要性，为新兴的非西方研究做出了贡献。女首席执行官分享了公司基于性别平等的价值观和理念，获得了主管的支持，这对她们的职业成功至关重要，在此过程中经历了各种各样的工作和职位，并获得了职业道德的认可。鉴于对女性领导者的研究主要是在西方背景下进行的，因此这项关于跨国公司女首席执行官生活经历的定性研究通过抓住独特的韩国文化的重要性，为新兴的非西方研究做出了贡献。女首席执行官分享了公司基于性别平等的价值观和理念，获得了主管的支持，这对她们的职业成功至关重要，在此过程中经历了各种各样的工作和职位，并获得了职业道德的认可。鉴于对女性领导者的研究主要是在西方背景下进行的，因此这项关于跨国公司女首席执行官生活经历的定性研究通过抓住独特的韩国文化的重要性，为新兴的非西方研究做出了贡献。