Temporal Signification of Careers and Organizational Return‐to‐Work Barriers After an Extended Career Break: Insights From Professional Women in the United Kingdom

Renu Gupta, Gill Kirton and Suki Sian

Gender, Work and Organization, 2026, vol. 33, issue 2, 412-428

Abstract: In this article, we explore the phenomenon of professional women's childcare‐related extended career breaks taken immediately or soon after maternity leave and organizational barriers experienced in their subsequent return to work. Applying a temporal lens to Barley's career model, we analyze how organizational objective clock‐time and women's experience of subjective time in relation to extended career breaks mediate their understanding of organizational barriers in returning to work. Demonstrating the interlinkages between structure and agency, we present “continuity” and “presence” as two temporal career scripts that create specific return‐to‐work barriers for women professionals as they fall out of sync with time during the extended break and face temporal inequities upon return to the workplace. We establish that in the context of women professionals returning from childcare‐related extended career breaks, structural elements outweigh individual agency. We conclude this article with a call for organizational support to overcome return barriers arising out of temporal career scripts. We also suggest that future research could usefully explore organizational policies and practices aimed at reintegrating and retaining professional women returning to work from extended childcare‐related career breaks.

Date: 2026
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