The man behind the woman: a qualitative study of the spousal support received and valued by executive women

Abstract

Little is known about the spousal support received by married executive women and the support behaviors that they value. This article details the results of a qualitative study of 20 senior and executive-level women, with the aim of understanding their received and valued spousal support. An inductive typology was developed through semistructured interviews of the supportive behaviors deemed general, most valued, and least valued, as well as those behaviors perceived as being unsupportive, across six categories: emotional support, help with household, help with family members, career support, esteem support, and husbands' career and lifestyle choices. This article concludes by contextualizing the results relative to existing research, discussing study implications and limitations, and presenting recommendations.