Open Access

Nicole Böhmer, Heike Schinnenburg

• The paradox of Indian women’s declining presence in the labor market despite their advancements in higher education leads to questions regarding how this “leaky pipeline” can be patched and (partly) prevented. At the same time, female educational advancement in Western countries, such as Germany, does not equate to significantly more females in leadership positions or changes in gender role expectations. In both the Indian and German contextual setting, women face hurdles in developing their career and the risk of lifelong dependency or poverty. This paper clarifies the perspectives of young females on leadership careers and success before they enter the labor market and uses the results from career research to show “blind spots” that might lead to hurdles for their future careers. The second contribution of the paper is envisioning future teaching that (1) prevents females from making decisions that might lead to dependency and poverty while fulfilling organizational and societal gender role expectations and (2) fosters organizational changes that facilitates female careers. The Paper also reflects on the learning stages necessary for transforming theoretical knowledge into practical solutions and promoting more equal opportunities in the labor market.