Resumo

Brazil faces social markers which give rise to structural barriers that exacerbate challenges when considering the sustainability of careers. From a women's standpoint, further complexity emerges due to historical barriers that hinder their development. In this sense, studies have emphasizing motherhood within gendered organizational contexts. Considering women without children, narratives of frustration emerge alongside a perception that work engulfs their entire lives, leaving no time or energy to discover significance in other pursuits.

Regardless of these structural adversities, it was observed that certain Brazilian women abandon positions within organizations where they have had successful trajectories. It is atypical in countries marked by social inequalities where women have limited access to managerial roles. Also, few studies analyze career transitions from the perspective of women without children. Thus, this study aims to analyze the motivations for the exit of women without children from corporate careers and how these transitions influence career sustainability.

The study adopts the concept of sustainable career as its theoretical basis, with a particular emphasis on the process of person-career fit. We also present discussions regarding career transitions for women and employability from the sustainability.

We conducted twenty narrative interviews with women who underwent career transitions as part of the methodology. We specifically chose to examine the trajectory of women without children to explore additional experiences that impact transitions and the advancement of women's careers beyond motherhood.

Three career patterns were identified based on the trajectory before and after the transition: "I need to take a breather," "I want to do something else with my life," and "I can go further." The motivations for transition represent moments in the trajectories where employability is redefined for the interviewees, who choose career alternatives that align more with intrinsically important aspects. Career transition experiences manifest how the dynamic person-career fit evolves and the dynamic movement between the indicators of sustainable careers (health, productivity, and happiness).

This article reveals how sustainability takes shape during transition periods by mobilizing internal resources such as memories, acquired knowledge, and personal values to identify and capitalize on envisioned opportunities. Meaning emerges as a constitutive process element of dynamic continuity.

De Vos, A., Van der Heijden, B. I. J. M. and Akkermans, J. (2020), "Sustainable careers: Towards a conceptual model", Journal of Vocational Behavior, Vol. 117, pp. 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2018.06.011 Riessman, C. K. (2005), "Narrative analysis", Kelly, N., Horrocks, C., Milnes, K., Roberts, B. and Robinson, D. (Eds.), Narrative, Memory and Everyday Life, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, pp. 1-7.