4.2.5. Experiencing Mental Health Barriers to Advancement

The next subtheme in the "Lost or Forgone Opportunity" category focused on declining mental health as a barrier to advancement. Although we saw this theme emerge in other areas, we felt it was important to highlight as it indicates the impact increased stress may have on women's career advancement. For example, one stated, "I felt that I had to choose between my career or my mental/physical health during the pandemic", while another questioned whether the money was worth the emotional stress she dealt with every day: "I was not thinking of opportunities. I was only thinking of surviving every day". Another example from one participant included this statement,

"Before March 2020 I was feeling energetic about my work and eagerly looking forward to future projects. I have completely changed to the opposite: when this project is done, I am going to take a long break from working, as long as we can afford it."

Hopelessness was also a concern, as one woman stated, "Due to stress and uncertainty in general, I stopped considering any career advancement, and now no longer care about long-term advancement either. It'd have been an uphill battle at the best of times, and I don't have the strength to fight what I perceive as a lost cause".

#### 4.2.6. Moving Backwards

Some respondents described the barriers to career advancement in extreme terms, feeling as if they were moving backwards or had even been forced to start their careers over. As one stated, "I had to completely start over at an entry-level job". Another participant explained, "I had to start over at the bottom of a new company. My trajectory to office manager was completely cut off". One woman simply stated, "Advancement came to a dead stop and in fact I have gone 10 steps backwards". This theme showed up in another statement: "Due to homeschooling demands and childcare issues, I had to postpone my plans to pursue a full-time position. I now work at the same position I held before starting my studies and work on weekends so that I can support my family both financially and academically". Finally, one survey respondent proclaimed, "The pandemic has halted any progress or sense of fulfillment from my role. Many roles I believed to have 'moved past' have now become my responsibility again due to decreased staffing".
