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PurposeThis work is an extension of research on worker participation in achieving career success by including a prominent contextual construct, that is social capital. The present research aims to study how competency development influences the intrinsic career success of females in the handicraft industry, by considering the role of perceived employability as a mediator and social capital as a moderator. By doing so, this paper aims to fill the vacuum in the career literature that suggests that career success is not gender neutral.Design/methodology/approachData was collected from handicraft workers by adopting the survey method. CFA and SPSS macro named PROCESS were used to analyse data.FindingsCompetency development influences the subjective career success of female workers, and perceived employability mediated the relationship between them. Moreover, social capital independently moderates the relationship between the participation of workers in competency development and perceived employability.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is conducted in the Indian context alone, and therefore future studies must be conducted globally to deepen the scholarly dialogue on female workers' career success. Also, the current study measures career success, from a subjective perspective, thus future studies can measure female workers' objective career success.Practical implicationsThe current paper identifies the need to study the factors contributing to female workers' career success in small industries.Social implicationsConventional industries and their workers' career success must be given equal importance by researchers, practitioners and policymakers.Originality/valueThe paper fills the gap in career research by exploring female workers' career success through empirical evidence.

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