Academe's Glass Ceiling: Societal, Professional‐Organizational, and Institutional Barriers to the Career Advancement of Academic Women

Inequalities between women and men continue in global labor markets. Although the inclusion of women as labor force increases day by day, their representation in senior management levels remains insufficient. Women continue to face several barriers preventing them from attaining equal access, participation, and progress in the business environment. Within this chapter, the authors discuss two types of career barriers called “glass ceiling” and “glass cliff,” which women encounter frequently in their work life. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a general perspective on barriers of women's career advancement and to examine glass ceiling and glass cliff the in its background, its causes, and its consequences. The chapter also aims to analyze studies which criticize the concept of glass ceiling. The results of the chapter are expected to be a source for researchers in the areas of women's career barriers, women's leadership, and gender inequality.

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Leveraging Diversity for Competitive Advantage

Discrimination and Diversity ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-1933-1.ch006 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 87-112

Author(s):

Claretha Hughes

Keyword(s):

Career Development ◽

Competitive Advantage ◽

Career Advancement ◽

Talent Development ◽

Institutional Barriers ◽

Strategic Plans ◽

Development And Management

Competitive advantage is attained through talent development and management. Talented employees seek career advancement, change, and success. Organization leaders must integrate organization and career development into their strategic plans and can no longer exclude diverse individuals with talent nor diversity of thought. Key themes are revealed in this chapter to assist with elimination of institutional barriers that limit the success of diverse employees.

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Applying Diversity-Intelligent Organizational Strategies for Competitive Advantage

10.4018/978-1-6684-2405-6.ch040 ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 796-824

Author(s):

Claretha Hughes

Keyword(s):

Competitive Advantage ◽

Career Advancement ◽

Talent Development ◽

Organizational Strategies ◽

Institutional Barriers ◽

Executive Leaders ◽

Strategic Plans

Competitive advantage is attained through talent development and leadership. Talented employees seek career advancement, change, and success. Organization leaders must integrate all employees into their strategic plans and can no longer exclude talented, diverse individuals. Key diversity improvement themes are revealed in this chapter to help leaders focus on areas within the organization to apply diversity intelligent strategies and eliminate institutional barriers that limit the success of diverse employees. Sustaining competitive advantage requires dedicated efforts of executive leaders in organizations.

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One Group’s Advantage or Another Group’s Disadvantage? How Comparative Framing Shapes Explanations of, and Reactions to, Workplace Gender Inequality

Journal of Language and Social Psychology ◽

10.1177/0261927x20932631 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 39 (4) ◽

pp. 457-475

Author(s):

Susanne Bruckmüller ◽

Maike Braun

Keyword(s):

Gender Inequality ◽

Glass Ceiling ◽

Career Advancement ◽

Women's Career Advancement ◽

Metaphor Use

Gender inequality is usually described as women’s disadvantage, only rarely as men’s advantage. Moreover, it is often illustrated by metaphors such as the glass ceiling—an invisible barrier to women’s career advancement—metaphors that often also focus on women’s disadvantage. Two studies ( N = 228; N = 495) examined effects of these different ways of framing gender inequality. Participants read about gender inequality in leadership with a focus on either women or men, and either without a metaphor ( women underrepresented vs. men overrepresented) or with a women-focused or men-focused metaphor ( glass ceiling/ labyrinth vs. old boys’ club). Metaphors caused participants to perceive gender inequality as (somewhat) more important. Regardless of metaphor use, women-focused descriptions led to more explanations of inequality focusing on women relative to explanations focusing on men, as well as to more suggestions of interventions targeting women at the expense of interventions aimed at systemic changes.

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The Science Glass Ceiling: Academic Women Scientists and the Struggle to Succeed

Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews ◽

10.1177/009430610603500223 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 35 (2) ◽

pp. 143-143

Author(s):

Anna Neumann

Keyword(s):

Glass Ceiling ◽

Women Scientists ◽

Academic Women

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GLASS CEILING: SEBUAH STUDI LITERATUR

JURNAL BISNIS STRATEGI ◽

10.14710/jbs.26.1.28-38 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 26 (1) ◽

pp. 28

Author(s):

Muhamad Ihwanul Muslim ◽

Mirwan Surya Perdhana

Keyword(s):

Literature Review ◽

Glass Ceiling ◽

Career Advancement ◽

Extensive Literature ◽

Managerial Implication ◽

Non Profit ◽

Upper Management ◽

Extensive Literature Review ◽

Women's Career Advancement ◽

Non Profit Organizations

Nowadays, women's involvement in the workforce are continues to increase. However, the number of womens participate in the upper management are still limited. Such condition might be caused by glass ceiling phenomenon – obstacles hindering women’s career advancement. This study presents antecedents of glass ceiling phenomenon both in profit and non-profit organizations. Extensive literature review were conducted to gain conclusion on factors hindering women’s career advancement. Managerial implication and opportunity for further research were discussed.

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The Missing Women Library Directors: Deprivation versus Mentoring

College & Research Libraries ◽

10.5860/crl.58.4.375 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 58 (4) ◽

pp. 375-383 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Janice J. Kirkland

Keyword(s):

Glass Ceiling ◽

Career Advancement ◽

Academic Library ◽

Library Directors ◽

Central Factor ◽

Academic Library Directors ◽

Survey Responses ◽

Missing Women

Why is the percentage of women academic library directors much lower than the percentage of women in the profession as a whole? This article examines survey responses to conclude that factors blocking the advancement of women library directors include deprivation behavior or antimentoring, which supports a glass ceiling. A second survey finds that mentoring is a central factor in career advancement of many women library directors.

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Patriarchy and (Un)Doing Factory of Women's Collective Identity in Sri Lanka's Localised Global Apparel Industry

Handbook of Research on Women's Issues and Rights in the Developing World - Advances in Electronic Government, Digital Divide, and Regional Development ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-3018-3.ch002 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 19-36

Author(s):

Dhammika Jayawardena

Keyword(s):

Glass Ceiling ◽

Collective Identity ◽

Career Advancement ◽

Apparel Industry ◽

Global South ◽

Ceiling Effect ◽

Women's Career Advancement ◽

Systemic Manifestations ◽

Universal Structure

Systemic manifestations of women's subordination, such as the glass ceiling, are still a reality in organisations. Yet, the glass ceiling effect in the Global South is often conceptualised vis-à-vis (white) women's experience in ‘gendered organisations' and women's domestic role in the Southern societies. In this context, this chapter, based on a fieldwork research conducted in Sri Lanka's apparel industry, critically examines the glass ceiling effect of glass ceiling on women's career advancement in the Global South. Alongside the notion of ‘universal' patriarchy, it problematises the ‘universal' structure of the glass ceiling. And it shows that (un)doing factory women's collective identity—as lamai (little ones)—and the glass ceiling intermingle in the process of women's subordination in the apparel industry. The chapter concludes that, in the apparel industry, the role of managerial women —as well as of men in (un)doing factory women's collective identity—is crucial in keeping the glass ceiling in place.

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