Human Rights

Glass Ceiling



In economics, the term glass ceiling refers to "the unseen, yet unbreakable barrier that
keeps minorities and women from rising to the upper rungs of the corporate ladder,
regardless of their qualifications or achievements."[1] Initially, the metaphor applied to
barriers in the careers of women but was quickly extended to refer to obstacles
hindering the advancementof minority men, as well as women.[2]

David Cotter et al. defined four distinctive characteristics that must be met to conclude
that a glass ceiling exists. A glass ceiling inequality represents:

1. "A gender or racial difference that is not explained by other job-relevant
characteristics of the employee."
2. "A gender or racial difference that is greater at higher levels of anoutcome than
at lower levels of an outcome.
3. "A gender or racial inequality in the chances of advancement into higher levels,
not merely the proportions of each gender or race currently at those higher
levels."
4. "A gender or racial inequality that increases over the course of a career."

Cotter and his colleagues found that glass ceilings are a distinctively gender
phenomenon. Bothwhite and African-American women face a glass ceiling in the
course of their careers. In contrast, the researchers did not find evidence of a glass
ceiling for African-American men.[3]

The glass ceiling metaphor has often been used to describe invisible barriers ("glass")
through which women can see elite positions but cannot reach them ("ceiling").[4] These
barriers prevent largenumbers of women and ethnic minorities from obtaining and
securing the most powerful, prestigious, and highest-grossing jobs in the workforce.[5]
Moreover, this barrier can make many women feel as they are not worthy enough to
have these high-ranking positions, but also they feel as if their bosses do not take them
seriously or actually see them as potential candidates.[6][7]

The glassceiling continues to exist although there are no explicit obstacles keeping
women and minorities from acquiring advanced job positions – there are no
advertisements that specifically say “no minorities hired at this establishment”, nor are
there any formal orders that say “minorities are not qualified” (equal employment
opportunity laws forbid this kind of discrimination) – but they do liebeneath the
surface.[8] When a company exercises this type of discrimination they typically look for
the most plausible explanation they can find to justify their decision. Most often this is
done by citing qualities that are highly subjective or by retrospectively emphasizing/de-
emphasizing specific criteria that gives the chosen candidate the edge. Mainly this
invisible barrier seems toexist in more of the developing countries, in whose businesses
this effect is highly "visible".

There are many different impediments placed upon women that make it difficult for
them to attain a higher work status. With these very negative effects on women and their
self-esteem, the glass ceiling has created an even larger problem then just in the work
place. Most see the glass ceilingas only being in the work place, which is where it
originally was intended for, it has spread to encompass the household and others as
well. The barrier within the household has been seen as the difficulty a woman has of
getting out of the household and accumulating a job. Not all women feel as though they
are being suppressed in the household and many women choose to be in the householdin which case the glass ceiling does not apply to them. The term only applies to those
women that wish to be out in the work field but are unable to be. Because the glass
ceiling also limits the opportunities of women in developing countries, the term has
broadened and also become an issue around the world.



Glass Ceiling in the U.S

Sexual discrimination in employment was...