Glass Ceiling
What Is the Glass Ceiling?
The term glass ceiling alludes to a figurative invisible barrier that keeps certain people from being elevated to managerial-and executive-level positions inside an organization or industry. The phrase is commonly used to portray the troubles looked by ladies and minorities while attempting to move to higher jobs in a male-ruled corporate hierarchy. The barriers are most frequently unwritten, meaning that these people are bound to be restricted from progressing through accepted standards and implicit predispositions as opposed to defined corporate policies.
Grasping the Glass Ceiling
Marilyn Loden previously begat the expression "glass ceiling" while at the same time talking as a specialist at the 1978 Women's Exposition in New York. As a fill-in for her manager's just female executive, Loden was welcome to examine how ladies were to be faulted for the barriers keeping them from progressing in their careers. All things being equal, she talked about more profound, disregarded issues that generally held ladies back from involving positions of authority: the glass ceiling.
This concept was subsequently promoted in a 1986 Wall Street Journal article examining the corporate hierarchy and how invisible barriers appeared to keep ladies from progressing in their careers past a certain level. In 2015, the publication reported (citing Gay Bryant, former manager of Working Woman magazine) that the concept returns to the 1970s and may have originated with two ladies at Hewlett-Packard. The concept expanded in additional contemporary times to remember minorities for option to ladies.
The balance gap differs among countries and might be driven by social positions against ladies and minority bunches from participating in the workforce. Companies in the United States have answered the balance gap by zeroing in on measures to increase diversity. This incorporates hiring personnel explicitly entrusted with guaranteeing that ladies and minorities see further developed representation in management-level positions. By zeroing in on policies that reduce or kill the glass ceiling, companies can guarantee that the top competitors hold dynamic positions.
In 2021, ladies represented 56.8% of the labor force in the U.S. In any case, when it came to chief executive positions, ladies held just 29.1% of these jobs, and 85.7% of chief executives distinguished as white, as per the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Research shows that different gatherings are more fruitful in settling on choices than homogeneous ones, which signs to companies that wiping out the glass ceiling can emphatically influence their main concern.
History of the Glass Ceiling
The U.S. Department of Labor sent off the Glass Ceiling Commission in 1991 in response to the developing concern over barriers keeping ladies and minorities from progressing. It was accused of recognizing the barriers that exist and policies that companies adopted or could embrace to increase diversity at managerial and executive levels.
The commission found that qualified ladies and minorities were being denied the opportunity to vie for or win dynamic positions. It likewise found that the perceptions of the two employees and employers frequently remembered generalizations that held ladies and minorities for a negative light.
At the point when Hillary Clinton ran for president in 2008 and 2016, she more than once discussed her goal of breaking the "highest, hardest glass ceiling" by turning into America's most memorable female president. Vice President Kamala Harris broke the second-highest glass ceiling in the U.S. at the point when she turned into the primary female and first Black Vice President on Jan. 20, 2021. She was additionally the main lady and first Black and South Asian attorney general of California, as well as the primary Black lady to be chosen district attorney of San Francisco.
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The number of female chief executive officers leading Fortune 500 companies in 2021 — the highest number ever — yet just 8.1% of the total rundown.
The Glass Ceiling versus The Glass Cliff
The glass cliff is a closely related term, however alludes to a phenomenon wherein ladies will generally be elevated to positions of power during times of emergencies, when disappointment is more probable. This could happen in fields as different as finance, politics, technology, and the scholarly world.
While the more normal glass ceiling presents a barrier to arriving at the highest executive levels inside their individual organizations, the glass cliff addresses the inclination to place ladies who have broken through it into problematic positions, making it likely their performance will waver, as though they are at risk of falling off a cliff.
Had Hillary Clinton won the presidential election in 2008, which was the level of the Great Recession, she could have been viewed as the survivor of the glass cliff. The term was instituted by teachers Michelle K. Ryan and Alexander Haslam of the University of Exeter, United Kingdom, in 2004. Ryan and Haslam reported this phenomenon broadly in a study of Great Britain's FTSE 100 companies.
Illustration of Glass Ceiling
There are various instances of occasions where people experienced and have had the option to break the glass ceiling. As verified above, Hillary Clinton turned into the principal lady to secure the Democratic nomination when she ran for president during the 2016 election.
As indicated above, Kamala Harris broke the glass ceiling when she turned into the main lady to be chosen as U.S. Vice President under President Joe Biden. She is likewise the main Black and South Asian lady to be chosen for the position too. Harris was formally confirmed as Vice President on Jan. 20, 2021.
Janet Yellen turned into the primary female Treasury secretary in the wake of being assigned by President Biden and sworn in on Jan. 26, 2021. This isn't the primary glass ceiling Yellen has broken by the same token. She likewise filled in as the main lady to head the Federal Reserve, a job she held during President Barack Obama's administration.
Features
- Ladies make up 56.8% of the labor force in the U.S however hold just 29.1% of executive positions.
- The glass ceiling is a conversational term for the social barrier keeping ladies from being elevated to top positions in management.
- The term has been expanded to incorporate discrimination against minorities.
- The U.S. Department of Labor sent off the Glass Ceiling Commission in 1991 to address the glass ceiling.
- Marilyn Loden instituted the expression "glass ceiling" at a 1978 Women's Exposition.
FAQ
Where Did the Saying "Break the Glass Ceiling" Come From?
The term glass ceiling was instituted by Marilyn Loden, a New York telephone company manager, during a 1978 Women's Exposition.
What Is an Example of the Glass Ceiling?
There are numerous models where people have broken the glass ceiling. Kamala Harris broke a glass ceiling when she turned into the primary lady Vice President of the United States. She is additionally the main Black person and the primary person of South Asian drop to be chosen for the job of Vice President.Since the principal U.S. presidential election in 1789, no African American has filled in as president. For the majority of that time, they were unable to vote. Nonetheless, in 2008, Barack Obama turned into the main African American to be chosen President of the United States.
What's the significance here to Break the Glass Ceiling?
Breaking the glass ceiling means defeating the barriers set to forestall access to progression. Breaking the glass ceiling likewise incorporates eliminating barriers for others encountering similar battles.
Does the Glass Ceiling Still Exist?
The glass ceiling actually exists across different industries for various gatherings. Men actually possess the greater part of the executive positions in corporations and different positions of power. In spite of the fact that there is more consideration given to these barriers, they are still a lot of present in the workforce.
What Does the Phrase Glass Ceiling Mean?
The glass ceiling is a representation that alludes to the barrier that underestimated individuals, for example, ladies and minorities, experience while seeking career headways.
