The phrase “glass ceiling” is often used in the media to discuss women’s progress in traditionally male-dominated environments. If you aren’t sure exactly what it means or how it can be relevant to human resources work, this article will provide a definition, examples, and some tips for helping to remove it in your workplace.
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Definition
The term “glass ceiling” is a metaphor: it represents a symbolic barrier that prevents women and people in minority groups from moving into leadership roles in businesses and organisations. The ceiling stops individuals from advancing in their careers, but because it is glass, it doesn’t look like it exists until you get there and realise there is a hidden barrier in place.
The United States Federal Glass Ceiling Commission (1991–1996) defined the glass ceiling as “the unseen, yet unbreachable barrier that keeps minorities and women from rising to the upper rungs of the corporate ladder, regardless of their qualifications or achievements.”
A New York telephone company manager named Marilyn Loden first used the term in 1978 when talking at a panel on aspirations at the Women’s Exposition, but the writer Gay Bryant is credited with popularising the idea by including it in her book “The Working Woman Report”, published in 1985.
With its roots in the movement for equal rights for women, the term glass ceiling is most commonly applied to the challenges women face in advancing to managerial and executive positions. The idea is that their male counterparts dominate the upper-level organisations because society has an implicit bias that perceives them as the most suitable candidates. Even when policies and procedures exist that are designed to create gender equality, the historical context of a society where men have dominated the world of work means that unconscious bias and cultural norms create a hidden barrier that encourages men to be promoted over women and results in few women being at the top of organisations and businesses.
However, the glass ceiling metaphor also represents the hidden barriers that all minority groups experience as a result of implicit bias and societal norms. The glass ceiling exists for ethnic minorities as well as for women. When a company wants to change its culture to ensure that all employees are treated equally when it comes to opportunities for career advancement, the glass ceiling needs to be removed for all individuals who may experience bias against them, whether it is due to their gender, race, religious beliefs, sexual orientation or physical features.
What Is The Difference Between The Glass Ceiling And The Glass Cliff?
Professors Michelle K. Ryan and Alexander Haslam of the University of Exeter coined the term “glass cliff” in 2004. It refers to the concept that people who manage to break through the glass ceiling often find themselves in vulnerable positions, which makes it more likely they will fail or fall off a cliff.
A hypothetical example of the glass cliff is if Hillary Clinton had won the presidential election in the US in 2008, she would have been leader during the financial crisis, making it more difficult for her to prove her worth in a position never held by a woman before.
Is The Bamboo Ceiling The Same As The Glass Ceiling?
Asian American career coach Jane Hyun introduced the term ‘bamboo ceiling’ in her 2005 book, “Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling: Career Strategies”, for Asians to refer to the invisible barriers experienced by Asian people in progressing to leadership positions. The idea of the bamboo ceiling is similar to the glass ceiling effect: Asian people experience invisible barriers in the way women tend to.
Examples of Individuals Breaking the Glass Ceiling
One of the best recent examples of a woman ‘breaking’ the glass ceiling is Kamala Harris, who in 2020 became the first black woman in the US to work as the vice president. Now nominated as the Democratic candidate to run in the presidential race this year, if Ms Harris becomes the first female black president of the US, she will break the glass ceiling that exists due both to the colour of her skin and her gender again.
In the business world, the glass ceiling was broken in 1963 when Katharine Graham became the CEO of the Washington Post and the first female leader of the Fortune 500. Other examples from the US are Oprah Winfrey, the first African American woman talk show host, and Ellen DeGeneres, who is credited with playing the first openly gay female sitcom character.
Closer to home, here in the UK, Baroness Valerie Amos was one of two black women to join the House of Lords in 1997 and went on to become the first black woman to be appointed to the cabinet in 2003. She went on to break the glass ceiling again when she was the first black woman to lead a university, SOAS, in 2015. In 2009, Carol Ann Duffy became the first woman to be Poet Laureate, despite the role being established for 400 years.
Tips For Helping To Break The Glass Ceiling
Shattering the glass ceiling is not a quick or easy job, but working in human resources provides an opportunity to help challenge the cultural bias that exists towards women and minorities in the workplace and break down the barriers preventing women and minority groups from making progress.
Here are some quick ideas to start you thinking:
Get data, including anonymous feedback
Data on the individuals who get promoted, their level of skills and experience, and how much they are paid is a good start to understanding where your company sits in terms of promoting equal opportunities. Researching the gender pay gap can be part of this. The best way to find out how your company culture supports – or doesn’t – minority groups in the workplace is to ask the workforce. Anonymous surveys are a good place to start, as are workshops, forums or working groups. Anything that initiates the conversation in your workplace is a step in the right direction.
Organise training
Training in how to avoid our implicit biases can be a valuable tool to help your workforce understand where they may be inadvertently discriminating against people. Anyone involved in recruitment or leadership should have this training with regular refreshers.
Include blind screening in the recruitment process
Using blind screening in recruitment means applicants are selected based on their skills and experience, not on other factors that may reveal their race or gender. Blind screening ensures that the best candidate is chosen for the role and not the one who fits the unconscious image we may have of who should be in the specific role.
Make promoting diversity a business objective
Once you have the data you need on how the company promotes equal employment opportunities, you can create goals that encourage any improvements that need to be made. Tying these goals to the overall business objectives can help ensure that they are given equal weighting.
Start mentorship schemes
Mentorship schemes can be a good way to help people from minority groups advance their careers by having more experienced employees providing advice and expertise to those who may be less knowledgeable.
