QUES . Is glass ceiling a deterrent to women empowerment in India? Discuss. UPSC IES/ISS EXAM 2015 General Studies. 200 Words. 5 Marks.
HINTS:
What is Glass Ceiling?
The term ‘glass ceiling’ refers to the invisible nature of the barriers preventing women and people of marginalized groups from reaching higher positions. These barriers are implicit biases found within organizational structures and cultures, not official company policies.
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The phrase is commonly used to describe the difficulties faced by women when trying to move to higher roles in a male-dominated corporate hierarchy. The barriers are most often unwritten, meaning that these individuals are more likely to be restricted from advancing through accepted norms and implicit biases rather than defined corporate policies.
Marilyn Loden first coined the phrase “glass ceiling” while speaking as a panelist at the 1978 Women’s Exposition in New York.
This concept was later popularized in a 1986 Wall Street Journal article discussing the corporate hierarchy and how invisible barriers seemed to prevent women from advancing in their careers past a certain level.
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Despite significant promotion of diversity in companies, as well as legislation for equal opportunities for women and men, it must be noted that women still remain largely in the minority in decision-making positions. This reflects the phenomenon of the glass ceiling that constitutes vertical discrimination within companies against women.
The equality gap varies between countries and may be driven by cultural stances against women and minority groups from participating in the workforce.
Causes of Glass Ceiling at Workplace
Company-specific problems like personal biases, microaggressions and sexual harassment can create a glass ceiling in the workplace. However, larger societal issues like gender roles and broad discrimination can also lead to more glass ceilings, despite a company’s best intentions to support women and employees of other marginalized groups.
Breaking the Glass Ceiling
Breaking the glass ceiling means overcoming the barriers set to prevent access to advancement. Breaking the glass ceiling also includes removing barriers for others experiencing the same struggles.
Companies can break glass ceilings in the workplace by using blind screenings during the recruiting process, conducting regular bias and stereotype training and establishing diversity hiring and promotion goals.
What is Glass Cliff?
The glass cliff is a closely related term but refers to a phenomenon wherein women tend to be promoted to positions of power during times of crises when failure is more likely. This could occur in fields as diverse as finance, politics, technology, and academia.
Impact of Glass Ceiling
Glass Ceiling prevent large numbers of women and ethnic minorities from obtaining and securing the most powerful, prestigious and highest-grossing jobs in the workforce. Moreover, this effect prevents women from filling high-ranking positions and puts them at a disadvantage as potential candidates for advancement.
Despite various initiatives and the increasing number of qualified and trained women, it is clear that they are still largely underrepresented in the decision-making process in all sectors. Indeed, despite the current enthusiasm for diversity in companies and legislation for equal opportunities for women and men the numbers have not changed much in the last decade. Women remain largely in the minority in decision-making positions.
