You may have heard employees talk about being trapped below a “glass ceiling”, or you may have seen news articles about individuals who “shattered the glass ceiling.” This is a common term used in reference to employment discrimination. But what does it mean?
Essentially, it just refers to the fact that certain employees are held back from climbing the corporate ladder. They can only climb so high before all opportunities for future advancement disappear. The reason for this is invisible – they are qualified and successful, but can’t gain status or promotions. The phenomenon holding them back, especially for women and minority workers, is known as a glass ceiling.
Why does this happen?
Often, the glass ceiling is just due to discrimination. It may not be overt, but it happens behind the scenes.
For instance, imagine that 50% of a company’s base workforce is male and 50% is female. When looking at supervisors and managers, though, only 25% are female. By the time you get to executive roles in the company, there are no women at all.
The entire executive division is full of men – many of whom also started as lower-level employees and worked their way up. But the female employees, despite having similar qualifications and experience, are not able to climb as high. This could be clear employment discrimination if the reason that these women do not get promotions is directly because of their gender.
What comes next?
If you are part of a protected class and you have experienced workplace discrimination – the glass ceiling is just one example of how this can happen – then you need to know what legal options you have and what steps to take next.