The Corporate Glass Ceiling

With the above developments, some analysts and feminist groups were quick enough to announce that finally, women were breaking the highest of the 'glass ceilings' which had become an invisible barrier for many women making efforts to achieve top management positions in leading corporates across the world.

Though there was a significant improvement in women's participation in the corporate world during the last few decades, not many women reached the 'O-Zone'⁶ level. The debate over the glass ceiling's existence had been continuing for many decades. Women had been raising voices against the 'glass ceiling' phenomenon.

According to the US Department of Labor, a 'glass ceiling' is "an artificial barrier based on attitudinal or organizational bias that prevents qualified women and other minorities⁷ from advancing upward in their organization into senior management level positions.” The concept of 'glass ceiling' surfaced in the US in the late 1970s. A glass ceiling was not a barrier to an individual as such, but a barrier to women and other minorities as a group. Initially, one of the main reasons cited for the existence of a glass ceiling was that women did not have the required experience and skills to reach the top management.