The glass ceiling phenomena: fact or myth

 It is undeniable that women have played a fundamental role throughout history; however, they remain considerably underrepresented in managerial and political positions. They appear to reach a middle level without being able to undertake the breakthrough, thus stagnating at a place where an invisible barrier seems to exist. This invisible barrier is called the “glass ceiling.”

Research has proved that the percentage of women in top management positions does not out pass the 15% ratio on the international level. Although several endeavors have been put to foster the role that women have and to encourage their participation, the situation is witnessing very slight improvements. In the Arab region, the situation is even worse; women appear to be significantly absent from several strategic managerial roles.

Delving into the reasons behind this low rate, various factors appear to jointly collide thus maintaining this status quo.

Writing from my own personal experience and based on scientific research, one can tell that two sets of factors, grouped into 2 main categories, lead to this disparity: external general factors that are imposed and internal factors proper to the women themselves. To name a few: national culture, organizational culture, education, gender bias, stereotypes, HR policies, marital status and maternity… all together perpetuate this situation.

In our part of the world, women cannot separate their roles of daughter, wife and mom from the one of employee and manager, as the pressure to perform at home and to fulfill the household obligations remains incontestably their main responsibility. Moreover, the support of the partner and family constitute a main pillar in encouraging these women to continue and to seek higher challenges at work. Consequently, as they are supposed to fill first and foremost their roles at home, the possibility of reaching a work-life balance is necessary to enable them to achieve at work.

From another perspective, organizations are now aware of the importance and benefits of diversity; however, the notion of successful careers remains associated with long hours of work, presentism, necessity of travel and much more. As a matter of fact, the possibility of instilling work life balance schemes fail to be institutionalized and remains rather individualistic, dependent on the personal relationship of the individual with the supervisor. Not to mention that women have to incur interruptions in their careers due to maternity; a situation that is considered by many a disadvantage and even a weakness against the dominant male players.

Moreover, attitudes are less positive toward female than male leaders because of the gender bias and stereotyping: 2 main aspects of the glass ceiling. When occupying leadership or managerial roles, women are perceived to violate gender role expectancies because these roles are more aligned with stereotypically male qualities and thus with the male gender. Women also lack a proven history in leading organizations, thus generating ambiguity about their ability to succeed. Having this perspective in mind, one can understand that boards of directors, which are mostly comprised of men, perpetuate the status quo by selecting managers who look like them. Facing this situation, women have understood that they need to work harder than their counterparts to prove themselves; they also continue to enhance their skills, obtaining graduate degrees at larger numbers than men. Nevertheless, this balance of female and male leadership remains unequal.

It is important however to state that some women have made it a choice not to access upper levels management positions – having prioritized work-life balance over career advancement. As a matter of fact, they perceive top managerial positions as a hostile and not attractive place whereby the individual becomes victim of the role he is holding.

As a conclusion, and looking at the internal drive of women, I believe that a cycle of aspiration exists; it links the marital / familial status to career advancement. This cycle could be described as follows: following graduation women are enthusiastic to take on the challenge, to succeed and to work hard to advance. Once married, the drive persists until maternity happens. With the first kid, and with assistance and help, equilibrium is possible. This situation is most likely to stagnate until the arrival of the second child where women start to seek more work life balance and where the load of home obligations start to impose more requirements leading to work absenteeism and less availability to work-related events; it is when this balance starts to lean down in favor of the family. In case more kids arrive the curve continues to decrease leading – at times – to work interruption. The possibility of succeeding arises again when the children have reached the age of independence and self-autonomy, giving women the hope to make it again, however failing to get back on track due to the prior missed opportunities.

Graph 1: Career path linking “Aspiration” to the “Marital & Familial Status” of women

Last, we can say that several factors collide to allow women reach the top of organizations with the most important one being work-life balance. However, it is undeniable that without the support of the community the rise won’t be possible. We can conclude that the glass ceiling is a fact that could not be broken unless all stakeholders join hands to create a supportive environment that recognizes the dual role that women have to play. Societies cannot grow and flourish unless women are given the chance to participate in the political, economical and corporate lives; instilling a new culture that understands and nurtures their capabilities is the key to unleash the talent that innately exist within them.

By Dr. Madonna Salameh Ayanian

Head of the Corporate Relations Unit – Faculty of Business, USEK

View the Article on Executive Women Here