What Is The Glass Ceiling And What Are Its Effects? 5 Methods To Overcome It
How does the glass ceiling affect minorities? How can we face its effects? Discover what glass ceilings are and how we can overcome them.
He glass roof It is an event that minorities can experience when trying to progress both personally and in their workplace. Do you know what it consists of?
He glass roof It is a metaphor that refers to the hierarchical impediment that prevents minorities and women from achieving high professional success.
Therefore, the term glass ceiling It refers to the barrier or limit that a woman has to be able to progress or advance at a professional or personal level. It is an invisible barrier, since there is nothing stipulated at a legal level that determines this differentiation between men and women, but nevertheless, it is a reality.
Women find themselves with a sticky ground that prevents us from ascending to positions of high responsibility and traps us in lower-ranking positions, even though we are in the year 2018 and not in 1970. Thus, the original term appeared in 1980 at the hands of the magazine “The Wall Street Journal” where the executive women of the time were talked about and the term was coined: “The glass ceiling” But although almost 40 years have passed since this problem was discovered, it is still valid today. In this way, the wage gap and the glass ceiling are two very related concepts today. To get out of these glass ceilings women or in which minorities are found, we must understand the causes and detect the symptoms or characteristics of being in this position.
It is clear that we continue to live in a sexist society, which despite having improved in certain aspects, we continue to carry a heavy burden. Thus, there are still companies that prefer men for senior positions because they think they have better leadership skills and abilities as well as a greater ability to tolerate and manage stress. Therefore, there is this glass roof or glass roof that women and minorities must overcome in order to reach these positions.
But this problem is not just a matter of belief about aptitudes. There is another reality to take into account: that of motherhood. Although the majority of women with higher education are highly qualified and trained to access positions of responsibility, companies prefer for these positions people who know that they will not be on leave for at least 4 months each time they want to have a job. son. As long as there continues to be such an abysmal difference between maternity leave and paternity leave, there will continue to be male over female selection for high-ranking positions and therefore there will still be a glass roof that stops the advancement of women in jobs.
On the other hand, family responsibilities are still usually considered a woman’s responsibility and for that reason it is another of the causes of glass ceiling If we asked families in which one of the two parents does not work, a high percentage would be women. Many times this result is a choice, they usually choose that the mother is the one who stays without working or reduces her hours in order to raise the family while the father is the one who brings the money home or the one who has longer hours.
What is the effect of the glass ceiling?
There are a number of effects of this crystal on women. In this way, the glass ceiling in feminism It is one of the points that must be worked on in order to enjoy equality in today’s society. Mainly, the glass ceiling in women can be detected by the following.
There is an undervaluation regarding the possibilities of promotion, many times women have to listen to comments such as: “And you don’t plan to be a mother? How will you combine work with family, how will you reconcile?”, etc. In many cases, the beliefs about validating people are what make them well seen in positions of responsibility.
2. Lack of privacy
That is, there is an absence of absolute intimacy. A woman’s future plans are something that “it has to be talked about” to decide what to do with your position. He glass roof In these cases it can affect the woman’s personal life in the sense that she must decide how to focus her life to be more professional or not.
3. Decide between motherhood or your future job
A woman, then, can find herself between a rock and a hard place: either being a mother and starting a family or thriving at work and giving up motherhood. The decision whether to have children or not is clearly one of the glass ceiling causes that most affect the personal and work lives of women.
4. Contempt
On the other hand, women can encounter contempt such as having to dress in a masculinized way so that we are treated as “professionals” or that in meetings the “mansplanning” (explanation in which the man speaks to the woman as if he knew less about the subject just because of a gender issue). In this way, in order to get out of these glass roofs In the working world, some women change their behavior to adapt to these beliefs, something that should not be done.
In some situations where people suffer from glass ceilings, they can suffer consequences on their mental health. Therefore, it will be essential to consult with a professional psychologist to be able to alleviate all these effects.
How can we break the glass ceiling?
This Glass roof It is a barrier that we must overcome through our attitude and through good personal self-esteem. Mainly, we can do the following.
The first step is to raise awareness about the glass ceilings in women Talking about inequality figures, studies that attest that the problem is real, discussing it with friends, co-workers, family, etc. can help generate a need for change.
2. Exploit your resources and show yourself
If you are a person with leadership capacity, let it be noticed. Show your skills and abilities, stop being like a chameleon camouflaging yourself and show yourself like a peacock exalting your feathers. This will allow you to break the glass roofs through your personal security and self-esteem.
3. Don’t wait for possibilities to rain down on you, look for them
Maybe your boss has not seen everything you have in you or simply has not considered it, but if you offer yourself for a position or propose a change, they may take it into account. For overcome the effects of this crystal In women you should try to look for all the possibilities to achieve your personal and professional success.
4. Start your own business
If you are a woman and you cannot achieve positions of responsibility, perhaps it is time to undertake and leave this behind glass roof You will be the person in charge of the company and you will have the option of making it grow together with other women whom you hire and who may also have positions of responsibility.
5. Rebel against sexist comments, put-downs or mansplanning
When they talk to you as if you don’t know what the topic is about, don’t stay silent, clarify that there is no need for them to explain it to you as if you don’t know anything. If in your workplace you see that they do not take you into account just because you are a woman, try to get involved and get involved in the conversations so that they do not isolate you, etc.
If we all fight to eliminate this problem, perhaps one day we can say that the glass roof What women suffer is part of the past.
