The Glass-Ceiling Effect

The glass-ceiling effect: An analysis of women and career advancement in Lebanon

Throughout the years, the proportion of women in entry and middle-level management has increased immensely (Bombuwela & De Alwis, 2013). However, research indicates that females in senior-leadership roles, throughout an array of professions, still encounter numerous barriers within organizations that influence their career advancement. Several studies conclude a variety of structural and cultural barriers operating within organizations which resulted in the underrepresentation of females with executive titles (Kauser, 2010). Many of these findings concerning such barriers in management are centered across western context with somewhat limited understanding of the status of women in leadership in the Arab region (Kauser, 2010). The aim of the study is to investigate what types of glass-ceiling barriers are women in Lebanon encountering and how do these barriers influence their career advancement? What is the relationship between gender and leadership effectiveness? How can these organizational barriers be removed, in order to enhance career development for women. The topic is significant and interesting, given that research into the workforce dynamics of women in leadership and the glass-ceiling effect in Lebanon is limited.

The attitude of women’s role as only house-makers is shifting towards a career aspect, with only some women given the opportunity to gradually climb the corporate ladder. The glass-ceiling effect is one of the most popular metaphors for analyzing inequality and discrimination between men and women in the work-environment (Bombuwela & De Alwis, 2013). In other words, the barriers that inhibit women from advancing and progressing towards senior-level positions is described as the glass-ceiling effect. According to Auster (1993), the glass-ceiling effect is not one barrier or wall; it consists of diverse and prevalent types of gender discrimination that arise in explicit and implicit ways (Auster, 1993).

The existence of the glass-ceiling phenomena can be attributed to the differences in the needs between men and women. This is supported by O’Conner (2001) who states that women favor career trees whereas men are expected to climb corporate ladders. Evidence of women in leadership positions is highly underrepresented; this can be analyzed and understood through the role congruity theory of discrimination against female leaders. This theory is built on the idea that most values and attitudes regarding the sexes are linked to communal and agentic factors (Smith, et al., 2012). Communal attributes are mainly affiliated with females in terms of their nurturing approach, being helpful and supportive, and sympathetic whereas males are highly associated to agentic characteristics including assertive, independence, forceful, and self-assurance behavior. Agentic attributes tend to be preferred and key for successful leadership. There are two stereotype categories linked to the glass-ceiling effect and leadership (Smith, et al., 2012). Descriptive stereotypes are the expectations of what members of a group are actually like and prescriptive stereotypes are ideal characteristics of members of a group. Women are most likely to demonstrate communal attributes, while leaders should embody the descriptive stereotype of being agentic. Another inconsistent barrier for women aiming for a leadership role is their less favorable assessment when displaying agentic behaviors since this opposes the prescriptive stereotype that females should be communal (Smith, et al., 2012).

Bibliography

Auster, E. R., 1993. Demystifying the GC: Organizational and interpersonal dynamics of gender bias. Business and the Contemporary World, Volume 5, pp. 47-68.

Bombuwela, P. M. & De Alwis, C. A., 2013. Effects of Glass Ceiling on Women Career Development in Private Sector Organizations – Case of Sri Lanka. Journal of Competitiveness, 5(2), pp. 3-19.

O’Connor, V.J. (2001), “Women and men in senior management: a ‘different needs’ hypothesis Women in Management Review, 16(8), pp. 400-404.

Smith, P., Crittenden, N. & Caputi, P., 2012. Measuring women’s beliefs about glass ceilings: development of the Career Pathways Survey. Gender in Management: An International Journal, 27(2), pp. 68-80.

By admin in Essays on October 22, 2016