So Now There are Four Glass Ceilings?

By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

If you’ve been following any women’s career blogs lately, you’ll have read that the glass ceiling is dead, according to a new study by Ernst & Young.

Well, not quite.

In fact, according to the professional services firm’s survey of 1,000 women in the UK, the concept of the glass ceiling we’ve come to know has merely been replaced. With what? Well, with many glass ceilings.

Lately, there’s been an increasing focus on gender diversity in the workplace, explained Liz Bingham, Managing Partner, People and Talent, UK and Ireland at Ernst & Young. “But the notion that there is a single glass-ceiling for women, as a working concept for today’s modern career, is dead. Professional women have told us they face multiple barriers on their rise to the top.”

Not exactly the news we were waiting for. But, by identifying the many different challenges standing in women’s career progression, we can more accurately find ways to break through them.

Four Glass Ceilings

Ernst & Young identified four key career barriers for women – which can pop up at any time in our careers, and can be concurrent: age, lack of role models, motherhood, and qualifications and experience.

The biggest challenge identified by the survey respondents was age – either having not enough years, or too many. In fact, 32 percent of women surveyed said age had slowed their career advancement. Over a quarter (27 percent) said they expected it to be a problem in the future.

Bingham explained, “Age is a very complex issue, especially when it is linked to perception. It’s concerning to see that women seem to be most vulnerable during the formative stages of their careers, when they are working their way through the ranks.”

Another big challenge identified by the survey was a lack of experience or qualifications (22 percent of respondents said this had slowed their career already, and 19 percent said it would in the future). This is problematic, given research by McKinsey and Catalyst, suggesting that women are more often promoted based on proven performance, while men are more often promoted based on future potential.

Motherhood was also noted as a unique challenges for women’s career progression – 19 percent of those surveyed said their career had been slowed by factors stemming from motherhood.

And finally, a full three-quarters of respondents (75 percent) said they had few or no female role models at work. Bingham remarked, “I was really surprised and concerned by these findings. From my own experience I have seen how good role models can have a transformational impact on an individual or team.”

Providing Support

The women surveyed also added their opinions on what would help them break through these glass ceilings.

For one, almost a third (32 percent) said “more support after returning to work from having children” would help them advance in their careers. Almost a quarter (24 percent) said they’d like to have more support throughout their careers. And 19 percent said more senior women owning their position as role models would help them advance.

Almost half (45 percent) said they’d like to see the government enforce transparency around the pay gap between men and women at different companies. Similarly, 43 percent said affordable child care or tax relief for childcare would be a big help. And finally 28 percent said more guidance on flex work would assist in their career progression.

Harry Gaskell, Ernst & Young’s Head of Advisory, explained, “Gender diversity transcends the responsibility of government, business, and individuals. There is no quick fix or magic bullet; it will take a combined effort, but the focus has to be on the talent pipeline rather than just on the boardroom.”

He added, “Positive interventions can work. But we think one of the most fundamental aspects of managing barriers is role models – for people to actively demonstrate that barriers can be overcome. If we get this right, then perhaps the other barriers will become more manageable and less marked over time.”

Indeed, many senior women, who have worked so hard to smash through the many glass ceilings that stood in their way, have yet to fully realize that they are in fact role models to younger generations of women. By encouraging senior women to take ownership of their power to dismantle the cultural systems that hold women back, we will begin to see real progress in gender equity at work.