for: The Glass Ceiling (band) '''global: date=January 2008 In economics, the term glass ceiling refers to situations where the advancement of a qualified person within the hierarchy of an organization is stopped at a lower level because of some form of discrimination, most commonly sexism or racism, but since the term was coined, "glass ceiling" has also come to describe the limited advancement of the deaf, blind, disabled, aged, black and sexual minorities."History." Break the Glass Ceiling. 2008. Break the Glass Ceiling Foundation. 31 Mar 2008.It is an unofficial, invisible barrier that prevents women and minorities from advancing in businesses.

Overview

This situation is referred to as a "ceiling" as there is a limitation blocking upward advancement, and "glass" (transparent) because the limitation is not immediately apparent and is normally an unwritten and unofficial policy. This invisible barrier continues to exist, even though there are no explicit obstacles keeping minorities from acquiring advanced job positions – there are no advertisements that specifically say “no minorities hired at this establishment”, nor are there any formal orders that say “minorities are not qualified” – but they do lie beneath the surface. The "glass ceiling" is distinguished from formal barriers to advancement, such as education or experience requirements. Mainly this invisible barrier seems to exist in more the developing countries, in those businesses this effect is highly "visible".

However, this glass ceiling tends to cripple working women the most.Fact: date=February 2009 This barrier prevents large numbers of women, ethnic minorities, and sexual minorities from obtaining and securing the most powerful, prestigious, and highest-grossing jobs in the workforce. This barrier makes many women feel as they are not worthy enough to have these high-ranking positions, but also they feel as if their bosses do not take them seriously or actually see them as potential candidates.

In the book "Through the Labyrinth: The Truth About How Women Become Leaders," authors Alice Eagly and Linda Carli refer to the same concept as the "Glass Labyrinth." They discuss why the "glass ceiling" is no longer useful as a metaphor for this problem. Specific questions proposed in this scientific research included: How far have women actually come as leaders? Do stereotypes limit women's opportunities? And, Do people resist women's leadership more than men's? Within this book is the discussion of what women can do to conquer any restrictions in their organizations.

History

Sexual discrimination was outlawed in the United States through the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in the hopes of allowing women to rise in the working world once proper experience has been achieved.

The term "glass ceiling" has been thought to have first been used to refer to invisible barriers that impede the career advancement of women in the American workforce in an article by Carol Hymowitz and Timothy Schellhardt in the March 24, 1986 edition of the Wall Street Journal. However, the term was used prior to that; for instance, it was utilized in a March 1984 Adweek article by Gay Bryant. The term glass ceiling was used prior to the 1984 article by two women at Hewlett-Packard in 1979, Katherine Lawrence and Marianne Schreiber, to describe how while on the surface there seemed to be a clear path of promotion, but, in actuality, women seemed to hit a point where they seemed unable to progress beyond. Upon becoming CEO and chairwoman of the board of HP, Carly Fiorina proclaimed that there was no glass ceiling. After her term at HP, she called her earlier statement a "1umb thing to say."