Inclusion In Context: The Glass Ceiling

In part one of this two-part column, CRN columnist Cass Cooper explores the cultural contextual changes for gender inclusion. How has the glass ceiling impacted women at work? Are women less interested in the C-suite? If so, why?

Can we have a candid conversation? Since this column began in April 2024, we have spent some time unpacking what it means to be a leader, to lead inclusively, to have creative approaches to problem-solving and solution-finding. But, as it has been said by wiser women than me, we also exist in the context of the world we live in. Ignoring social-cultural context increases the challenges to being the best leaders we can within the organizations we reside.

It occurred to me that little honor has been paid to how we arrived in a space-time where inclusion is a part of the future of business. So, let’s gather round for some real talk, look for some cultural context, beginning with the unique gender-based challenges faced by women at work. That is the social pressure that has created the glass ceiling.

If you are unfamiliar, the glass ceiling metaphor functions as a description of the invisible barrier preventing people, specifically women, from entering management, senior-level or executive leadership roles. It is the barriers, spoken and unspoken, implicit and explicit policies, that maintain the barrier, disallowing advancement for those who aim to develop their careers.

Smashing the glass ceiling has become a goal for generations of women. And rightfully so. Both Baby Boomers and Generation X women have navigated corporate workplaces where men were (read: are) over-represented compared with women in the general population. Boomers who entered the public workforce in the 1960s and 1970s faced explicit discrimination, heightened bias and, in some cases, blatant resentment of their public working life as women.

GenX benefited from some public policy changes, including the Civil Rights Act of 1965, the establishment of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and Title IX. However, gender inequity in representation and pay continues to abound despite both generations putting some holes in the glass ceiling. However, in 2024 women continue to be disenfranchised economically, making anywhere from 54 percent to 90 percent of what men earn in the U.S. depending on race or ethnicity.

In recent years, attention has been paid to creating gender and racial parity via organizational access to senior and executive leadership positions. Global corporations such as Microsoft, Google, Dropbox, Dell, and countless organizations have vocalized their commitment to building a space at the top for women while also diversifying racial representation and access.

However, with preceding generations of women looking to shatter the glass ceiling, women of the channel are less inclined to hold a desire to enter the C-suite. According to a survey from CRN parent company The Channel Company, the number of women looking to climb atop the corporate ladder is waning. As of December 2023, 45 percent of women surveyed had no desire to enter the C-suite compared with 22 percent of men in the survey. The reason for not wanting to enter the C-suite? Corporate politics (42 percent) and lack of a clear path (36 percent) or, put another way, the glass ceiling of spoken and unspoken policies.

The glass ceiling continues to impact the working lives of women.

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