What is Glass Ceiling Syndrome? How to Cope?

 In Turkey, 31.8 out of every 100 people in business life are women; But did you know that only 17.5 out of every 100 managers are women? But what if only 4.8 percent of companies on the Fortune 500 list have a female CEO? All these data point to the concept: Glass ceiling syndrome. So, what is glass ceiling syndrome?

 

In the business world, there can be many problems experienced by both men and women. Elimination of these problems is possible with the right human resources management. Incorrect management of human resources in companies may cause problems such as discrimination in business life to be unresolved or even normalized. Women's glass ceiling syndrome is also caused by deficiencies in strategic human resources management.

 

Glass Ceiling Concept

 

The concept of glass ceiling is a frequently used concept in the business world today. In fact, in recent years , theses on glass ceiling syndrome have been published and glass ceiling syndrome has been the subject of a book. However, it is not a new concept. The first publication of the concept of glass ceiling, which first appeared in the USA in 1970, is the book “Men and Women in Companies” by Rosebeth Moss Kanter, published in 1977. Nine years later, the concept was featured in an interview titled “Women in Business” on Wall Street.

 

The term glass ceiling in the glass ceiling syndrome is actually a metaphor that comes from the word glass, which means transparent. The basis of the syndrome is the flea test. The flea experiment by self-help expert David J. Schwartz is as follows: Schwartz puts a few fleas in a glass bowl on a metal floor. When the metal floor is heated, the fleas are disturbed by the heat and try to escape by jumping. In the meantime, the fleas hit their head against the glass bell and fall. When this situation is repeated, fleas learn not to jump higher than 30 centimeters.

 

David J. Schwartz, The second phase of the experiment begins when the fleas jump to the same height. There is no glass ceiling in the second phase; however, fleas do not jump higher than 30 centimeters when the metal floor is heated, despite the absence of a glass bell. Fleas do not have the courage to jump higher. So, the barrier to fleas jumping higher is not physical but mental. Fleas have learned the thought that they cannot succeed.

 

We can answer the question of what the glass ceiling means with the glass ceiling test , namely the flea test: Learned helplessness. Although glass ceiling syndrome is associated with women, we cannot express this syndrome only as a woman syndrome. A man can also suffer from this syndrome; However, the dominance of the patriarchal social structure has caused this syndrome to be a problem mostly experienced by women.

 

Causes of Glass Ceiling Effect in Business Life

In the second stage of the flea experiment, the fleas did not jump higher due to the invisible barrier. This learned helplessness situation is explained as the glass ceiling effect in business life . Glass ceilings in business life, that is, things that are seen as obstacles are not only individual obstacles. There are also barriers arising from organizational and societal factors.

 

We can list the individual reasons for the glass ceiling effect in women as follows:

 

A woman has three important roles in her life: being a good mother, being a good wife, and being a good woman. Of course, women have the potential to realize all three; However, achieving work-life balance is not always easy. Multi-role conflict is one of the situations that can hinder women's business life.

One of the causes of the glass ceiling effect is the queen syndrome. Queen syndrome is when a woman reflects men's attitudes towards her fellows. A woman with this syndrome thinks that being in the top management is a privilege and that those who do not have this separation should look for the reason for the failure in themselves.

We can list the organizational elements that cause career barriers for women as follows:

 

Having a masculine approach in business life.

Lack of a mentoring relationship for the organization

The social factor that causes the glass ceiling syndrome is occupational and gender discrimination. The belief that some occupational groups can only be performed by men is the most common cause of glass ceiling syndrome. In Turkey, examples of glass ceiling syndrome are generally seen for this reason. The most important indicator of the glass ceiling syndrome is the difference in wages between men and women working in the same position.

 

Many studies have been conducted on the glass ceiling syndrome. The glass ceiling syndrome questionnaire questions applied to women and men in these studies are as follows:

 

Do you believe that the ratio of working women and female managers can be increased?

Do you think a woman's having a child can have a positive or negative effect on her career development?

Do you think the patriarchal family structure is an obstacle to the existence of women in economic life?

Would you support a project that will enable women to take more part in working life or to have more women in managerial positions?

Do you know what glass ceiling syndrome means ?

According to a survey, the most important reasons why women cannot reach the upper levels in business life are as follows:

 

Living in a male dominated society

Family elders or spouses do not allow women to work with the perspective of “women should take care of children at home”

Low female literacy rate

Women are more emotional than men

Women's family responsibilities

Not many senior executive women who can be role models

 

How to Overcome Glass Ceiling Syndrome?

According to the Global Gender Inequality Index published by the World Economic Forum, women's participation in the economy is only 22 percent in Turkey. In order to ensure equality and a fair business life, women must first be able to combat the glass ceiling syndrome.

 

The way to overcome the glass ceiling syndrome is to ensure gender equality. For this, each individual should be aware of his/her own weaknesses and strengths, should not avoid taking responsibility, and should value himself/herself. It is also critical for families to teach their children the distinction between social and biological sex while raising their children, and to include awareness-raising publications in the media to change prejudices in terms of combating glass ceiling syndrome.

 

In order to individually combat the glass ceiling syndrome;

 

You should receive training to improve your personal skills and professional qualifications,

In order to be self-confident, one must get rid of the feeling of victimization,

You should not miss the training and mentorship opportunities in the company you work for,

Focus on using body language correctly and developing diction in order to communicate correctly and effectively ,

Believing in the power of team spirit, it should give importance not only to individual work but also to teamwork,

Be attentive to time management in order to maintain work-life balance,

You should not focus on work, but give importance to social relations and take time for yourself for your hobbies.

We can also evaluate the organizational and social causes of glass ceiling syndrome as psychological violence. It is important for a fair and successful business life that each individual who makes up the society puts a stop to all forms of violence, develops himself in order not to be self-confident, and makes career management .