Shatter Your Mental ‘Glass Ceiling’
“Teach your daughters to worry less about fitting into glass slippers and more about shattering glass ceilings.”
“YOU are CONFINED only by the WALLS you build YOURSELF.”
By Lady Eloise
As a mother of three amazing girls, I take my role of inspiration and leadership, seriously. Every month, I would stalk Pinterest boards in search of ‘that’ quote to print and stick on the girls’ bathroom mirror for inspiration. I would encourage them to memorize affirmations, and inspirational music of all genres bounces off my walls on the daily. When the shopping bug bites me, I will stock up on books, or even silly t-shirts that read, ‘Dream big’ or ‘My future is bright.’ It is always my goal to create an enabling environment for them to grow, advance their worldviews and to always see the cup as half-full as oppose to half-empty. My penchant for raising three confident women has inspired this article. Unfortunately, it has also seeded in me a twisted obsession with Pinterest. I am a bonafide Pinterest-acholic (laughs).
“YOU are CONFINED only by the WALLS you build YOURSELF.” It resonated with me. Quickly, I photocopied the quote and stuck it on my bathroom mirror as well. This set me thinking about the ‘glass ceiling,’ ‘glass cage,’ or ‘glass wall’; whatever your preference. Then my mind meandered to the diverse challenges women have epically battled for decades, many times yielding to defeat. And is still battling. Only the battle is becoming easier. But what does the ‘glass ceiling’ mean? Does it apply to you, queen sister? What are your thoughts?
Glass Ceiling Definition
According to the definition from Merriam-Webster, the glass ceiling is “an intangible barrier within a hierarchy that prevents women or minorities from obtaining upper-level positions.” The US Department of Labor documented in one of its reports, “it is invisible – but impenetrable – the barrier between women and the executive suite, preventing them from reaching the highest levels of the business world regardless of their accomplishments and merits.” Simply put without all that jazz, the glass ceiling is any barrier, obstacle, or hurdle infringing women’s advancement. Period. Whether it is in sports, technology, politics, medicine, manufacturing, media, finance, philanthropy, business, science or entrepreneurship. Undeniably, we have made some inroads, but there is still some ways to go.
Who is impacted? Women and minorities are the ones who face the implications of the ‘glass ceiling.’ The US Department of Labor says 97% of senior managers of Fortune 1000 and Fortune 500 companies are white males. Just 5% of senior managers are females – and they are also white. Irrefutably, women are one of the most underutilized and subjugated resources in the world, regardless of their qualifications and achievements. If we continue to discount this fact, there would be too many opportunities left unexploited on the table, and way too many problems still unsolved. So, what are some key challenges for women the world-over?
Ageism. Age discrimination impacts both men and women but seems far worse for women. This is a pervasive attitude of discrimination or unfair treatment of an individual due to their age; an unfortunate ‘mash-up’ between sexism and ageism. This judgment tolerates women being patronized, insulted, disregarded or underestimated. Ageism can affect women of all colors, ethnicities, socioeconomic backgrounds and aptitudes.
The deck is stacked, particularly against older women and we have to address this pattern. This facet of discrimination can paralyze a woman’s confidence, her job prospects, her financial situation and her overall quality of life. Personally, women – whether on the younger side or, the older side of the age spectrum – and their contribution to society should be celebrated. It seems the stereotyping is slowly waning; now with the emergence of cosmetic surgery, women leading healthier lifestyles and hey, we are cougars now!
Experience and qualifications. Unquestionably, society is obsessed with compartmentalizing rather than integrating our women; regardless of our merit. We continue to witness that over half of graduating classes are now women. Increasingly, women are acquiring more degrees than men, yet we are not sitting at the table. It is sometimes frustrating; we are experiencing an upward trajectory in educational achievement and the workforce, yet, our upward mobility into the ‘upper crust’ of management, is cordoned off.
In addition to this, most women unlike most men, lack a sponsor who will ‘bat’ for them, helping them promote their skills and abilities, to the organization decision- makers. Notwithstanding, the damaging perception of gender stereotypes and gender communication differences on the job. Also, challenges aren’t just at the top – challenges run the gamut of the workplace. It is unwritten, but society has several boxes and women are placed in one or the other. Yes, women can be older or younger and quite productive. Yes, we are mothers and caretakers, but that makes us all the more qualified to sit at the table. Yes, we are pretty but so are we educated, smart, studious and industrious. Yes, we are women, and we deserve our same-gendered role models. This way of thinking may exacerbate the third challenge. Motherhood. Ah! The quintessential double-edged sword that so many women today have fought, ducked, jabbed at and sidestepped. Should a woman choose between motherhood and pursuing a successful career? Can us women have it all, queen sisters? This never-ending dialogue began in the 1980’s when the term ‘glass ceiling’ was first introduced. This move was fueled back when women occupied vacant work slots left by men fighting in WWI and WWII. Then came the F-word (feminism) and its movement when women began protesting for equal rights on the job, reproductive rights, and relationship equality. This initial step catapulted women’s mindset to not settling and wanting a more meaningful life.
We are no longer satisfied with being barefooted and pregnant. We have a contribution to make. Women are braving the workforce to help our husbands/partners make ends meet. Another norm, most households are now headed by women. Thus the majority of us aren’t left with a choice. We have to keep the lights on, we have to keep milk in the refrigerator, and we have to ensure our children are happy. We have to keep it moving. Over time, we have blossomed into maestros in that elaborate dance of work, children, school, church, and community. However, your variables may fall. I may burst a bubble or two, but whether you do or do not have children, you’re still a woman, and that factor alone makes it traditionally difficult to infiltrate a male-dominated society.
Lack of role models. More than ever, women need female role models. Unlike men, having a gender-matched role model is crucial for women. In a recent issue of Psychology of Women Quarterly, the findings revealed that a woman’s self- esteem could be boosted by a female role model with a similar career path. Also, 75% of men too gravitated to someone of said gender. However, the men didn’t report that gender was an influential factor. There are relatively few, visible female role models out there but we need more, specifically to empower the upcoming generation of women.
Crack the Glass Ceiling
Sometimes when I need a reminder that it is possible to crack that ‘glass ceiling,’ I would peruse the Forbes list of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women. That’s 100 examples, 100 times the ‘glass ceiling’ has been smashed. I am thrilled with the 2016 candidates which include Hillary Clinton, Presidential candidate of the United States; Janet Yellen, Chair of the Federal Reserve of the United States; and Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. Some of my other role models are Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey. Or I just acknowledge my mother.
Waging war against your Mental Glass Ceiling. I do not see a ‘glass ceiling’ per say. What I perceive are societal gender dynamics that women have to face and some of these dynamics are hundreds of years, if not centuries old. There is hope. Everything is evolving: technology, transportation, fashion, food, mannerisms, the ideology of love? – So too is the gender landscape evolving, just be patient. In the meantime, however, our mobilization in this male-dominated pool is dependent on us, queen sisters. We are our limitation. We are confined only by the walls we build ourselves. I know it may sound cliché, but it has been proven time and time again.
It took us years to impact the wage gap, but we did; it took years to the right to vote (1920); we refused to give up our seat and set the stage for the end of segregation and the beginning of full Civil Rights for Blacks (Rosa Parks, 1955). We successfully transformed the role of First Lady (Eleanor Roosevelt, 1936); we founded the American Red Cross (Clara Barton, 1881); and we launched the New Women’s Movement (Betty Friedan, 1963). These are some of my favorite women-led historical breakthroughs, but the list of pioneer women is quite interesting.
My belief. I am trained to problem-solve. I do not wallow in the issue. Instead, I change my circumstance. I focus on what has been working and how to build on that achievement. It’s 2017, and it appears the ‘glass ceiling’ hype has somewhat fizzled. It’s not that I have become socially insensitive but that the ‘glass ceiling’ has converted to such a bastardized, misleading metaphor; I nonchalantly equate it to another obstacle I have no choice but to overcome. I am not naïve, as women, we have to work ten times harder than our male counterparts to achieve the bare minimum. Nonetheless, I am confident there are no doors women cannot unlock. We do not want to act like a man or think like a man – we just want to make our unique impressions.
Queens, that inner drive to not give up on our passion and aim for that ‘glass ceiling’? It’s all in our minds. Compared to how determined we are to lose weight for an upcoming reunion or to quit a bad habit, so too we have to wage war against our mental ‘glass ceilings,’ by overcoming all internal limitations. We are more empowered than we were two decades ago and tackling gender biases is commonplace and has plateaued. The paradigm is shifting from a dialogue about equality, diversity or inclusiveness to one of intrinsic self-actualization (Maslow’s hierarchy of needs).
The ‘glass ceiling’ is a mental hurdle and not just a structural one. All that said, the ‘glass ceiling’ will always be easier to smash when others are bludgeoning it in- sync with us. “It is past time for women to take their rightful place, side by side with men” Hillary Clinton, US Senator. Probably, for our next hurdle, we should be reaching out to our dads, brothers, uncles, grandfathers, husbands/partners, our sons and male cousins; unraveling their unconscious biases so they can ‘bat’ on our behalves. Queen sisters, we have to engage the men in our lives to start that conversation where we are concerned, to help us remove some of these impediments for us to soar.