Glass ceiling still prevents women reaching top jobs

Despite significant gains in the past 10 years, women executives around the world still face an uphill battle to achieve workplace equality, a study by consultancy Accenture shows.

The Anatomy of the Glass Ceiling: Barriers to Women’s Professional Advancement, is based on a survey of 1,200 male and female executives in eight countries in North America, Europe and Asia.

The results show that only 30% of female executives and 43% of male executives believe that women have the same opportunities as men in the workplace today. Respondents were asked to score factors they felt influenced their career success across three “dimensions”: individual, company and society.

The differences between male and female respondents’ answers were used to calculate the “thickness” of the glass ceiling.

However, the study found that overall the women executives were about as personally satisfied with their own career opportunities and positions as men were with theirs.

The same percentage of men and women respondents (58%) said they are fairly compensated or that their salary reflects their personal achievements. In addition, about the same number of women as men said they feel secure in their jobs.

Kedrick Adkins, Accenture’s chief diversity officer, said: “The study reminds us that while there has been progress in shattering the glass ceiling over the past 20 years, organisations – and societies – need to realise how important it is to capitalise and build upon the skills of women.

“Creating a business culture that supports innovation, growth and prosperity requires people with diverse talents, and organisations need to ensure that they value all styles of leadership and work.”

Taken from Personnel Today