ABSTRACT
The glass ceiling in the US The stubbornness of the ceiling is often attributed to the covert and invisible nature of the barriers that continue to reproduce traditional hierarchies within workplaces. In a key article that clarified the difference between the glass ceiling and other kinds of inequalities, the authors explain that the glass ceiling represents differences in workplaces that are not explained by “job-relevant” characteristics of the employee. That is, it has less to do with the qualifications of the employee and more to do with hidden and unstated rules of interaction, reflecting a pernicious kind of micropolitics. They further clarify that it represents a gender or racial inequality at higher levels of outcomes and that it also represents the inequality in the chances of advancement into higher levels.2
