Glass ceiling: A study on women employees in selectIndian service sectors

Abstract

Many western studies support the existence of the glass ceiling based on numerous constructs such as social, cultural, individual barriers, and so on. In India, there is no solid evidence on this point. According to one of TeamLease’s surveys on staffing services, and over half of those who participated have experienced workplace discrimination. Despite an increase in literacy and skills among women, the ratio of women progressing in their careers is very low. Purpose. The aim of the study is to uncover the dominant aspects that hinder the advancement of Indian women at work. Study design. The researcher used stratified random sampling to select respondents from the service sector’s IT/ITES, financial firms, healthcare, hospitality, and education industries at the entry, junior, middle, and senior levels. The study’s sample size was set at 500 people. Data was gathered both from male as well as female respondents toavoid bias. The respondents were made up of employees at various levels who were asked about their opinions of the term “glass ceiling.” The Cronbach Alpha for all constructs was 0.7, indicating that the statements were internally consistent, and the survey form was reliable. SPSS 23.0 was used to analyse the data. Findings. The empirical analysis of independent factors on performance-enhancing aspects in the organisation is examined using multiple linear regressions. To investigate the factors influencing the glass ceiling, an exploratory factor analysis was performed, and five factors were identified: individual factors, social and societal factors, organizational factors, cultural factors, and gender related issues. Model summary depicted, correlation coefficient as .542, and R2 is .451, which showed the explanatory power of independent variables on dependent variable. Results indicate that these factors can impact advancement of women by 45.1%.