RESPONSE TO BAXTER AND WRIGHT

Abstract

The glass ceiling is a very popular metaphor among gender scholars. It has become a shorthand expression for describing myriad obstacles that prevent women from being promoted to high positions of authority, prestige, and pay. So it is significant when Gender & Society publishes an article debunking its implicit claims. In their recent article, Janeen Baxter and Erik Olin Wright (2000) argue that metaphor of glass ceiling does accurately depict barriers that women confront in workforce. In their study of three countries, they find little evidence to support idea that discrimination against women increases as they move into top-level management positions. They suggest that barriers for women actually may be greater at lower levels of job hierarchies than at top. It is debatable whether they have correctly defined glass ceiling, however. They write, Taken literally, metaphor of glass ceiling implies existence of an impermeable barrier that blocks vertical mobility of women. Below this barrier women are able to get promoted; beyond this barrier, they are not (p. 276). To test for existence of glass ceiling, they examine whether the barriers to managerial promotions become increasingly severe for women compared to men as they move up hierarchy (p. 277).