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Glass Ceiling

Posted by ESC on June 10, 2000

In Reply to: Origin of Glass Ceiling posted by Berta Riley on June 10, 2000

: How did the expression "Glass Ceiling" originate?

GLASS CEILING - "Invisible barrier to women or minorities in corporate promotions. This image of an unexpected see-through obstruction was coined in the mid-1980s. Alice Sargent, a Fortune 500 consultant and author of 'The Androgynous Manager,' told the 'Washington Post' in 1987 that 'women in corporate America are 'bumping their heads on the glass ceiling. Women are looking up at the top and not making it into the board room or the executive suites.' Women are not alone in discovering the barrier; minority males have experienced the same prejudicial treatment. Theresa Hong Bailar reported in 'East/West News' in 1988, 'The glass ceiling. The broken ladder. The great wall. These terms used to describe promotional barriers faced by Asian Americans in the workplace today - whether as a journeyman plumber or a rising star in an established company like Hewlett Packard.' Perhaps patterned on 'price ceiling' for a solid upper limit, 'glass ceiling' is primarily a barrier to upper management.A tougher variant of the breakable 'glass ceiling' is 'Lucite ceiling'." " From Safire's New Political Dictionary by William Safire (Random House, New York, 1993).

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