“…This proposition, which we term the increasing-disadvantage model, is a core element of the popular glass ceiling metaphor (Hymowitz and Schellhardt 1986;Federal Glass Ceiling Commission 1995a, p. 9;1995b;Baxter and Wright 2000). Despite continued widespread public acceptance of the glass ceiling idea (Economist 2005) and some consistent findings (Paulin and Mellor 1996;Cohen, Broschak, and Haveman 1998), most research to date has failed to support the increasing-disadvantage model. Indeed, several studies based on private-sector firms find that women's mobility prospects improve, rather than decline, as they climb upward in corporate hierarchies (Bruderl, Preisendorfer, and Ziegler 1993;Spilerman and Petersen 1999;Petersen and Saporta 2004;Dencker 2008).…”