The Glass Ceiling – Where is it? Women's and Men's Career Prospects in the Private vs. the Public Sector in Sweden 1979–2000

Abstract

Previous research suggests that women have more limited career opportunities than men. Using Swedish longitudinal data, covering the period between 1979 and 2000, more light is shed on the association between hierarchical levels and differences between men's and women's career opportunities in terms of occupational transitions. The analyses indicate that women face the greatest hinderance to advancement at lower hierarchical levels and that these disadvantages attenuate with higher hierarchical levels. These results contradict the common idea of a glass ceiling, ie that problems for women accrue with increasing hierarchical levels. The findings point to the need for focusing more on gender inequalities at low hierarchical positions although the glass ceiling hypothesis cannot be dismissed altogether. Moreover, the results do not support the view that the gender penalty in careers is larger in the private sector as compared to the public sector.

Thou shalt not pass?

“…For example, some results suggest that women seem to be penalized more in terms of their likelihood of experiencing upward mobility in female dominated occupations, whereas their career opportunities are on par with those of men in male dominated occupations (Hultin 2003). This idea is supported by findings presented by Bihagen and Ohls (2006), who fail to find a greater gender penalty in the private sector as compared to the public sector. Also, indications that the disadvantage women experience in terms of further upward mobility is more severe when they are employed in lower rather than higher status positions would seem to disprove the glass ceiling hypothesis for Sweden (ibid).…”

“…One of the most common explanations for the existence of a glass ceiling, as proposed in the literature that focuses on demand-side mechanisms, pertains to the top sphere of the occupational hierarchy as being "homo-social" (Bihagen and Ohls 2006). This implies that the top segment of the occupational hierarchy is dominated by native men who maintain its homogeneity by mainly recruiting individuals who resemble themselves.…”

Job Insecurity and Its Consequences: Investigating Moderators, Mediators and Gender

“…This phenomenon is often referred to as vertical segregation (Hull & Umansky, 1997) or the "glass ceiling" effect (e.g., England, Herbert, Kilbourne, Reid, & Megdal, 1994;Hultin, 1998). Comparing the U.S., Britain, and Sweden, it has been pointed out that Sweden is a country with very few women at the top of the organizational hierarchies (Bihagen & Ohls, 2006;cf. Charles, 2003;Petersen & Meyersson, 1999).…”

Gender and Racial Differentials in Promotions

“…Promotions are also linked to authority (Bihagen and Ohls, 2006;Pergamit and Veum, 1999), training opportunities (Pergamit and Veum, 1999), and increased job satisfaction (Pergamit and Veum, 1999;Francesconi, 2001). Lack of advancement opportunities is a major contributor to voluntary quit decisions by employees who otherwise fit the job well and contribute value-added to the firm (Moss, Salzman and Tilly, 2008).…”