Through the glass ceiling: is mentoring the way forward?

Abstract

Over the past 30 years, the term the 'glass ceiling' has come to be known as a metaphor for vertical segregation, symbolising an invisible barrier that prevents women from progressing in their careers. Increasingly women are found in higher level positions and mentoring has often been touted as an important way to help women break through the glass ceiling. This paper explores the continued relevance of the glass ceiling and the use of mentoring programs as a means to help women to overcome it. The findings suggest that although some women have penetrated the glass ceiling, further work is needed if a more equitable number of women are to advance to senior level positions. Whilst mentoring can play an important role in helping women to achieve more senior positions, mentoring is not a panacea but only one of many strategies that must be adopted to effectively address the phenomena of glass ceiling.taught on an MSc course in Diversity Management at the Centre of Inclusion and Diversity. She is interested in applied research in areas related to the reduction of inequality, prejudice, discrimination, racism and sexism and the enhancement of interculturalism, cultural and intercultural competence. Nayyara Tabassum is currently working in the Royal Mencap Society, London to research and improve the lives of people with a learning disability. She worked in two Horizon 2020 EU-funded projects related to gender -STAGES (based at the University of Milan, Italy) and GENOVATE (based at the University of Bradford, UK). Her main research interests are around gender, disability, work and employment, work-life balance, science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM) and social inequalities. She has an MPhil in Sociology from the University of Cambridge, UK and a PhD from the University of Milan, Italy.Bryan McIntosh has worked in central government, the NHS, local government and at various academic institutions within the UK. These include University of Westminster, University of Surrey, University of Greenwich and King's College London. He is the Consultant Editor of the British Journal of Healthcare Management dealing directly with commissioning and content. He has an extensive publication record in peer reviewed journals and has worked extensively within the field of health management consultancy.

Creating an Inclusive Built Environment: Achieving Gender Equality in the Real Estate Industry

“…The equality and diversity and inclusion of women in the built environment may encourage more females to enter the industry. However, it is being reported that the dominance of men in the industry puts off potential work candidates in the industry because of a lack of females to look up to and also to mentor them during their careers (Noe, 1988;Caprice et al, 2018). Also, the underrepresentation of women is attributed to cultural and structural problems as well as the pre-conceived nature that females are predisposed to work (Soo-Cheen, et al, 2020).…”