Women aren’t hitting a glass ceiling because that doesn’t exist, it’s a baseless conspiracy theory, as I explained in my book The Glass Ceiling Delusion. The prime reason for women’s representation at senior levels of business has long been understood, the key factor being gender differences in work ethic, as Dr Catherine Hakin, a leading sociologist, explained in her Preference Theory in 2000 – while four in seven British men are work-centred, only one in seven British women is. She found similar numbers in other European countries she researched.
The psychologist Susan Pinker interviewed many female senior executives and reported her findings in The Sexual Paradox. The bottom line? A higher proportion of women than men are unwilling to make the sacrifices necessary to reach the top level in business, i.e. Pinker confirmed Preference Theory.
With women being preferenced for senior executive positions, the notion of a glass ceiling is now laughable. So some paranoid feminist has invented the broken ladder. I predict we’ll be hearing about this new baseless conspiracy theory for the next 10 years. Not one journalist in the worldwide mainstream media will debunk it. Our thanks to Stu for this.
Justice for Men & Boys 
One truly despairs. Some years ago the then Swedish Government commissioned a whole load of research into this “problem” because Sweden in fact doesn’t have many women in management and executive positions, and the proportions had actually gone into decline (the supposed “success” is actually in politics and is of course the result of various forms of “quotas” ). The research was done and the reports very interesting.
The fundamental point was that the very fact that Sweden had generous provision for women to take various forms of parental and family leave, to work flexibly and part time meant women did have choice to mould their working life to their wishes and had little incentive to climb corporate ladders.
The second point related to the fact that Sweden is also one of Europe’s most occupationally segregated economies. Women know that the generous provisions are most readily available in Sweden’s large state sector and so crowd into the occupations in that sector. Conversely Sweden’s valuable extractive, producer, manufacturing and business sectors are male preserves. As they are industries much less able to accommodate the high costs of flexible working etc.
Of course because of the ideology of Swedish governments their policy response has been to offer similar leave entitlements to men, then when that didn’t work make these compulsory. To “level the playing field”. Needless to say the Swedish private sector has generally done its best to sidestep these extra costs and the occupational segregation remains as entrenched and very little change in the proportion of senior women executives outside the state sector (or even in it in fact).
The point being that in a nation that has made it its business to remove “glass ceilings” and create golden ladders of advancement it is clear that their simultaneous commitment to ensuring women have choices to “work life balance” means that they choose to reflect precisely Hakim’s thesis.
The evidence is chrystal clear to anyone.
Unsurprisingly if one looks for the “high performers” in breaking the “glass ceiling” across the world they are in fact those countries where women (and men) have little choice. Either through poverty, no one can afford not to work, or ideology in communist countries where everyone has to be a worker ,or both, such as China.
The evidence is clear, to break the “glass ceiling” the policy has to be to end all policies that support women’s “choice”. Even in Europe the “best” performers are those with little provision for leave and other flexibility, comparatively few benefits and small part time sectors. Italy and Poland being the front runners of the larger nations.
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An interesting shift of the goal posts.
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‘With women being preferenced for senior executive positions, the notion of a glass ceiling is now laughable.
Not at all: I’d say the glass ceiling is all too real for those men denied promotion so that less capable or incapable women can be given top jobs.
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how about women simply lacking the stamina, determination, dedication and energy to climb that ladder to the ‘ glass’ ceiling ? Allowed to say this? Is a gentleman supposed to say this? Not sure… But someone sure as hell needs to say it already… Or, do wee need a child to say it? Like in the ‘ Emperor’s New Clothes’ ? Afraid so….
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Careful Marty, you’ll hurt women’s feelings with that kind of talk haha!
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