Being the young, career-oriented woman that I am, I spend a lot of time thinking about and planning my professional future. Which direction to go in, what avenue to pursue next, what accreditations I need, how to get ahead today… But among all of these other concerns that I have for the future, from time to time I am reminded of another: the glass ceiling. The glass ceiling effect refers to an invisible barrier that prevents the professional advancement of a qualified person beyond a certain level of hierarchy (or pay) because of discrimination.

In this blog entry, (and in order to avoid speaking about that which I do not know) I want to address the glass ceiling in the context in which it refers to women specifically. This entry, like many others, is inspired by a flurry of news articles and blog entries that I caught wind of this week. The first, about the “insipid sexism of a male-dominated political culture”, and another about women making more than men on corporate boards.

Despite the views of these authors, I feel as though the ‘glass ceiling’ is a somewhat antiquated notion that referred to a force that once kept women out of the boardroom and positions of management. Today, I think the explanation behind this phenomenon has more to do with the decisions individuals make, and less about a work culture of entitlement.

I probably take this approach for two reasons:

1. I want to
   
2. I have to

Let me elaborate: I want to believe the glass ceiling doesn’t exist because I don’t want to adopt a defeatist approach and accept that there are forces beyond my control that will always prevent me from accomplishing my goals. I’m just starting out in the workplace and don’t want to abandon my mission of climbing the corporate ladder by disempowering myself.

But I have to believe the glass ceiling doesn’t exist or else the notion of its mere existence will become a crutch, an excuse, a reason for my every failure or shortcoming and would ultimately be the demise of my professional career.

At the end of the day, whether the glass ceiling effect is real or not, in my mind I have to feel empowered to move forward and persevere, relinquishing perceived drawbacks that might prevent me from reaching my goals and holding myself 100% accountable for my every failure and success.