Beyond Glass Ceilings and Brick Walls - International Labour ...

Aside from the survey of 100 companies, 66 working women were
interviewed with the assistance of structured questionnaires. These workers
were able to point to the relatively diminutive numbers of women workers
who have managed to triumph over occupational segregation; who have
had the opportunity to break the traditional moulds they occupy, and enter
new areas of work.
• Of the 66 workers interviewed, only 3 were given training in nontraditional
areas. For instance, one woman learned to operate a
packing machine in a factory.
• Only 6% of these women were able to refer to other women workers
in non-traditional jobs within their institutions.
Taken as a whole, the statistical landscapes within these work organizations
raise a number of issues. Firstly, it conveys the lower (48%) overall
participation of women workers (in spite of the sample consisting of a number
of female-dominant work organizations). Secondly, it tabulates gender
segregation (vertical/horizontal/divisional), delineating the exact locations
of men and women in terms of how they are walled up into particular
occupations and divisions. While definitive evidence is not available, it is
also possible that this may imply ‘a glass ceiling syndrome’ that restricts
women’s upward mobility for numerous reasons. It is possible that arising
from these phenomena in the workplace, are issues such as the circumscription
of choice and the denial of the right to choose one’s work sector (despite
equal qualifications or training) and the denial of upward or lateral mobility.
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