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

doubtful that management was aware of the discriminatory potential of this
organizational practice-which was seen as gender neutral.
Upward Mobility
Currently, there are many factors that, taken collectively, have bearing upon
an employee’s upward mobility within a company. In principle, these include
performance, experience, qualifications, systems of promotion, and the evaluation
of employee potential. Yet in practice, it is possible that other matters such as
social standing and influence, personal relationships with the management, and
outright favouritism can affect the selection and rapidity of promotions.
The study notes that there is a general view that English-speaking,
‘presentable’, ‘westernized’, and confident workers (both men and women)
find it easier to climb corporate ladders as opposed to mainly Sinhala- and
Tamil-speaking members of the workforce. At the same time, workers (mainly
male) who are popular with the management (or who network extensively) are
able to rise in position faster than members who are solely hardworking and
competent. The study detects several instances where men who are less
competent have been promoted, and provided with company benefits and travel
opportunities due to their apparently forceful manner, as opposed to women
workers who are less self-assured though more experienced, qualified and
proficient. This reveals the critical value placed on certain personalities at the
workplace, as well as the deficiencies in the overall promotion structures.
In one instance, a factory worker who responded to the questionnaire
rejected the offer of a promotion to a supervisor, because she feared her
colleagues would spread stories that she received the promotion due to
favouritism/sexual favour. Interestingly, this woman also goes on to state
that there was no sexual harassment at her workplace - conveying
conflicting feelings about sexual harassment on the whole. This conveys
that another factor preventing the upward mobility of women seems to
be their own internalized patriarchal values and norms.
Gender studies have long documented the damaging impact of pregnancy on
the career-tracks of women. Field research also tends to confirm the view that
more than one pregnancy (especially during a short time period) results in the
delay of a woman worker’s upward mobility, or even in the stagnation of the
worker in a particular job slot. This seems also true of workers who refuse to
participate in company fellowship and other activities, on the grounds of family
responsibilities.
On the whole none of the employees interviewed spoke of any knowledge of
women working their way to the apex of their institutions.
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