Rapid Fire
Glass Ceiling
- 11 Sep 2024
- 2 min read
Recently, Hillary Clinton, former US Secretary of State stated that Kamala Kamala Harris' confirmation as the Democratic presidential candidate could break the "highest, hardest glass ceiling" for women in politics.
- Clinton, the first woman to be nominated for president by a major US party in 2016, believes this could lead to Harris becoming the 47th US President.
Glass Ceiling:
- It refers to the invisible barriers that prevent women and other marginalised groups from advancing to senior positions in their careers, despite having the qualifications and capabilities to do so.
- The phrase gained traction during the Second Wave of Feminism in the USA in the 1960s and 1970s, a time when women were increasingly demanding equality in the workplace.
- This period saw the introduction of laws in the US aimed at combating discrimination, such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
- Despite advancements, the persistence of the glass ceiling was underscored by the Glass Ceiling Commission (1991) established by the US President, which found that although women made up nearly 46% of the workforce and earned more than half of all master’s degrees, 95% of senior-level managers were men.
Read More: Empowering Women, Elevating India.
