Abstract
Metaphors are powerful tools of communication. They connect expressive images with daily concepts or events. For far too long metaphors about women and leadership have been negative and victimizing. Coined in 1986 in the Wall Street Journal as a metaphor for the invisible barriers to career advancement women encounter, the ‘glass ceiling’ is still popular today. Based on the notion that gender stereotypes create a network of constraints and interpersonal reactions, it has inspired a host of glass barriers, from the glass cliff1 to glass borders and glass escalators,2 as explanations for the absence of women in top positions.3 Another catchphrase is that a host of obstacles prevent women from reaching the C-suite while they struggle through ‘the labyrinth of leadership’.4
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Notes
C. L. Ridgeway (2001) ‘Gender, status and leadership’, Journal of Social Issues, 57(4): 637–55.
A. H. Eagly and L. L. Carli (2007) ‘Women and the labyrinth of leadership’, Harvard Business Review, 85(9): 62–71.
K. S. Lyness and K. Thompson (2000) ‘Climbing the corporate ladder: Do female and male executives follow the same route?’, Journal of Applied Psychology, 85(1): 86–101.
P. Cappelli and M. Hamori (2005) ‘The new road to the top’, Harvard Business Review, 83(1): 25–32.
Further recommended reading: P. Thomson and J. A. Graham (2008) A Woman’s Place in the Boardroom — The Roadmap. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
J. Westphal and I. Stern (2007) ‘Flattery will get you anywhere (especially if you are a male Caucasian): How ingratiation, boardroom behavior, and demographic minority status affect additional board appointments at U.S. companies’, Academy of Management Journal, 50(2): 267–88.
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© 2011 Mirella Visser
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Visser, M. (2011). Career. In: The Female Leadership Paradox. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230304970_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230304970_8
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-33088-1
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