A glass ceiling is a political term used to describe "the unseen, yet unbreakable barrier that keeps

minorities and women from rising to the upper rungs of the corporate ladder, regardless of their
qualifications or achievements.

The term was first coined in March 1984 by Gay Bryant, the former editor of Working
Woman magazine. In a widely cited article in the Wall Street Journal in March 1986, term was used in
the article's title: "The Glass Ceiling: Why Women Can't Seem to Break The Invisible Barrier That
Blocks Them From the Top Jobs." The article was written by Carol Hymowitz and Timothy D.
Schellhardt.

CAUSES
• Sexual, ethnic, racial, religious discrimination or harassment in the workplace

• Suggestions that it is self-imposed by some women

• Work-life balance challenges impact women's advancement

• Women work fewer hours

• Even ambitious women don't measure success in high salaries and fancy job titles

• Inadequate recruitment practices

• Lack of family-friendly workplace policies

The gender pay gap is the difference between male and female earnings. In 2008 the OECD found
that the median earnings of female full-time workers were 17% lower than the earnings of their male
counterparts and that "30% of the variation in gender wage gaps across OECD countries can be
explained by discriminatory practices in the labour market."[11][12] The European Commission found
that women's hourly earnings were 17.5% lower on average in the 27 EU Member States in
2008.[13] The female-to-male earnings ratio was 0.77 in the United States in 2009

Yet women are out performing men at university and, in many sectors, at the graduate
recruitment stage. So what happens when it comes to the stage in a woman's career where
appointments are being made to the senior posts which pay the big money and carry all the
status?
Conventional wisdom has it that women are distracted by the burden of childcare and make
work–life balance decisions that favour family over career. It is undoubtedly true that long office
hours and lack of flexible working options do play a part, but is this the whole story? Many
commentators consider that unconscious bias has just as much of a role to play in keeping the
glass ceiling remains stubbornly in place, and a recent discrimination case in the employment
tribunal has provided a good illustration of this.

NIRMALA KANNAN

Smooth Sailing
She joined the Navy in 1977 at the INHS-Asvini

In her crisp white uniform and smart cap, Rear Admiral Nirmala Kannan is a picture of poise and
grace. In addition to the formal duties of a Naval officer, she is a sensitive doctor, a happy
homemaker, a music buff and a sports person. Her distinction lies in the fact that she has been
the first woman in several official capacities in the Indian Navy, a capable trendsetter!
 Hailing from Meempat tharavadu in Malappuram, Nirmala is the sister of Foreign Secretary
Nirupama Rao, and Asha Gill, a doctor living in Kuala Lumpur.

HILARY CLINTON

The whole world is watching: Will Hillary run? Clinton has a CV full of firsts: She is the only first
lady to become a U.S. senator turned viable presidential candidate turned secretary of state. Now
a private citizen, she holds her position as one of the most powerful women on the planet with all
bets on that she will be the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate and likely next leader of the
free world

Sheryl Sandberg
Facebook's COO incited a new conversation on feminism in the workplace with her March 2013
book, "Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead." The manifesto sold nearly 150,000 copies
in its first week and has held the top non-fiction spot on bestseller lists since. But Sandberg's
biggest success of the year may have happened right in Menlo Park. After adding ads to its mobile
news feed, Facebook earned more U.S. mobile revenue than any other publisher in 2012

Christine Lagarde
 Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
The first woman to run the 188-country financial organization spent much of her first two years
on the job battling the debt crisis in Europe and calling for ailing global economies to accelerate
steps for stable growth.

Indra Nooyi
 CEO, PepsiCo

Virginia Rometty
 CEO, IBM

Oprah Winfrey
Entrepreneur, Personality

The world's only African-American billionaire has attracted stars from Lance Armstrong to
Rihanna for sit-down confessionals on her OWN network

Meg Whitman
 CEO, Hewlett-Packard
 Aung San Suu Kyi
Follow (31)

 Chair and Parliamentarian, National League for Democracy, Burma

ess than two years after being released from nearly two decades under house arrest, Suu Kyi was
elected to Burma's parliament in an election where her National League for Democracy party
took 43 of 45 open seats.

Sri Mulyani Indrawati

 Managing Director, World Bank

Chanda Kochhar
 Managing Director and CEO, Icici Bank