GLASS CEILING

What is the Glass Ceiling?

Glass ceiling is an unacknowledged

discriminatory barrier that prevents
women or any minority from rising
to a position of power or
responsibility within an
organization.
The term glass ceiling is most often applied in
the business situation in which women feels
that men are very much involved in the usage
of power and women find it difficult to or
rather impossible to reach to that level or
break the glass ceiling.

It is when women or people from minorities

feel that they are not getting a senior position
in an organization because of their gender or
race
Factors that prevent women from
rising through the corporates

• Family responsibilities
• Paid less than men
• Sex Discrimination
• Signs of racism
• Sexual Harassment
But does it actually exist?
Examples of women who
shattered glass ceiling
Arundhati Bhattacharya
• Currently Managing Director of the State Bank of India
• First woman to be chairperson of State Bank of India
• In 2016, she was listed as the 25th most powerful in the
world by Forbes. In same year, she was named the 4th
most powerful women in Asia Pacific by Fortune
• She is the first woman to lead an India-based Fortune
500 company
• She has held several positions during her
36-year career with the bank including
working in foreign exchange, treasury, retail
operations, human resources and investment
banking
Chanda Kochhar
• She is the MD and CEO of ICICI Bank
• She is the 8th highest paid women CEO in India with an
annual pay package is at Rs 4.24 crore
• She has been named as the most powerful woman in
business in India for the second consecutive year by
Fortune Magazine
• In 2015, she was ranked first in the Fortune List of 100
Most Powerful Women in Asia Pacific
• In 2016, she was on the 22nd position in the
Forbes Asia’s ‘50 Power Businesswomen List
2016’
Punita Arora
• She is the first woman in India to don the second highest
rank i.e. Lieutenant General of Indian Armed Forces and
the first Vice admiral of Indian Navy
• She has been awarded with 15 medals in her 36 years of
career in Indian Armed Forces
• Her best awards include Param Vishisht Seva Medal,
Vishisht Seva Medal and Sena Medal
• She was awarded Vishist Seva Medal for providing
efficient and timely help to victims of the
Kaluchak Massacre.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
• She is the chairman and managing director
of Biocon Limited, a biotechnology company based
in Bengaluru, India
• She is also the chairperson of IIM-Bangalore
• In 2014, she was awarded the Othmer Gold Medal, for
outstanding contributions to the progress of science and
chemistry
• She is on the Financial Times’ top 50 women in business
list
• In 2016, she was listed as the 77th most powerful in the
world by Forbes
List of some other Indian Women who
shattered glass ceiling
• Indra Nooyi, Chairperson and CEO of PepsiCo
• Shikha Sharma, MD & CEO of Axis Bank
• Vinita Bali, MD of Britannia Industries
• Preetha Reddy, MD of Apollo Hospital
Enterprises