Gender discrimination in the workplace: An approach from the glass ceiling effect

Abstract

The struggle of women to enter the labor market has generated positive effects in their lives, as it has allowed them, in some cases, to improve their social status, with respect to their productive and reproductive roles. Nevertheless, the same labor market has also hampered female career advancement, since it has limited women’s access to managerial, strategic, or decision-making positions, as if there were an invisible barrier known as the <em>glass </em><em>ceiling effect</em>. This review article analyzes this effect, its conceptualization, the theory that sustains it, its empirical application, and public policies, in order to understand the dynamics of workplace discrimination by gender in some Ibero-American countries. The main findings suggest that occupational and wage discrimination against women is the result of social prejudices determined by the sexual division of labor, since educational level and work experience are not what cause women’s stagnation, which indicates that markets are functioning without equity.