Glass or concrete ceiling : barriers to career development of women

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Kaleidoskopinis karjeros modelis; Kaleidoskopo karjeros modelis; Karjeros kliūtys; Kliūtys darant karjerą; Moters karjeros vystymas/plėtra; Moterų karjeros tobulėjimas, barjerai karjerai, karjers kaleidoskopo modelis; Moterų karjeros vystymas; Career barriers; Career development of women; Career development of women, career barriers, Kaleidoscope Career; Kaleidoscope Career Model; Model.

ENThe concept of "having a career" is only 100 years old. Before industrial era, most people inherited the occupations of their parents, and women used to do whatever their mothers did on a farm or in a town. Even at those times males had more opportunities to develop professionally and become doctors, priests or teachers More than a century has passed but women still keep on hitting the "glass ceiling" along the path of their career development. Career development of women is affected not only by internal barriers, like negative self-efficacy beliefs and low motivation, but also by external barriers, like gender segregation in the labor market, stereotypes, discrimination and the like. Women are frequently excluded from the resources needed for job success, such as decision making power, networking or training opportunities. Lithuania is one of the highly gender segregated countries in EU, together with Estonia, Slovakia and Latvia.The data collected in January 2012 across EU revealed that only 15% of women were members of the highest decision making body of largest publicly quoted companies (14% in EU). Women are "sandwiched" between work and family obligations: they are primary care-givers to both their children and elderly parents and carry most of the domestic burden. Since structure of time and responsibilities in the typical organization is designed to adapt to the career models of males, females face additional pressure to succeed in this highly competitive "alpha-male" work environment. The paper examines the most common barriers that hinder career development of women and discusses the elements of Kaleidoscope Career Model. [From the publication]