The Glass Ceiling and Women Career Advancement: A Study Based on Ready – Made Garment Industry in Sri Lanka

Abstract

There is a growing number of women who enter the workforce, and an increasing number of top leadership positions remain limited. This questionable situation has been identified by scholars as “glass ceiling” and researchers revealed that there are invisible barriers which women are facing when they are trying to climb up the leadership ladder. The main purpose of this study is to explore the glass ceiling concept and female career advancement in the ready-made garment industry in Sri Lanka. This study used in-depth narrative interviews and observation for data collection and eleven female employees were purposively approached and interviewed. Narratives were used to collect and analyze the qualitative data. Findings revealed that there were three main influences, namely individual barriers, organizational barriers and social barriers for women to get into the top leadership positions. The study gives some recommendations on how organizations, individuals and society can simplify the development of female advancement into the top leadership positions.