Impact of Glass Ceiling on the Career Upward Mobility of Women in a Selected Large Scale Telecommunication Company in Sri Lanka

Abstract

This study is to discuss the relationship between glass ceiling and the upward mobility of women managers in the telecommunication sector in Sri Lanka. There is an empirical and knowledge gap in the Sri Lankan context on the relationship between the glass ceiling and the upward mobility of women managers and its impact. The main objective of this research study is to identify whether there is an impact of glass ceiling for the upward mobility of women managers in Sri Lankan large scale telecommunication company. The research problem of this study: Whether there is an impact of glass ceiling for the upward mobility of women managers in a selected telecommunication company in Sri Lanka? The data were collected from a convenient sample of 100 female executives in a Sri Lankan large scale Telecommunication Company with a structured questionnaire which consisted of 32 questions with five point Likert scales. Data was analyzed using univariate analysis, correlation and regression analysis with the SPSS (16.0 version). The findings of the study were that, the three factors of glass ceiling i.e. stereotype of women, work/family conflict and unfavorable corporate practices are negatively correlated with the career upward mobility of women managers in the Sri Lanka large scale telecommunication company. According to the regression analysis, 3.5% of the variance in career upward mobility of women managers has been accounted by the above three dimensions of glass ceiling. It is concluded that among the three dimension of glass ceiling considered in the study, especially the level of work/family conflict faced by women managers should be reduces in order to further enhance their career upward mobility. It was implied to the management of the company to take necessary actions to boost upward mobility of women managers in the organization.