Are Women Responsible for the Glass Ceiling?

• Position: Brief Article

Behavioral scientist Shannon L. Goodson argues that women did not create the glass ceiling--the invisible barrier blamed for limiting the career prospects of females--but they help maintain it. Goodson, co-author with George W. Dudley of The Psychology of Sales Call Resistance: Earning What You're Worth in Sales, says visibility management plays a key role in maintaining salary and status disparities between the sexes "Women with similar education and experience still earn less than their male counterparts. Clearly, for women, there remains a missing link between performance and payoff." The absent ingredient, she maintains, is "the ability of women to comfortably and consistently draw the attention we deserve to the contributions we make."

In a study of 322 male and female executives, she found that women are considerably less comfortable promoting themselves than men. Many believe all self-promotion is unacceptable and have been taught that hard work alone is sufficient to put them eventually on a par with men. They also tend to be "over-preparers," making sure their work is technically correct, but not assuring that it is noticed by influential people in the organization.

Compounding the problem is the...