India has a hoary past that abounds with the heroic deeds of stalwarts like Rani of Jhansi, Ahilya Bai Holkar, Dr. Sarojini Naidu, and Indira Gandhi during the fight for freedom and its aftermath. However, the popular mindset of a divisive humankind has always reared its ugly head in many oh! so subtle ways. The workplace today is somewhat akin to the battlefields of the yore, providing opportunities, challenges and more often than not, invisible obstacles that connote a dead end and induce apathy among the "lesser privileged" i.e., the women, and other minorities.
The term "glass ceiling" was popularized in a 1986 Wall Street Journal article describing the invisible barriers that women confront as they approach the top of the corporate hierarchy. This ubiquitous term gained currency in the business lexicon through the pioneering book by Morrison et al. ` `Breaking the Glass Ceiling' is a path breaking work based on interviews with 76 executive women. It talks about the barriers that women in the corporate world encounter, putting a break in their trajectory of growth.
Today, glass ceiling has acquired a wider connotation. It has now become a byword for the invisible and impenetrable wall that prevents competent women, minorities and immigrants in their odyssey along their career paths.
The official websites of certain companies like Birla Sunlife explicitly talk about the glass ceiling that women in India encounter and offer flexitime and part time careers as insurance advisors. They go on to highlight the fact that careers in the fields of insurance and finance are "woman friendly", a fact amply supported by the rise to power of the likes of, Ranjana Kumar of Indian Bank, Naina Lal Kidwai of HSBC, Lalitha Gupte, Kalpana Morparia, Shikha Sharma, Chanda Kochar, Renuka Ramnath and Madhabi Puri Buch, all of ICICI.
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