'Sticky floors' stopping women from breaking glass ceiling

New research has found that “sticky floors” is stopping women from climbing the corporate ladder.

Female job applicants are significantly less likely than men to be called in for an interview when the position available is a promotion at the functional level (in terms of tasks and duties).

However, women and men seem to be on equal footing when it comes to jobs offering an increase in authority (for example in terms of management/supervision responsibilities).

The study was by Ann-Sophie De Pauw (IÉSEG School of Management), Stijn Baert (Ghent University) and Nick Deschacht (KU Leuven). It was published as a paper in the May 2016 edition of Industrial and Labor Relations Review, titled ‘Do Employer Preferences Contribute to Sticky Floors?’