[Ads-l] Phrases: glass ceiling, invisible ceiling - WSJ

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

The Wall Street Journal has a very interesting recent article by Ben
about the term "glass ceiling". Ben pointed to an appearance in print
of the term in March 1984, and he also suggested that a 1979
conversation may have been important in its genesis.

http://bit.ly/glassbz

To complement Ben's analysis I performed a quick search for the term
"invisible ceiling". Below is a citation in 1969 with "invisible
ceiling" employed to describe job promotion restrictions for blacks.
Further below is a 1977 citation in which the term was used to discuss
job restrictions on woman.

My search was very shallow, and I did not try to find the earliest
cites. I am sharing these two cites because I think that they provide
an insight into the evolution of the term "glass ceiling". Please
double check for typos and other errors before using this data.
Thanks.

Date: July 19, 1969
Periodical: The New Yorker
Section: The Talk of the Town
Sub-section: Opportunities
Start Page 16, Quote Page 17, Column 1
Database: Online New Yorker Archive of Page Scans

[Begin excerpt]
For various reasons, including pressure from the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission--and I wish it were pushing much harder than it
is--black college graduates are being hired by corporations. But
they're having trouble climbing up the greasy pole of advancement. In
many cases, they are simply not being allowed to move beyond a certain
point--a certain invisible ceiling.
[End excerpt]


Date: March 23, 1977
Newspaper: The Daily Times-News
Newspaper Location: Burlington, North Carolina
Article Title: Blatant or Subtle, Sexism May Be There
Article Author: Betty Yarmon (Women's News Service)
Section B; Quote Page B1; Column 1
Database: Newspapers.com

[Begin excerpt]
THE INVISIBLE CEILING. This is the job level where one woman appears,
with few or no women at higher levels, and this ceiling sets the level
beyond which women apparently may not go. Managers point to the one
woman at the ceiling level, often commenting: "See, we don't
discriminate against women. There's one who could make it." In this
way the responsibility for promotion is shifted onto women, thus
trying to absolve others of exclusionary practices and to ignore the
cultural biases that do not disappear with a few acts.
[End excerpt]

Garson

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