When Sarah Chen was made CEO of a Fortune 500 company last year, many considered this a serious crack in the proverbial glass ceiling. In headlines, the media celebrated her as a trailblazer, yet behind the headlines is a sobering truth: she is still among a handful of women in such a position.

Yet, after decades of such diversity initiatives and equal opportunity policies, women worldwide hold just about 10 per cent of the top executive positions. These figures bring up an uncomfortable reality: Barriers to reaching the top may not only exist for women but, in some cases, be even more formidable than ever.

Jennifer Martinez, senior vice president of a large technology company, shouted in frustration, “Everyone talks about the glass ceiling, but sometimes it feels like armoured bulletproof glass. You can’t see it, but it’s there, and it is much stronger than it ever was.” Her words lambasted a common sentiment among many women—those qualified and ambitious—who find themselves continually bumping up against invisible barriers.

The numbers: A stubborn reality 

Recent global survey data show that while women comprise nearly half of the workforce and graduate from college at a rate higher than that of men, they remain largely under-represented in leadership positions. At the most recent count, they hold a paltry 29 per cent of senior management positions worldwide. The picture is poorer in certain regions: 31 per cent in North America, 28 per cent in the European Union, and a paltry 25 per cent in Latin America.

These differences are most apparent in professions typically associated with men. For instance, technology-related professions demonstrate under-representation, especially for women. At a global scale, women engineers comprise less than 15 per cent while making up only 3 per cent of the total number of students majoring in information technology. Inasmuch as technology is one of the most important sectors worldwide, the noticeable absence of women in these fields poses a threat to perpetuating gender inequality that could occur over time.

Why does the ceiling persist? 

Experts say that, although overt discrimination has decreased, subtle and systemic barriers have taken its place. As Dr Rachel Wong, workplace diversity researcher, eloquently puts it: “Today’s barriers are often less visible yet deeply ingrained in organisational cultures. It involves unconscious biases in promotion decisions, workplace cultures that favour traditionally masculine leadership styles, and a lack of female mentorship that contribute to the persistence of the glass ceiling.”

The Covid-19 pandemic has added another dimension to this challenge through remote working both during and after the pandemic. While remote working offers greater flexibility, it also enhances some of the existing biases. For example, research shows that women are more likely to be interrupted during virtual meetings, to have their ideas bypassed, and to have difficulty asserting a leadership presence on digital platforms.

“It’s almost like the virtual setting has made it easier for the old boys’ club mentality to persist,” says Wong. “You don’t have the same informal opportunities to network or advocate for yourself.”

Motherhood penalty reinforced by the pandemic 

One of the more resistant barriers is the so-called “motherhood penalty”—that is, the career sacrifices many women must make because of caregiving responsibilities. The Covid-19 pandemic, with its widespread closure of schools and daycare centres, disproportionately affected women. Mothers were forced to cut back their hours or step back from demanding roles to manage childcare and remote schooling.

Take the case of Maria Delgado, former director of marketing. She quit her leadership role during the pandemic and took care of her kids doing school remotely. Since then, she has found it hard to get on the leadership track. “I had to choose between critical team meetings and helping my kids with their online classes. Three years later, my male colleagues have all moved up, while I’m trying to claw my way back into the leadership pipeline.”

The pandemic has shown that the burden of domestic labour falls mostly on women and more so on mothers, while far-reaching policies of work-life balance are needed so that careers will not suffer as a consequence of the responsibilities of care.

The technology gap: A new kind of ceiling 

It seems that as industries increasingly turned to technology-driven innovation, a new kind of ceiling appeared. Amidst the calls to get more women into STEM careers—better known as science, technology, engineering and mathematics—the figures remain unimpressive: a paltry 8 per cent of women are pursuing degrees in engineering and a meagre 5 per cent in mathematics.

This means the consequences of this gap are profound. As Dr Wong says, “If women aren’t in the pipeline for technology-related jobs today, they won’t be in the running for leadership roles in technology companies tomorrow.” A second-generation glass ceiling throughout the population threatens to solidify the gender divide in one of the most lucrative and influential industries of the modern economy.

This calls for addressing the gender gap in the intake of students in STEM disciplines. The industry and governments will have to give adequate attention to this urgent issue. Companies should establish formal mentorship programs, while scholarships and nurture to break stereotypical barriers that discourage girls from pursuing technical careers become the need of the hour.

Signs of progress: Cracks in the glass 

Yet, amidst the prevalence of the glass ceiling, there is testament to progress. Many companies have implemented unconscious bias training, flexible work policies, and formal mentorship programs to help women advance in their careers. In several countries, governments have implemented laws and regulations that enforce female quotas on corporate boards; Norway has been cited as a model for these policies.

Movements like #MeToo have made apparent the cross-cutting challenges women of colour experience in the workplace. These movements have catalysed workplace equity as a nexus of conversation and pushed new generations to demand transparency, inclusivity, and accountability from employers.

Some companies have also begun to see the business case for gender diversity. Study after study reveals that companies with greater representation by women in management positions perform better financially and foster

more innovative work cultures. As the world economy becomes increasingly complicated and interdependent, the capacity for leveraging diverse perspectives has turned out to be considered a competitive advantage.

Looking ahead: Beyond the glass ceiling 

While progress has been made, breaking the glass ceiling will take more than time. Experts agree that real change will come from a multi-dimensional approach—one that roots out the sources of sex inequality in the workplace. That means rethinking how work is structured, making hiring and promotion processes free from bias, and creating environments where diverse styles of leadership are valued.

As Dr Wong puts it, “The glass ceiling is a product not just of workplace policies but of society’s attitudes and expectations. We have to start early—from how we bring up our children to the kind of opportunities we give them in education and beyond.”

Jennifer Martinez is decidedly guarded in her optimism. She’s been around since the glass was supposed to be bulletproof for her. “I’m hopeful that my daughter will face fewer barriers than I did. But I’m also impatient. We’ve been talking about this issue for decades—it’s time to stop talking and start dismantling the whole structure.”

The glass ceiling may have cracked in places, but it remains a formidable barrier for women looking to break into the top ranks in industries. The nature of the challenges they face is changing—less a matter of overt discrimination, more a matter of systemic biases, ingrained cultural norms, and new pressures brought on by technological and societal changes.

Something that is clear, however, as companies and societies work to bring down this ceiling, is that the breakthrough will require more than the sum of isolated efforts; it will take a global push across industries, generations, and global regions for a world to exist where women can truly lead without constraints. The conversation needs to go beyond pointing at the problem and concretely discuss what can be done in terms of real, transformational action. Only then can we make sure of a future where success is decided by talent and effort, not by gender.

The writer is an independent contributor