Everyone always talks about “The Glass Ceiling” that women face to get ahead in their careers. The old boys network is usually blamed along with good old-fashioned sexism. But I find there is also a glass wall erected by other women that is equally unsettling sexism.
You may have experienced the glass wall in business or socially. It might be a subtle snub, a touch of aloofness in the conversation or a verbal “I am simply too busy with…my work, my children, my commitments… to make time for you, or simply no response. It might be an indirect hit such as being passed over for an opportunity, excluded from a conversation or meeting at work or not invited to a gathering.
Are women their own worst competition in business? Women in many fields from finance to beauty to food have told me that they have been cold shouldered more than once by female executives who are unwilling to mentor, share or align in the workplace.
I recently attended a panel discussion of women chefs who discussed the challenges of working in a male dominated industry. It was the same bemoaned conversation I have heard in other industries: Why are the men getting the advancement and recognition? Why are we doing just as much and earning less? How can we strike a balance between business-family-personal growth? Why do we even need professional women’s groups? Shouldn’t professional groups be de-sexed? So many questions. So many issues. No answers.
I am all for professional networking and am an advocate of women’s organizations that help support and mentor career advancement and personal growth. I am a member of a few groups and make an effort to network and speak to new people when I attend functions. Yet I find many women put up a glass wall even under the guise of networking. It has happened to me several times when the woman I approach decides we have nothing in common personally (e.g., no children) or professionally (e.g., no career commonality or professional opportunity for her). Or, I am viewed as competition for her professionally or personally.
I think women are more competitive than ever with each other when they should be focusing all that competitive energy finding better workplace solutions for gender equality and challenging their male counter parts to diffuse gender bias and encourage healthy and productive competition.
In a study reported by the National Bureau of Economic Research entitled “Do Women Shy Away From Competition? Do Men Compete Too Much?” (NBER Working Paper No. 11474), co-authors Muriel Niederle and Lise Vesterlund report that one reason women may not be advancing in the workplace is that, as a group women “dislike competition more than men, even if they are of the same ability.” They summarize “There are ‘large gender differences in the propensity to choose competitive environments’ and this needs to be taken into account in understanding why women are under-represented in many fields of work.”
According to Catalyst, a nonprofit whose mission is to expand opportunities for women and business, in 2012 women made up 46.9% of the labor force and comprised 51.5% of management, professional and related positions. The leadership gap, the pay gap and diversity in the workplace are all top line issues Catalyst works to address. http://www.catalyst.org
If the 51.5% who comprise women in managerial professions made a stronger effort to mentor and lead by example and turn glass walls into open windows maybe more women would have more concrete opportunities to advance.
And this is not only looking upward but also look outward. When talented and aspiring women come knocking on career doors we need to work harder to open them and not erect a glass wall to protect our positions. When an opportunity is presented to us we need to respect the person who opens the door for us and not trample her high on ambition and low on gratitude as we move forward.
When you do pierce the glass ceiling you need keep it cracked open and don’t close it up out of concern that you might fall. The glass should be about seeing through our differences, looking out for opportunities and opening doors rather than creating barriers. 
