Oldal 47 [47]
WOMEN IN TOP LEADERSHIP POSITIONS
stratified inequalities as unequivocal. [...] The result of these processes is the
unquestionable nature of the situation”!
Listing and describing these processes and phenomena can help in creating
solutions. For this reason, additional metaphors have been added to the concepts
of glass ceiling, glass wall, glass escalator mentioned above to further refine
this complex phenomenon and more accurately ascertain the number and
magnitude of the problems. Thus, in addition to the concepts described above,
symbols such as glass cliff, labyrinth, critical mass, queen bee, gate guard,
Matilda effect, etc. have appeared. Although not all of them will be detailed
separately, the list of obstacles will include the content of each metaphor.
To sum up all this, the fundamental problem is that the obstacles behind
these metaphors still either (1) cause great difficulties for women in their
progress or (2) stop them forever in their self-fulfilment in the world of work
and science, leading to their dropping out.
SELF-DISCRIMINATION AND LABYRINTH
“Vertical segregation causes, for example, that women themselves do not choose
certain occupations, jobs, or fields of science, even though they can do so, that
is, they may be victims of ‘self-discrimination”.'’® Thus, the glass ceiling phe¬
nomenon - that can be read about in the study Nők és férfiak a szervezetben
— Kísérlet a mítoszok eloszlatására [Women and Men in the Organisation - An
Experiment to Dispel Myths] — is not necessarily an external, objective obsta¬
cle, but rather an internal one, and therefore it may also create a semblance of
free choice. By all means, it further justifies my conclusion that the segrega¬
tional factors are extremely close and mutually interrelated, and they result in
women getting stuck or dropping out at some point in their careers.’
For example, a more adequate term for the problem is the so-called laby¬
rinth. This contemporary metaphor illustrates the difficult journey full of
conflicts that awaits women in the workplace and in career advancement.
“Passage through a labyrinth”, as Carli and Eagly write in the study Women
and the Labyrinth of Leadership, “requires persistence, awareness of one’s
progress, and a careful analysis of the puzzles that lie ahead. Because all laby¬
rinths have a viable route to the centre, it is understood that goals are attain¬
able.” According to Carli and Eagly, “if we can understand the various barriers
that make up this labyrinth, and how some women find their way around them,
we can work more effectively to improve the situation.”!”
104 Nagy: Szervezet és nemek, 59.
Anker et al., guoted by Nagy-Primecz: Nők és férfiak a szervezetekben, 8.
106 Tbidem.
17 Eagly-Carli: Women and the Labyrinth.
105