An empirical investigation on academic staff perception of the glass ceiling: The example of Gümüşhane University

Although women’s presence in working life and their participation in the workforce have increased over time, various differences between women and men continue to exist in career processes. In particular, women’s lower representation in senior management and decision-making positions compared to men is considered one of the important career barriers encountered in working life. The invisible barriers that limit women’s advancement to senior positions regardless of their professional qualifications and experience are explained by the concept of the “glass ceiling” in the literature. The glass ceiling may arise from individual, social, and organizational factors and may limit women’s career development, promotion opportunities, and access to managerial positions. In academic working life, the fact that the increase in women’s numerical representation is not reflected to the same extent in managerial positions makes it important to examine the glass ceiling phenomenon in higher education institutions. In this context, the aim of this study is to investigate and evaluate the perceptions and attitudes of academic staff working in a higher education institution toward the glass ceiling syndrome experienced by women. The population of the study consists of academic staff working at Gümüşhane University. A quantitative research method was used, and the data were collected through a questionnaire. The data obtained from a total of 251 valid questionnaires were analyzed using SPSS 27. According to the findings, academics’ attitudes toward glass ceiling barriers differed significantly by gender, and female academics were found to experience these barriers more intensely than male academics in many areas.