Abstract:
Studies conducted in recent times have indicated that women’s advancement into top
echelon positions in organizations have been hindered by the glass ceiling barrier. The
present study sought to identify the authenticity of this finding among managerial women in
the Ghanaian context and how these barriers can be overcome. Using the Miles and
Huberman’s approach, the in-depth interview responses of twelve women managers from
four organizations in middle and senior levels were content analysed after they were
purposively sampled out of the population. Results of the study revealed the following as
barriers to women’s efforts in climbing the career ladder: same-sex rivalry, work-family
conflict, gender role socialization and lack of initiative. Of the barriers found, work-family
conflict was found to be the most prevalent. The study also found that organizational/
institutional support, mentoring, personality; time management and personal sacrifice were
ways by which women believed these barriers can be broken. These findings are consistent
with earlier findings that women encounter the glass ceiling barrier whilst climbing to the
top.
