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Have you ever watched a male colleague get the promotion you deserve? Or seen the best accounts or most exciting projects assigned to other, less qualified individuals? If the answer is an agonizing yes, you may have encountered what—in labor parlance—is called a glass ceiling.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the glass ceiling refers to either institutional or psychological barriers that prevent qualified individuals from advancing within their organization and reaching full potential. The term originally described the point beyond which women managers and executives were not promoted for reasons that could not be spelled out. In a larger sense, however, it could also refer to situations wherein women are not given the same training or the same salary that men enjoy for unexplainable reasons.

Remember, a glass ceiling does not refer to sexual harassment—which has to do with demeaning or objectifying women. Nor is it a question of whether physical attributes—or lack of it—is a factor in job selection or promotion. While that may be so, the creation of a glass ceiling might be a result of other assumptions, such as the belief that a woman is not up to the stress of politics that the top job would entail of that a woman will not be able to give her undivided attention to a job if she has a family or a volatile love life. Admittedly, this is true for some women. But it is not fair to say this is the situation for all. Hence, any employer who decides promotions or pay solely on these generalities, in effect, is building a glass ceiling.

The Local Scene
The Philippines has a better history of giving women credit where credit is due. We have had a woman president and now have a woman vice-president. There are a handful of women legislators and a whole bunch of women columnists to criticize them. We had a woman in the Supreme Court long before the US even considered it and supposedly, women movie stars are paid more than men.

In the corporate setting, there are several industries where many women are in positions of power: advertising, private banking and stock-broking to name a few. These are industries based on superstars where the direct results of a genius ad campaign, a sixth sense of what will sell or just sheer intelligence can be quantified easily in pesos and centavos. A company knows if it does not reward the extraordinary talent, the competition will be quick to step in.

“The issue is whether you are suitable for the job and the quality of work you produce…gender doesn’t have anything to do with it,” says Jesusa “Susan” Maceda, 39, first Vice President and head of Solidbank’s Entrepreneurial Banking Division. Maceda rose from the ranks as an accounting clerk for Pacific Banking Corp. before moving on to be a trader then manager at Far East Bank. From there it was only a matter of time before she was noticed by Solidbank and made V.P.

Surprisingly, Maceda’s opinion is a common one as many women in middle management positions claim that any woman can reach her goals if she is really good and really determined. Encouraging words, to be sure. But the mere fact that women have to prove themselves worthy despite their gender is already an indication that a glass ceiling could be hovering somewhere higher up the ladder.

Looking at the list of the top 2,000 corporations, one will notice that it isn’t until No. 33, Pagcor, that we find a firm run by a woman (Alice Reyes). Could it be that there are no women qualified enough to run the countries’ top 32 firms?

More Emotion than Ambition
So why aren’t there a fairly equal number of men and women heading the country’s top businesses? A common answer we got was that many women were not interested in running these firms. Some call it lack of ambition. Others say it’s an aversion to the limelight that being president or the chairman naturally brings. As one ascends the corporate ladder, the responsibilities one takes on grow tremendously. A president is answerable not only to the board, but also to the customers, the shareholders, and even to the general public. Justified or not, there is the perception that women are more emotional and would be affected by the constant criticism or pressure that comes with defending ones’ decisions. While many women look forward to this opportunity, many also loathe it.

For the women out there who decide they want to gun for the top spot, the issue of whether they will be given the chance to prove their mettle is more relevant. Take the case of Cielo Villaluna, newscaster and member of the board on RPN 9. When Cielo first began in the newsroom, women reporters were only contractual employees. Cielo made it her goal to become a regular employee but there were doubts whether she was up to it.

“There is a small percentage of men who will always think when a woman gets promoted: Can she withstand the physical rigors of the job? Can she be exposed to the elements? What if she falls in love or gets pregnant? The fact that they were doubting you can already see the gender bias,” she says.

Cielo says it took months of proving that she was 100% committed to the job—even to the point of forsaking her personal life—before she could convince them to make her a regular employee. Now, she says, Channel 9 has made great strides towards giving equal opportunities to both men and women. Four out of nine people on the board of directors are women.

The Price of Success
For many women, however, forsaking one’s personal life is not an option. Women who have families are expected to play the role of homemaker, even if they are holding down full time jobs. For some, this is a juggling act that, more often than not, leads women to go as far as quit work. Between pregnancy leaves, children with measles and PTA meetings, preparations for a board meeting or a big pitch can sometimes take second place.

“Maybe women just have their priorities straight—after all, how can you compare being with your children to being at work all hours of the day and night,” says Jenny Manuel, 30, a TV producer. As a single woman, she has the liberty to give her all to her documentaries. But she plans to wind down her commitments once she has a child, limiting her work to “reasonable hours.” While many companies may accept these limitations in a regular employee, they may think carefully about these constraints when selecting a project leader or a boss.

For some industries like hotel management or tourism-related functions, this job entails uprooting yourself every few years for a foreign posting—a different proposition for some married women who have their husband’s careers to take into consideration. While this is not the fault of the employer, it nevertheless keeps many qualified women from getting the foreign training or experience that could have made the difference in bagging a promotion.

Admittance to the Old Boys Club
In other industries, the heat against putting qualified women in the No. 1 position in the firm may stem from an unwillingness to see a woman become the figure-head of the firm. As president or chairwoman, a woman would have to hobnob with other top honchos in order to lure more clients or secure major deals. At that altitude, who you know is as important as what you know. The laws of human nature dictate that the Old Boys Club is more likely to do business with one of their own, someone they went to school with or play golf with or know from the Rotary. A headhunter for a global search firm said that one limitation for women in Asia is their inability to “do business the Asian way”. This involves playing business golf, rounds of drinking or the occasional trip to girlie bars—activities that only a handful of women would relish.

Women have the burden of having to make a name for themselves first. Not an impossible task, but not an easy one either. Reggie Jacinto, a 29-year old who started her own law firm, Puyat, Jacinto and Santos Attorneys at Law, says gaining respect as a female lawyer was an uphill battle. But in the end, people’s poor expectations of her helped create a better backdrop for excellence.

“It’s an obstacle that I have to deal with every day but it doesn’t stop me—it drives me,” she says. “If they think I’m only good for taking minutes or making coffee, then so much the better because if I’m really that good—then the more they will be impressed.”

Using Girl Power
Reggie says that when she was in college and high school, she really did believe she would be disadvantaged because she was a woman in a male-dominated profession. But she soon realized when she began to practice law that there certain inherent advantages to being female that could help her get ahead.

“A girl can make pa-sweet and if it doesn’t work, then she can play hardball. A girl can only do things the gentlemen’s way or play hard ball because if he makes pa-cute, it wouldn’t look very good,” she says.

There is no shame in resorting to feminine wiles once in a while to get ahead. After all, equality among sexes isn’t a matter of pretending we are all one gender. Life is not a Calvin Klein commercial. A foreign head hunter said that for a company to stipulate that they want a man to fill a post, another will seek women for certain positions because of distinctly female characteristics, such as attention to detail, creativity, and empathy.

In much the same way people say it’s hark to keep a good man down, a good woman likewise should not have to settle for an oppressive working structure. Or you can just move on or start your own business. As the Philippine business setting gets to be more globalized, the number of options available to qualified women will certainly increase.

But if you find yourself bumping up against resistance, remember: glass ceilings are not broken in one day. As more and more women ascend to positions of power, new networks will be established and old biases will finally be retired.