Development and Validation of a Scale to Measure Glass Ceiling Among Women Employees in the Banking Sector

Abstract

It is generally believed that when compared to men, women have slower career advancement prospects. Usually, women in the workforce face several obstacles, commonly referred to as glass ceiling (GC), that weaken their career advancement prospects. The present study aims to develop a scale to measure the GC obstacles faced by women employed in the banking sector. The scale was developed and validated through a three-step process: item development, scale development and scale evaluation. The items were generated through literature review and focus group discussions (FGDs). The items developed were fine-tuned in consultation with academic experts. The scale was developed and validated, through a study, covering 411 women employees working in different banks in the state of Kerala. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) brought out seven dimensions of GC, namely family responsibilities (FR), discriminatory promotion practices (DPP), employee relations (ER), personality traits (PT), lack of organizational support (LOS), gender stereotypes (GS) and lack of training (LT). The scale was evaluated using reliability and validity measures, and it demonstrated adequate reliability, discriminant and convergent validity. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was carried out using AMOS. Towards the end of the article, there is also a discussion on managerial implications, limitations of the study and directions for future research.