The social norms and practices that (informally) govern this world and behaviors are often unfair and discriminatory against various groups of people. However, nothing puts you at a greater disadvantage in the corporate world than being a woman of color.
Women of color have been the most marginalized and underrepresented group in the corporate sector throughout history.
Even though we are over a decade into the 21st century, women still find themselves facing the glass ceiling. And this glass ceiling is a lot thicker for women of color.
What is Glass Ceiling?
In case you’re not aware of the concept, the term glass ceiling refers to the apparently invisible barriers that prevent women from achieving senior-level or leadership positions. The term was originally coined in the late 1970s to highlight the issues of women working in the corporate sector and how they are not given equal growth opportunities as men. In recent years, however, the concept has been broadened to include minorities as well.
At present, the term glass ceiling refers to discrimination against all minority groups in the corporate sector.
Examples of Women of Color Breaking the Glass Ceiling in Corporate American
Despite facing inequalities and injustices for several decades, women have not stopped their struggle to shatter the glass ceiling. In fact, they are breaking those barriers set by others more than ever now. Following are some of the examples of women of color who have made their way up the corporate ladder and achieved leadership positions by putting up a great fight against all so-called social norms:
1.Ursula Burns – Vice-Chair, Digital and Technology at Impact X Operations, a member of Board Of Directors at Diageo, and Uber, and Senior Advisor at Teneo.
2.Indra Nooyi – Former CEO of PepsiCo currently serving as a member of the Board Of Directors at Amazon.
3.Rosalind Brewer – The new CEO of Walgreens. She has served as the COO of Starbucks and the President and CEO of Sam’s Club in the past.
4.Minal Mehta – Head of Product, Next Billion Users – YouTube.
5.Avni Shah – Vice President of Google for Education
6.Edith Cooper – Member of the Board of Directors at Slack and Etsy.
7. Peggy Marie Alford – Executive Vice President, Global Sales, PayPal and the first African American woman on Facebook’s Board of Directors
These are some of the women of color who have successfully reached the top of the corporate ladder by breaking the glass ceiling. However, the number of women of color making it big in the American corporate world is still very low. There is a long way to go before we can proudly call our corporate culture diverse and inclusive.