The Glass Ceiling

Please read the article:

The European Union has a long history of promoting equality between women and men, and Europe can be proud of the progress it has made over the past few decades. Under EU laws, women no longer have to face discrimination because of their sex. EU rules also guarantee common minimum rights to maternity and paternity leave; 60% of new university graduates across the EU are female. And in spite of the economic crisis, the employment rate for women is 62%, up from 55% in 1997.However, at the top levels of companies, many women continue to face a glass ceiling obstructing their progression up the career ladder. Currently, company boards are dominated by one gender: 86.3% of board members and 96.8% of the boardroom chairs are men, while women make up 13.7% and 3.2% respectively. In the UK, 16% of board members are women – this is above the EU average of 13.7%.

A new rule will soon be introduced to encourage positive discrimination. The new European 40%-rule will only apply to publicly listed companies while excluding small- and medium-sized businesses with less than 250 employees. It focuses on the non-executive director posts in order to send the right signal to the highest levels of companies. And it will have at its heart a transparent selection process aiming to reach a 40% representation of the under-represented sex by 2020 – based on clear criteria and a comparison of the candidates' skills and qualifications.The time has come to break the glass ceiling that continues to stop female talent from getting to the top. The European commission has been promoting gender equality since 1957. Continuing along this path is not a revolution but a natural evolution. It started 50 years ago with guaranteeing equal pay for equal work and it continues today by guaranteeing equal opportunities in decision-making positions for women and men.

Vocabulary:

What do the phrases "career ladder", "boardroom chairs", "positive discrimination" and "publicly listed companies" mean?

Discussion:

Give a short summary of the article explaining the concept of the glass ceiling. 

Have you or anyone you know suffered due to the glass ceiling?
In your company do men get better paid than women? 

Do you think a glass ceiling will always exist? 

Why do you think there are so few women on company boards? 

Is positive discrimination the only solution? Is positive discrimination fair? 

Is it fair that small companies must give the same maternity rights to pregnant employees as large companies?

Do you prefer women bosses? 

Should women soldiers be allowed to fight in wars?