An empirical study of the glass ceiling’s impact on gen-der equality and career opportunities in the food and beverage sector

Women’s professional trajectories are often obstructed by the glass ceiling, an invisible barrier that limits their access to higher managerial positions within organizations. This research aimed to examine and analyse the glass ceiling effect among women employed in the food and beverage sector of the hospitality industry. An empirical study was conducted using a questionnaire distributed in food and beverage facilities across Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The data collection lasted from October 2023 to January 2024 and encompassed 1,082 respondents. The data analysis was performed using Microsoft® Excel® 2019 and Statistical Software for Social Sciences, version 21.0. The Mann-Whitney U-test, Kruskal-Wallis H-test, and Tukey HSD test were employed to examine the research hypotheses. The study’s findings reveal the existence of the glass ceiling effect within the hospitality industry, although to a small extent. Interestingly, the results of the statistical tests suggest that manifestations of the glass ceiling do not significantly vary based on respondent characteristics such as gender, age, education, marital status, parental status, country of employment, or length of work experience.