Women in Male-Dominated Fields: The Perceived Glass Ceiling of Women Working in Different Job Collars

This study investigated the perceived glass ceiling among women in male-dominated fields who are working in blue-, gray-, and white-collar occupations in the Philippines. Glass ceiling refers to the invisible barrier that limits qualified individuals, particularly women, from rising to leadership roles regardless of their skills, qualifications, and achievements. The researchers used a causal-comparative design to determine the level of perceived glass ceiling measured by Glass Ceiling Scale among these occupational groups and to find whether significant differences existed between these groups. Results showed the different levels of the perceived glass ceiling across different job collars: women in blue-collar reported moderate perceived barriers (M=4.09; SD=0.51), white-collar reported slightly low perceived barriers (M=2.76; SD=0.59), while gray-collar workers reported low perceived barriers (M=2.60; SD=0.65). Using Welch’s ANOVA, results revealed that there is a significant difference in glass ceiling perceptions across job collars (p=0.001). To further explore the significant differences, a Games-Howell post hoc test was conducted to identify which specific pairs of job collar types differ significantly in their perceived glass ceiling scores, showing that there is a statistically significant difference between blue-collar and white- and gray-collar women. Meanwhile, there is no significant difference between gray- and white-collar women. These findings highlight the importance of contextualizing gender disparities within occupational structures and highlight the need for collar-specific interventions to promote gender equity in the workplace.