The numbers are there, the laws too. So why does the glass ceiling still hold? Because the most powerful brakes are the ones you can’t see. Decryption and concrete avenues for moving forward.
The problem with invisible barriers
We often talk about the glass ceiling as an obvious injustice, something that just needs to be named for things to change. However, the numbers are growing slowly. The laws are progressing. And yet, inequalities persist.
For what ? Because the mechanisms that hold this cap in place are not, for the most part, crude or deliberate. These are biases, habits, social structures that have been in place for decades. Precisely because they are invisible, they are difficult to combat.
Here’s what’s really at stake, and what we can do, individually and collectively.
The brakes we don’t see
Biases in evaluation
A woman who asserts herself is “ aggressive“. A man who does the same is ” leadership“. A woman who manages her schedule is “ little invested“. A man who does the same is ” organized“.
These double standards are not the work of malicious people. They are the result of promotion criteria designed, historically, by and for male profiles: total availability, visible risk-taking, confidence in speaking out. Women who don’t fit these codes are penalized, often without anyone realizing it, including themselves.
Imposter syndrome
According to a KPMG study, women develop more of this feeling of not being in their place, especially when they are in a minority situation.
Concrete result: they do not apply for a position if they do not check 100% of the criteria (men apply from 60%). They do not negotiate their salary with the same confidence. They are waiting for someone to come and get them. And we come less to look for them.
It’s not a matter of personal confidence. to work“. It is the product of an environment that has sent contrary signals to ambitious women since childhood.
The maternity penalty
The arrival of a child remains a pivotal moment of professional inequality. Next to 26.5% of working women work part-timecompared to 7% of men. This choice, often constrained by the cost and availability of childcare, creates a career break from which many never fully recover.
Added to this is the mental burden, this invisible management of daily family life which mainly weighs on women, even when they have a position of responsibility. A double day that wears out, without ever appearing in a job description.
The network: unevenly distributed social capital
A large part of promotion and recruitment decisions take place in informal spaces: lunches, professional clubs, circles of peers; to which women have structurally less access. It’s not a question of will. It is a reality built over decades, which reproduces itself mechanically if no one pays attention.
What you can do now
The glass ceiling is a systemic problem. But while waiting for collective changes, these individual levers make a real difference.
Find a mentor
It is the most underutilized and effective tool. A good mentor helps you see what you’re really worth, expand your network, and take on positions that you might not have dared to pursue alone.
Don’t look for the perfect person. Look for someone who has done a bit of the work you want to do. And actively search, via Force Femmes, Women in Tech, Femmes des Territoires, or internal systems within your company. Don’t wait for someone to think of you.
Make your work visible
Your work alone won’t speak loud enough. No one promotes you for you.
Speak up in meetings. Share your results, even when it seems pretentious. Offer yourself for important missions. Visibility is not bragging: it is a career investment.
Negotiate, and stop apologizing for it
Studies are unanimous: women negotiate less often and less forcefully. Not for lack of skill, for fear of looking bad.
Prepare each discussion like a strategy meeting. Find out about market salaries. Express your expectations first. And remember: negotiating isn’t about being difficult. That’s being serious.
Master the numbers
Knowing how to read a balance sheet, understand a margin, talk about cash flow: these skills give you a real advantage in decision-making spaces, and immediate credibility with those who distribute financing and promotions.
Cultivate your female networks
Joining a professional female community is not communitarianism, it is a strategy. These spaces are places of mutual aid, sharing of opportunities and concrete support. They compensate, in part, for the lack of access to informal male networks.
What needs to change on a large scale
Individual efforts will not be enough. The glass ceiling is a collective construction; dismantling it requires levers on the same scale.
Go further than quotas. The Rixain law has proven its effectiveness: without legal constraints, companies do not move forward spontaneously. But quotas do not change cultures. The objective of 40% women in management bodies by 2029 is achievable, provided that companies prepare for it now, without waiting for financial sanctions (up to 1% of payroll from 2030).
Rework promotion criteria. Auditing your HR processes, training your teams in unconscious bias, setting measurable representation objectives at each level, these are concrete actions, not intentions.
Invest in structured mentoring. Formal mentoring programs have one of the best returns on investment for retaining and promoting female talent. It is also a strong cultural signal sent to the entire organization.
Revalorize predominantly female professions. Part of the overall wage gap can be explained by the fact that professions predominantly carried out by women (health, education, personal assistance) are structurally less well paid. This is not inevitable: it is a social choice. And societal choices can change.
Really open up access to financing. Entrepreneurs need a level playing field: same credit conditions, same access to capital, same growth support systems. As Fariha Shah, vice-president of CPME, says: “The age of justification is over. Enter the era of acceleration. »
Breaking the glass ceiling isn’t just about fairness. It is a question of economic performance that France can no longer afford to ignore.
