<P> Cotter and his colleagues found that glass ceilings are correlated strongly with gender . Both white and minority women face a glass ceiling in the course of their careers . In contrast, the researchers did not find evidence of a glass ceiling for African - American men . </P> <P> The glass ceiling metaphor has often been used to describe invisible barriers ("glass") through which women can see elite positions but cannot reach them ("ceiling"). These barriers prevent large numbers of women and ethnic minorities from obtaining and securing the most powerful, prestigious and highest - grossing jobs in the workforce . Moreover, this effect prevents women from filling high - ranking positions and puts them at a disadvantage as potential candidates for advancement . </P> <P> The first person to use the phrase was Marilyn Loden, during a 1978 speech . The concept of the glass ceiling was later popularized at the National Press Club in July 1979 . This was at a Conference of the Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press led by Katherine Lawrence of Hewlett - Packard . This was part of an ongoing discussion of a clash between written policy of promotion versus action opportunities for women at HP . </P> <P> The term was later used in March 1984 by Gay Bryant . She was the former editor of Working Woman magazine and was changing jobs to be the editor of Family Circle . In an Adweek article written by Nora Frenkel, Bryant was reported as saying, "Women have reached a certain point--I call it the glass ceiling . They're in the top of middle management and they're stopping and getting stuck . There isn't enough room for all those women at the top . Some are going into business for themselves . Others are going out and raising families ." Also in 1984, Bryant used the term in a chapter of the book The Working Woman Report: Succeeding in Business in the 1980s . In the same book, Basia Hellwig used the term in another chapter . </P>

Where did the glass ceiling term come from