Racial discrimination may involve a corporate glass ceiling
Racial discrimination was once widespread and relatively overt. Companies actively bragged about refusing to hire workers from certain backgrounds or included clear indications about their racial preferences in job listings.
The implementation of anti-discrimination laws has helped protect against many overt forms of racial discrimination. Employers can no longer consider a worker’s race when deciding who to hire, promote or terminate during staffing reductions. Additionally, employers have an obligation to protect workers from harassment by coworkers or even customers related to their racial background or national origin.
Despite these clear legal protections, racial discrimination does continue to limit the career development of many people. For those working in corporate America, for example, promotion discrimination can be a serious concern. Many businesses have a glass ceiling that may prevent workers from certain backgrounds from moving up within the company.
What is a glass ceiling?
Women’s rights advocates coined the term “glass ceiling” decades ago to talk about the artificially-imposed limitations on their upward advancement within organizations. They technically have nothing holding them back, but there is an invisible barrier preventing them from moving beyond a certain point within the company’s hierarchy. Women continue to face discrimination in this way, and others have begun to recognize that they face a glass ceiling as well.
Workers from different racial and ethnic backgrounds may find that their upward mobility slows or outright stops once they reach a certain point in the organization. They may have all of the right qualifications and get passed over for outside hires or workers with fewer credentials.
Particularly when there are no other employees that share their race in the upper echelons of management, there may be reason to question whether racial discrimination may play a role in the company’s decision-making process. When a company simply does not allow those of certain backgrounds to move into the most prestigious available positions, the company may have unfairly discriminated against those workers based on their protected characteristics.
Just as those running businesses should not consider race when deciding who to hire, race should not be a factor when choosing who fills vacant positions within the executive suite or upper management. Documenting circumstances that appear to involve racial discrimination could help workers hold their employers accountable. Those denied opportunities ostensibly because of their race may have reason to take legal action against their employers for discriminatory practices.