The glass ceiling is thicker in Hungary than in neighboring countries

By: Trademagazin Date: 2023. 03. 07. 07:48

The glass ceiling in Hungary is the thickest in the Central European region, i.e. at the regional level, Hungary has the smallest proportion of women employed in top management, boards of directors, politics, education and media. – draws attention to this phenomenon on the occasion of International Women’s Day. In addition to presenting economic losses, the Foundation also raises interesting questions from the side of families, and at the same time encourages everyone to talk about the topic.

At the middle management level, the number of Hungarian women is still similar to the regional average, between 30-40%, but as senior managers, there are far fewer women in Hungary who get jobs and are successful than in neighboring countries. While the proportion of female senior managers in Hungary is 10%, in the other countries of the V4 it ranges between 25-28%.

What happens between the two management levels? Why does the number of female senior managers decrease so drastically compared to the number of female middle managers? This is the glass ceiling phenomenon. The glass ceiling is an invisible barrier due to which, even if they want to, those who are affected cannot rise above a certain level on the ladder, due to some disadvantageous – unspoken – discrimination. The phenomenon mostly affects women. In many cases, the reason is still the fact that senior management work is not compatible with traditional female roles. But this problem is multifaceted. It is also called glass because it is actually invisible, it is not clear what is holding women back. In reality, there are many things that affect each other. Discrimination or hidden prejudices are just one of these.