Gender wage gap and the glass ceiling effect: a firm‐level investigation

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to assess the relevance of the glass ceiling effect, according to which the gender log wage gap accelerates in the upper tail of the wage distribution, at the firm level. Design/methodology/approach -The empirical analysis is based on a sample of 4,654 employees, working in a French private company from the Defence and Aerospace sector. Quantile wage regressions were used to study whether a glass ceiling effect exits at the firm level. The difference between the male and female wage distributions is also decomposed into two components, one due to differences in labour market characteristics between men and women and one due to differences in rewards to these individual characteristics. Findings -It was found that the gender wage gap measured through OLS is quite low, less than 8 per cent when controlling for age, experience, qualification and location. It remains rather flat along the wage distribution, a result which casts doubt on the glass ceiling theory. The gender gap is mainly due to differences in labour market characteristics rather than to differences in the rewards of these characteristics, especially among executives. Finally, women face a lower probability of reaching higher hierarchical positions within the firm. Research limitations/implications -Taking into account firm effects matters when measuring the magnitude of the gender wage throughout the wage gap distribution. Originality/value -This paper presents original estimates of the gender wage gap with an unusual, firm-based sample of workers.

A maze of metaphors around glass ceilings

“…Other construction related metaphors allow us to complete an organizational structure. "Glass floor" is a term used to describe a phenomenon that can occur at the lowest levels of organizations where staff are likely to have low educational qualifications and little likelihood of promotion (Barnet-Verzat and Wolff, 2008). Barnet-Verzat and Wolff report that gender inequality at this level can be more severe than at the top levels of organizations where glass ceilings exist.…”

Analysing the Gender Wage Gap (GWG) Using Personnel Records

“…As different jobs of women and men might already reflect discrimination, the total GWG might be underestimated if the estimates control for jobs (e.g. Barnet‐Verzat and Wolff, 2008; Gunderson, 1989; Kidd and Shannon, 1996). We have to keep this in mind when using specifications with hierarchical levels in the subsequent estimates.…”

New Technologies and the Gender Wage Gap

“…On the one hand, using matched worker-firm data for about 130,000 employees and 14,000 employers, Jellal, Nordman and Wolff (2008) show that accounting for firm-related characteristics significantly reduces the gender earnings gap at the top of the distribution, but the gender gap still remains much higher at the top than at the bottom. On the other hand, using a large sample of employees working in a French private company from the Defense and Aerospace sector, Barnet-Verzat and Wolff (2008) obtain a gender wage gap of about 8% when controlling for age, experience, qualification and location, which remains rather flat along the wage distribution.…”