Glass Ceiling in Legal Academia:Giving it Visibility and Shattering it

The glass ceiling refers to the hidden barriers women encounter in the workplace today. The new millennium has brought remarkable progress, with women serving as heads of state, heads of government, heads of organisations, and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of multinational companies. Blatant discrimination is less visible in recent times; however, though there has been a change, the discrimination remains, but it is so subtle that it is almost indiscernible. This progress is the result of protest voices and calls for change, eventually followed by legal action, which has led organisations to eliminate overt discrimination. The truth is that women remain underrepresented in top positions. The glass ceiling is not limited to the corporate sector but has also permeated academia and other sectors. The legal academia today has as many women as men, and in some cases, the ratio of women exceeds that of men. The article makes a modest attempt to understand how the ‘glass ceiling’ operates in the legal academia. The study uses mixed methodology. It calculates the glass ceiling index and representation ratio. It uses case studies to delve into individual stories of struggle and triumph, which evidence the extent of barriers for women to move to senior management positions. It employs a feminist perspective to understand the phenomenon of the glass ceiling. Factors such as institutional protocols, intersectional factors of class and education, reproductive decisions, and familial responsibilities are also at play. The article concludes with a call for change and ways to combat the glass ceiling.