It’s essential to firmly tackle all the structural divides and inequalities that women have come against for years in their professional development.

Because of this, Barcelona City Council is using this year’s 8M campaign to call for a greater women’s presence in executive and command roles, leading women role models who not only open up cracks in the current barriers, but also inspire future generations of bosses, leaders and directors.

“Breaking the glass ceiling so today’s girls are tomorrow’s chiefs” is the main message for a campaign that uses powerful and objective data on vertical segregation and has been designed by Patricia Lujan, expert creative director in communication with the gender perspective.

Obstacles of vertical segregation

Segregation is sustained through gender stereotypes, such as traditional leadership models, and through prejudice about women’s ability to occupy positions of power.

The glass ceiling exists across the board, in the spheres of politics, science, technology, education and business, and limits women’s presence in the elites of any field of work.

Vertical segregation is made worse by other factors, such as a higher percentage of women opting for part-time and temporary work to balance with care work. The inequalities faced by women are often related, and the glass ceiling is no exception as it is closely linked to the feminisation of care, the feminisation of poverty, male violence towards women and mental and emotional health issues.

On top of the lack of opportunities, women face serious consequences such as the wage and pension divide, the loss of talent and the absence of women leadership role models.

The glass ceiling in figures

Then impact the glass ceiling has on women and work is not merely a perception. It is a reality backed up with figures and various veracious sources that demonstrate the current difficulties faced by women in accessing positions of responsibility. For example:

• Just 33.8% of director positions in Catalonia are occupied by women.
  Source: Survey of the Active Population, Institut d’Estadística de Catalunya (2022)
• Only two of Barcelona’s eight universities have women rectors.
  Source: Universitats catalanes (Generalitat de Catalunya, 2024)
• Just 25.1% of films in Catalonia are directed by women.
  Source: “Keys to current Catalan film production: a vision of the period 2012-2022 and presentation of the statistical report for 2021”. Observatori de la Producció Audiovisual (2022).
• Only 34% of research is directed by women.
  Source: “Gender bias in the recruitment, promotion of retention of staff at universities”. Xarxa Vives d’universitats (2023)
• Women occupy just 23.44% of key positions in information and communication technologies (ICT).
  Source: Barometer for the technology sector in Catalonia 2023. Cercle tecnològic (2023)

More data on gender inequalities and the glass ceiling can be found in the Municipal Data Office, which includes a wide range of indicators in the Barcelona Sociodemographic Survey, in the study “Gender in figures. Women’s Life Conditions and Gender Inequalities in Barcelona“, the “Survey on Gender Matters” (Centre d’Estudis d’Opinió, Generalitat de Catalunya) and the “Gender Equality Index 2023” (Institut Català de les Dones, Generalitat de Catalunya).