A critical evaluation of Women in management- the glass ceiling at the St. Lucia Fire Service

Executive Summary
The topic of the glass ceiling has been of great interest in recent years especially in the field of management. The problem is that women demonstrate successful qualities over years and despite the qualities that they possess, the glass ceiling still continue to exist in organizations that are male dominating and find it difficult to break into management.
The purpose of this research is to identify the barriers that exists impeding women’s career progression in the fire service and to make recommendations that the St. Lucia Fire Service may implement to increase capacity in senior management level. It is important for women to be part of senior management since women currently make a proportionally larger percentage at the workplace and also because the government has established that in any form of recruitment into the fire service, women should make up twenty percent of the capacity.
This research examined how the concept of the glass ceiling is unavoidable in the fire service. Two stages of data collection and analysis were carried out. By using descriptive research the status of women in the fire service will be presented. A questionnaire was developed and delivered to two hundred fire personnel. An analysis of answers from the questionnaire was analyzed to assess the opinions about the impact of females on promotions to senior management.
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Introduction
Although women in management are becoming more visible yet inequalities exist, the glass ceiling continues to affect women in the workplace. According to Sage Reference n.d, “the glass ceiling is the invisible barrier that have kept women from promotion to upper management and other leadership positions in the business world”. The importance of women and gender