Glass Walls: Shattering the Six Gender Bias Barriers Still Holding Women Back at Work

by Amy Diehl, Leanne M. Dzubinski

A new, important, and richly detailed guide to understanding gender bias with practical solutions for leaders, workplace allies, and individual women.



Gender bias is a powerful but hidden force that is still holding women back, keeping them from achieving their full potential and limiting organizations from achieving the creativity, problem solving, and growth that are possible with a diverse workforce.



In this revealing new book, Amy Diehl and Leanne Dzubinski shine a new light on gender bias in the workplace, uncovering the barriers that work like glass walls surrounding women. Through their original research, they have discovered six core factors and multiple subfactors of bias, giving names to some elements for the first time ever.



Their findings and analysis present a new, important, and richly detailed guidebook to understanding gender bias. They

How male privilege, the bedrock on which gender bias is built, results in a workplace created by men and for men How women encounter disproportionate constraints in that workplace, being expected to play supportive roles to men
The surprising ways in which women experience insufficient support based on gender
The concept of devaluation, and how it tells women they don't belong at work
The troubling ways women face hostility to keep them in their supposed place, merely because of their gender
How the combined weight of these barriers leads to acquiescence, when women internalize the obstacles and adapt to the limitations




The barriers identified, and the subcomponents of each, are destined to become the framework for understanding gender bias. Glass Walls provides a roadmap to shatter barriers holding women back once and for all.

Genres: Nonfiction, Womens, Gender, Feminism, Workplace, Business

277 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 15, 2023

About the author

Amy Diehl, PhD, is an award-winning information technology leader and gender equity researcher who has authored numerous scholarly journal articles and book chapters. Her writing has also appeared in Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Ms. Magazine. Glass Walls is her first book. She is also a sought-after speaker, consultant, and lawsuit expert witness. She resides in Pennsylvania. You can visit her online at amy-diehl.com

Reviews

[Hannah Daniels · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a work women’s group book club that I was only able to attend 2/4 meetings for 😂 Overall important topics and good things to ponder, especially with lovely people.

[Cathy Hine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book that should be read by all women and men. The authors provide an incisive exploration of gender biases with real stories that uncover the realities of many women’s lived world. It is heartbreaking at times, and deeply saddening, but it is brilliantly argued and cogently explored. Excellent work by the authors - now how will we respond.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listen, this book is not about beautiful writing, it’s a technical catalogue and analysis of gender bias. It is necessary and in-depth, and defines all the insidious ways bias is expressed and experienced. As a woman, I wasn’t surprised by ANYTHING here. It is important for business-owners, leaders, and colleagues to understand and combat bias. It is not the job of women to fix this for themselves, but we can all work/push/rail against it no matter our gender. Plenty of tangible actions included. Read it. Do something.

[Amalia Wompa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt a mix of things through reading this book. For the most part, I actually thought it was extremely repetitive and pessimistic, however, as I got further into it I realized that maybe I am in fact falling into the dismissing characters most women describe encountering in the workplace. Although I am a woman myself, I catch myself feeling things like this are “preachy” and “overdone”. Of course, there is some truth to things like this losing merit when they refuse to go about it in a way that chooses to attack rather than construct. I feel that if feminism were approached in a way that doesn’t bite men’s ears off, they would be more willing to listen and act. Of course, I’m not a man so I don’t know how one would react to this book, but throughout it I couldn’t help but feel it was a bit overbearing.

[Lindsey Noskin · Rating 2 out of 5]

wanted to love, but essentially it is a laundry list of issues women face

It is great to see the work that went into the research here but ultimately it reads as a list of problems women face at work. As a working woman, I already know. Some may find this validating, I found it dry. There are so many specific stories about women facing hardships. That’s great, but where are the stories of women overcoming? They spend the very end of each chapter and the end of the book offering vague solutions. I would’ve preferred the bulk of the book being specific solution stories.

[Jean Duffy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two researchers have teamed up to document with scientific rigor and poignant stories the gender bias barriers that are holding back our society. When the potential contributions of women are not fully embraced, it hurts all of us. I related to many of the stories, and at times felt anger and frustration, but also hope upon reading the actionable guidance for women, allies, and leaders. This is a book I am sharing with my daughters as well!

[Gina Schneider · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read book for any woman seeking to break through and achieve.

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Detailed catalogue of different forms of gender bias and solutions that can be taken by leaders, allies, self. Reading example after example is crushing but also inspiring.