Glass Ceiling Factors, Job Satisfaction and Job Switching Decisions of Female Employees in Private Sector Enterprises of Bangladesh

Glass ceiling is an important issue in the developed world, but there are few studies on the developing world, especially on the private sector of Bangladesh. Therefore, this study aims to determine the influences of the factors of glass ceiling on the job satisfaction and job switching decisions among the female employees in the private sector of Bangladesh. This study conducted structured questionnaire surveys on 192 female employees from two private sector industries – banking and telecommunication in Bangladesh. The data were collected in December 2013 by using random sampling technique. The study used Ordered Logit and Binary Logit regressions. The study found that women employees working in banking sector hold more job satisfaction than those of telecommunication sector. Further, the study found that glass ceiling related variables has no significant relationship with the job satisfaction of women employees but there are several glass ceiling factors that statistically significantly influence on the decisions of changing or switching the existing jobs of women employees. Those who feel they are discriminated by any male colleague or being discriminated to move to higher level management positions or discriminated for promotions or holding less job security are likely to change their existing jobs. To improve the situation, several initiatives need to be taken in the organization like awareness building, standard and ethical human resource practices, strict policies for discriminatory attitudes and behavior etc.