Perimenopause and the Glass Ceiling: A Model of Career Inequality

The article analyzes the mechanisms that make it difficult for women to reach the highest levels of organizational hierarchy, replacing the 'glass ceiling' metaphor with a model of a multi-layered filter system. The author indicates that the underrepresentation of women in centers of power does not result from single decisions, but from the cumulative effect of small asymmetries at every stage of the career (leaky pipeline). A key element is the distinction between representation in management and actual organizational power. The text emphasizes the role of institutional penalties, such as the motherhood penalty, and suggests that perimenopause may interact with ageism and sexism, creating an additional barrier at the moment women reach peak professional positions. Career is presented here as a market of repetitive decisions made under conditions of unequal biological and systemic constraints.