Breaking the glass ceiling

It may seem overly simplified, but the workforce was first designed around men. Visit Wikipedia for a complete and thorough history of the Industrial Revolution. The basic takeaway is that women only entered the picture after this framework was established and set in stone. This means everything that is just assumed as the status quo - like starting work at 9am or the supervisory network - was developed with only men in mind.

(That said, women have done some notable work carving out preferences that benefit their gender, yet the overall structure still remains male-centric.)

Now, even though most of the current generation of both men and women were raised to be equals, it has been a rude awakening to realize that workplace equality remains rooted in the days of yesteryear when women fetched coffee and men brought home the bacon. A majority of women (56%) and 43% of men attribute outdated biases and stereotypes as the second largest factor impacting gender inequality in the workplace, only outranked by pay inequality, according to a recent survey by staffing firm Randstad US.