Final answer:
The 'glass ceiling' is the invisible barrier limiting women's career advancement due to discrimination, rooted in societal gender roles, stereotypes, and biases. This concept encompasses challenges like unequal pay, lack of mentorship, and the 'motherhood penalty,' especially prevalent in STEM fields.
Step-by-step explanation:
The barriers that limit women's abilities to advance their career are described by the term glass ceiling, which is an invisible barrier caused by discrimination that prevents women from rising to the highest levels of an organization. This is rooted in social patterns of discrimination, gender stereotypes, and the roles different genders play in child-rearing.
Women continue to contend with issues such as gender stereotypes, lack of mentorship, and a workplace culture that favors men. Career advancement challenges for women also include unequal pay and societal expectations, particularly those related to motherhood, which some refer to as the "motherhood penalty." Gender biases based on traditional gender roles and stereotypes about women's capabilities in leadership and aggressive roles further contribute to these career advancement barriers.
Within technology and other STEM fields, women face additional gender-gap challenges due to stereotypes that men are more suited for technological knowledge, contributing to further discrimination and underrepresentation of women in these areas.