Glass ceilings or dead ends: Job promotion of men and women compared

Alternative hypotheses that explain the differences in the rate at which male and female workers are promoted to higher job levels are empirically tested. It is found that women are less frequently in jobs that offer promotion possibilities than men. However, given that women are in jobs that offer promotion opportunities, they are not less likely to be promoted to another job within the firm. That women have jobs that offer promotion less frequently than men is due to differences in treatment rather than differences in characteristics