If you’ve ever heard of the glass ceiling (an unofficially acknowledged barrier to advancement in a profession, especially affecting women and members of minorities), you are probably not aware that there is another ceiling that creates more barriers for women of color, but specifically black women. The black ceiling, which are barriers to advancement for black/ African American women. Black women face both gender and race discrimination. They are often not seen as leaders, but mere employees. They have to do double the work to compete with their counterparts.

In both private and public sector, black women are underrepresented. In the private sector, black women make up 7.9% compared to white women who make up 29.6 %. For senior level executives, black women account for 1.5% while white women account for 24.3 %.

 One thing that cannot go unnoticed is that even though black men make up a smaller percentage in the workforce, they are better represented in leadership roles and are given more opportunity to advance than black women.

Women in general face blatant discrimination, but black women not only face gender discrimination, but also racist practices. They do not know whether or not they will be hired based on gender and or race to fill quotas, and not on their skills or talents, and abilities to take on leadership roles. For every obstacle and barrier a white woman will face it will be three times harder on women of color, especially black women.