Glass Ceiling Versus Sticky Floor, Sideways Sexism and Priming a Manager to Think Male as Barriers to Equality in Clinical Psychology: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis Approach

The profession of clinical psychology is predominantly populated by women, yet women are significantly underrepresented in the higher levels of the profession. The aim of this studywas to explore the perceptions and experiences of gender difference and implicit bias within the profession of clinical psychology. Through 16 semistructured interviews with psychologists at four different trajectories of their clinical psychology career (10 assistant psychologists, 2 clinical trainees, 3 qualified clinicians, and 1 principal (management grade) clinical psychologist), participants explored their perceptions and experiences with gender discrimination, stereotyping, and implicit discrimination within their roles. An interpretative phenomenological analytic (IPA) approach was employed and superordinate and subordinate themes were derived from the interview data. The superordinate themes included: “Priming a manager—think male,” “Sideways Sexism,” and “Glass Ceiling or Sticky Floor?.” Participants’ experiences were described by a number of issues relating to primed and assumed leadership, societal expectations and pressures, howwomen relate to other women, the experience of a different kind of scrutiny, and sacrifice and compromise. In order to challenge gender inequality in clinical psychology, it would be helpful for gender bias to be increasingly spoken about and acknowledged explicitly. Furthermore, the idea that an effective psychology manager should exert masculine qualities needs to be challenged.