The Sticky Floor Effect, a relatively new career advancement barrier concept, theorizes there exist obstacles for women preventing them from advancing to first level management positions. Of significant importance to institutions of higher learning's colleges of business, the Sticky Floor Effect highlights issues of consistency, moral implications, and credibility, as it is in these establishments where workplace anti-discriminatory hiring and promotion practices are taught to future business professionals. This study aims to explore if the colleges of business, which are responsible for teaching equal opportunity employment practices, are following their own instructions through advancing women into first level management positions. Included in this study is an analysis of five states' colleges and universities in which gender ratios of department chairs and directors within colleges of business are examined. The results of the analyses show evidence of a sticky floor impacting career advancement opportunities for women.
