The Queen Bee Syndrome. The paradox of women discrimination on the labour market

Abstract Nowadays, women are present in all spheres of life and legislation gives them the same rights as men. We can therefore speak about the emancipation of women for whom new areas of social life have become available, especially the area of education and the labour market. However, despite the fact that gender equality is officially enforced in Western countries, we can still notice certain forms of discrimination against women, in particular related to their functioning in the labour market. The unequal access of women to managerial positions is just one of the many examples. Paradoxically, this access is sometimes hampered by women holding high positions who are not willing to help their younger colleagues in achieving professional promotion. The aim of this article is to present and explain the occurrence of this negative phenomenon, which will be referred to as the Queen Bee Syndrome.