Bloomsbury Business signs McCay’s Breaking the Rainbow Ceiling

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Bloomsbury Business has signed Layla McCay’s Breaking the Rainbow Ceiling: What’s Holding LGBTQ+ People Back at Work and What We Can All Do About It.

Publisher Ian Hallsworth acquired world all-language rights from Abi Fellows at The Good Literary Agency, and the book will be published in May 2024. 

Breaking the Rainbow Ceiling looks at why LGBTQ+ people are underrepresented at the most senior levels of professional life. It also explores how companies, boards, and HR professionals, as well as LGBTQ+ professionals navigating their career paths, can address these barriers. 

The synopsis said: “The book will include insights based on interviews with high-profile LGBTQ+ c.e.o.s (and their equivalents in other professional sectors) to identify where challenges and opportunities exist, and the common problems that people can face as they find their way in work environments. At the same time, it will share strategies on how to overcome those challenges and empower LGBTQ+ people to reach their full professional potential.”

McCay is director of the Centre for Urban Design & Mental Health in London. A psychiatrist and public health specialist, she is co-editor of Urban Mental Health and managing editor of the Journal of Urban Design and Mental Health.

She commented: “I am thrilled to be working with Ian Hallsworth and everyone at Bloomsbury Business to publish the book that I always wanted to read as a LGBTQ+ person climbing the career ladder, and that I wish my managers had read. Many people don’t realise a rainbow ceiling exists, but the disproportionately low number of out LGBTQ+ people who have reached the upper echelons of their professions tells us there are significant differences in career opportunity – and too few role models for the next generation.

“I hope that bringing the research together with personal stories from some of the world’s most senior and prominent LGBTQ+ leaders will inspire LGBTQ+ people’s career ambitions, as well as the changes needed to make their progress a fairer climb.”

Hallsworth added: “We are delighted to be working with Layla, an established Bloomsbury author, on such a key title for the business list – a book that, for many people, will be the text they wish they’d been able to read early in their careers.  While it will highlight the challenges faced by the LGBTQ+ community in their professional lives, Breaking the Rainbow Ceiling will also offer inspirational stories from LGBTQ+ leaders who can talk about their own journeys and offer heartfelt yet practical advice to others.”