So this is an important point. An American in Germany would probably knee-jerk to 'racism' for a few reasons, and although there are different kinds of unfairn

So this is an important point. An American in Germany would probably knee-jerk to 'racism' for a few reasons, and although there are different kinds of unfairness, I'm not sure if that's quite the right word. America is an open place, Germany, not so much. America has tons of really high-level aptitude migrants, Germany doesn't quite have that. With respect to 'glass ceilings' - it's more complicated. As a resident of Germany for some time, as an outsider ... I would have expected to be promoted well enough if I was materially 'that much better', but frankly, not otherwise. I actually accepted the fact that 'this is a German company, it's going to be run by Germans'. I was in France I felt the same way. I don't believe in the notion that a random person from country XYZ has the 'right' to be an executive for example at a local company. Definitely treated with respect and not face racism, definitely promoted rank and file based mostly on performance, definitely the same material, legal rights - but beyond that ... I always felt 'it was their country, not really mine'. Also, there are quite a number of these countries run by foreign nationals anyhow, it's just not quite as common as in the US.