2016年对美国女性来说是非常重要的一年。上个月，希拉里·克林顿（Hillary Clinton）成为美国首位获得主要政党总统提名的女性。
But does her nomination mean all restrictions on woman and their careers are gone?
但是她的提名是否意味着对女性及其职业生涯的所有限制都消失了呢？
The term "glass ceiling" is often used to describe an unseen barrier that stops women and minorities from moving up in their careers.
“玻璃天花板”这个术语经常用来形容阻止女性和少数族裔在职业生涯上升的无形屏障。
American small business owners said in an opinion survey that the glass ceiling remains in place, even with Hillary Clinton running for president.
美国小企业主在一项民意调查中表示，即使克林顿开始竞选总统，玻璃天花板仍然存在。
Bank of America contacted 1,001 business owners from across the country for their opinion on the issue. Seventy-seven percent of the women, and 56 percent of the men said they believe the barrier still exists for some women and members of minority groups.
美国银行联系了美国各地1001位企业主征询他们在这个问题上的意见。77%的女性和56%的男性表示，他们认为针对一些女性和少数族裔的屏障依然存在。
Aquila Leon-Soon is chief executive officer of Advance Talent Solutions, a company that helps non-profit groups and government with finding workers. She told VOA the glass ceiling is very real.
Aquila Leon-Soon是Advance Talent Solutions公司的首席执行官，这是一家帮助非营利团体和政府招聘员工的公司。她对美国之音表示，玻璃天花板真实存在。
"I think that glass ceiling does exist and I would like for people to even think more about how it impacts women entrepreneurs."
她说，“我认为玻璃天花板确实存在，我希望人们更多地想一想它如何影响女企业家。”
Entrepreneurs launch businesses and are willing to risk money to make money.
企业家创办企业并甘冒资金风险来赚钱。
The Bank of America survey found that 54 percent of women small business owners did not feel affected by the glass ceiling. But 46 percent said they had felt limited by it at some time in their careers.
美国银行的调查发现，54%的女性小企业主并未感觉到玻璃天花板的影响。但是还有46%的女性小企业主表示，她们在职业生涯的某个时间感觉到了玻璃天花板的限制。
Sharon Miller is head of small business at Bank of America. She told VOA the survey shows that more women small business owners are hopeful about their companies making money than men. And more women than men plan to grow their business over the next five years.
莎朗·米勒（Sharon Miller）是美国银行小企业部门的负责人。她对美国之音表示，这项调查显示，与男性相比，有更多女性小企业主对自己公司赚钱充满希望，同时更多女性计划在未来5年扩大其业务。
Miller said that "from 2015 to 2016, the number of men small-business owners expressing optimism about revenue and growth declined significantly, more than 15 percentage points."
米勒表示，“从2015年到2016年，对收入和增长持乐观态度的男性小企业主数量显著下降了15%以上。”
Most American companies are small businesses -- ones with less than 500 employees. The U.S. Small Business Administration says small businesses make up more than 99 percent of American companies.
大多数美国公司是雇员少于500人的小企业。美国小企业管理局表示，小企业占到了美国公司总数的99%。
Miller says the survey found that women want to operate their own businesses.
米勒表示，调查发现，女性希望经营自己的企业。
"When we asked why did you become an entrepreneur, why did you open your own small business, most of the women answered because I want to be my own boss, because I want to take control of my own destiny."
她说，“当我们问到你为何要成为一名企业家，你为什么要开办自己的小企业时，大多数女性回答，因为我想做自己的老板，因为我希望掌控自己的命运。”
She added they found that women were not opening businesses because they were unhappy in their old job.
她补充说，她们发现，女性并非因为对之前的工作不满意才开办企业。
"Those are running towards something, not away. So it wasn't because I was unhappy in my previous role or didn't like it, it's that I wanted to build something for myself."
她说，”她们朝着某个方向努力，而不是退缩。所以这并不是因为她们对之前的角色不满意或是不喜欢，只是因为她们希望为自己建立一些东西。”
A big part of getting a business started is finding the capital, or money, to finance it.
开办企业的很大部分工作是寻找资金。
Some people may have to use credit cards, or borrow money from family or friends, or get traditional loans for their businesses. The survey found that more than one in four women still feel they do not have the same access to capital as men.
有些人可能需要利用信用卡，或是从亲朋好友那借钱，或是获得传统贷款来开办企业。调查发现，超过四分之一的女性仍然觉得她们不具备和男性相同的资金获取渠道。
Leon-Soon knows about that. She says, the first time she went to a bank to get a loan to pay her employees, she was rejected. Now that her company is established, she does not have trouble getting money.
Leon-Soon 对此有体会。她说，她第一次到银行贷款给员工发薪时被拒绝了。现在她的公司成立了，她在获得资金上没有麻烦。
But she says people are still surprised to find women in top leadership.
但她表示，人们对女性身居高位仍然非常惊讶。
"Often I am asked, and people are surprised, they're like, well, can I talk to your boss? And I say, I am the boss. They're like REALLY?!"
“经常人们问我，然后他们会感到惊讶。例如他们会问我，我可以跟你的老板谈谈吗？我说，我就是老板。他们可能就会说，真的吗？”
She says people are also surprised when they find out a successful company is led by a woman.
她说人们发现一家成功企业是由女性领导时也会惊讶。
"And that shows that as a nation we have a lot more that we need to do to change the way people view entrepreneurs, and how successful women can be."
“这表明作为美国我们还有很多事情要做，以改变人们看待企业家以及女性如何成功的方式。”
And that most likely means there is a lot more work to be done to make that glass ceiling disappear.
而这很可能意味着，要让玻璃天花板消失还有很多工作要做。
I'm Anne Ball.
我是安妮·波尔。(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利，未经授权请勿转载，违者必究！)