...The Glass Ceiling And Women In The Workplace Sabra D. Pope SOC 490: Social Science Capstone Professor Sandy Smith October 10, 2011 There are far too many businesses around the world that either choose to or unconsciously interfere in the progress of women into higher positions. This problem, even if it is unconscious, can usually be back-tracked to the beginnings of a woman’s entrance into the workplace. This problem can especially be traced if she exhibits any proclivity for moving into management and a desire for moving further up the executive ladder. The reality is that women hold far fewer positions in management and executive ranks is not a new view. Women face many obstacles when trying to advance up the corporate ladder. Two of these obstacles are discrimination and stereotyping. But, the concept that is not new but may be unexpected is that there is the impression that many more obstacles are placed in a woman’s path from the beginning of their career when contrasted with a man’s career. There are several factors that seem to impede women from reaching upper management level positions. Two of these factors are the fact that women are less likely to get involved in variable pay schemes that are based on their work performance but there are also a lot fewer opportunities to obtain mentoring from those in executive positions. Ever since women have sought equal pay for equal work economists have tried to present an explanation of the pay gap between...
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...The glass ceiling is defined as “an unofficially acknowledged barrier to advancement in a profession, especially affecting women and members of minorities” (2). In society, in particular the workplace, women and minorities are being deprived of a multitude of opportunities simply because of their appearance, sexual orientation and / or physical make-up etc…. The majority of high ranking job positions in the workplace are occupied by heteroxexual white males. This seems to be coincidence, right? No, this is anything but that, even if individuals are unaware of what they are doing, their subconscious kicks in and takes over, thus resulting in this trend to continue and worsen over the years. There is no doubt whether the glass ceiling exists...
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...Barbie doll wife and then grabs a drink. At that time, society considered this an acceptable way of life. Not everyone lived in this fashion but it remains the hallmark description of the time period. Men were programmed to get a job and provide for his family while the wife stayed home caring for the children and making sure her husband was satisfied. From experience to television shows people embraced this environment until women began challenging these traditional values. Today, women have traveled a long way to get where they are in the workplace. However, many of the historical customs continue and hinder women’s success. Due to these customs and competitive business environments a glass ceiling has been constructed above women in the workplace. In this thesis we will explore the cause of such discrimination from the glass ceiling from a feminist perspective starting in the 40’s up till today. The beginning of women entering the workplace is arguably when women began challenging their roles as a housewife when there was a shortage of workers during WWII. Since, so many men were overseas women claimed their position and realized they were capable of so much more than cooking or becoming a secretary. In fact, “World War II can be usefully viewed as providing an “exogenous” shock to female labor supply. As men were mobilized to serve in the war, women increased their labor force participation markedly. In 1940, only 28% of women over age 15...
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...some progress regarding women’s advancements in corporate settings has been made, it is found that only one tenth of the senior roles in companies are filled by women. The idea of the glass ceiling started in the 1980’s, when the phrase was used in multiple different books to describe an invisible barrier imposed on people because of race, gender, or any other “limiting” factors that may socially inhibit one from reaching their goal (Lewis). This is a socially constructed limit on these people, and is very prominent in corporate environments. When the Americans were asked if most people thought that barrier has been broken, 86 percent thought that the glass ceiling has not yet been broken, if even cracked (Lewis). Women’s salary, rank, and reputation in the workforce has consistently changed over the years. Fair treatment at the office has been a constant struggle for women in today’s society. Breaking...
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...Theoretical or Conceptual Framework Cultural Diversity within the 21st Century Workplace and Its Effect on Globalization Conceptual Framework This qualitative phenomenological study was based on the aspects of the conceptual framework which incorporates two areas of knowledge, inclusive of (a) cultural diversity, which details the relationship between ethnic background, racism, sexism, and class oppression (Finch-Lee & Mabey, 2010) and (b) the glass ceiling theory, which applies to the affect on various cultural backgrounds and the advancement of future globalization (Kefela, 2010). This framework will provide an empirical structure that will serve as an analysis for the understanding of perceived cultural dimension as seen by a diverse knowledge-based workplace within the 21st century. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between ethnic or racial diversity as it relates to the 21st century organizational workplace and the outcome on future globalization. Opportunities to advance within the 21st century workplace for qualified employees of various cultural background has presented to being more difficult and often those who progress are less experienced and are the majority counterparts within the organization (Kefela 2010). Traditionally, managerial practices and problems have been articulated and documented from the White man’s perspective (Billing, 2011). Perceived cultural dimension consists on how employee view the...
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...The Glass Ceiling Effect: Women’s Career Advancement in Puerto Rico Ángela Ramos Pérez May 7, 2008 2 Index Chapter One .....................................................................................................................................3 Introduction..................................................................................................................................3 Purpose for the Study...............................................................................................................3 Limitation ................................................................................................................................6 Chapter Two ....................................................................................................................................7 Literature Review ........................................................................................................................7 Introduction..............................................................................................................................7 Glass Ceiling............................................................................................................................8 Career Advancement .............................................................................................................12 Gender Based Gap ...........................................................................................................
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...firefighters, policemen, doctors, actors, astronauts, president, jobs that are glorified to be fun, exciting, difficult, and high paying. As children grow they start to realize that there are walls blocking them from their younger dreams. Boys are told they can do anything they set their mind to, girls are too but they are also told they must be married, have a family, and make a home among many other things that are considered womanly. This is where young girls meet the first glass ceiling when fathers, mothers, peers, and schools tell them their place is in the home and not in the workforce. A glass ceiling is defined in Merriam-Webster as “an unfair system or set of attitudes that prevents some people (such as women or people of a certain race) from getting the most powerful jobs.” The first glass ceiling women break through is the cultural norms ceiling. This ceiling says that a woman’s work is in the home and supporting a family. When women were needed in the workforce in the early 1940s this ceiling was shattered. Women took factory jobs, they were wielding and making supplies for the war, they were truck drivers, served as radio operators, each military branch started to incorporate women help beyond needing nurses. The fact that women gained a foot hole in the work force was great however it was sad to see the gain lost when soldiers returning from war were given their old jobs and careers back and women were forced out (Women in WWII). Women started to move from the...
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...Breaking thru the Glass Ceiling GEB 452 Organizational Ethics Introduction For too many women, discrimination still plays a role in the jobs they get, the wages they are paid, and the promotions they receive. The base of this paper is on the ‘glass ceiling’ metaphor, which is the invisible barriers women experience in their rising career, which prevents them from reaching the top of an organization or making it difficult to get there. Even though we have come a long way from how it was fifty years ago it’s undeniable that women still today are not accepted as an equal. Most women seem under-represented in upper management levels in many companies and getting paid less for the same work done by men. This paper will examine some of the obstacles that women have to face during their climb on the corporate ladder and once they arrive. I will also discuss how the gender discrimination has improved thru the years and explain what women are doing to try to break thru the glass ceiling. The Glass Ceiling Women have come a long way during the past century. They have flown alone across the Atlantic Ocean, they have been given the right to vote, they have gone in a rocket into space and they have even been elected to Congress. Even though all they hold all these achievements, women are still facing barriers and gender discrimination in the workplace. It has been shown that even if a woman has received the proper education and credentials, they are often not considered for the...
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...The Glass Ceiling July 11, 2011 Overview The glass ceiling still exists despite the fact that the year is now 2011. Ray B. Williams and Lisa Martin wrote an article for Psychology Today about “Why Hasn’t The Glass Ceiling Been Broken?” They discuss that while progress has been made it has been incremental. Even though researchers can show evidence that women executes do a better job then their male counterparts, there are still many women excluded from the highest positions in the corporate world. That for women to break through the leadership at the top has to make the first move. In addition, Amy Masike wrote an article fro The Economist about “The conundrum of the glass ceiling” also stating that women are missing from the corporate hierarchy. She touches on the stereotype that has been assigned to women in the workplace and how difficult it is to get those stereotypes changed. It was not so long ago that women did not even have the right to vote. Today women are allowed in nearly every field of competition and their rights, at least on paper, are equal to men’s rights. In 1986, the Wall Street Journal made popular the term “glass ceiling” which described the invisible barriers that women have to face as they approach the top of the corporate hierarchy. This glass ceiling has even branched out into “glass elevators” and “glass escalators”. This ceiling enables a woman to move ahead in the working world, but only so far, and no farther. Hence, the new terminology...
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...Causes There are varying reasons why the glass ceiling exists in our society. One chief reason is that leadership has stereotypical views concerning males and females in leadership positions. Males are viewed has being tough and strict, while women are considered more nurturing and caring. Being a tough or very strict leader in the workplace is accepted more by society. While a women’s leadership style, if not identical to her male counterpart, may be viewed as ineffective and soft. In some organizations the “good old boy” network is still widespread so women and minorities do not get the opportunity to advance even if they are more qualified than their competition. Unfortunately, this barrier that hinders advancement is sometimes imposed on women by their own doing. Meaning, some women choose not to work as hard as their male counterparts because they choose their families over their career. For that reason they may not work the long hours, volunteer as much, or take on extra work loads as men often do to climb the corporate ladder. There is a website that discusses an interview with Lillian Vernon, of Lillian Vernon Corporation, and it quotes her saying “many people who dream about their own businesses and don’t have one, are not prepared to work that hard—to think about their job while they’re getting dressed, showering, waiting for somebody— to think of every minute as an opportunity (Martynemko.com)”. Another woman by the name of Theresa Metty, senior VP at Motorola...
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...jobs, easily moving up the corporate ladder, and in some respect this is true. However, if interviewed what would these women say in regards to the trials and errors of getting into these corporate positions? Was it an easy road, did they run into barriers, were their colleagues receptive to their advancement? Unfortunately, most women today will tell of hardships, barriers and stigmas that have tried to stop their advancements in the work place. The “Glass Ceiling” is a real thing for women, a simple barrier that is used to stop a woman’s advancement to a higher position in a company not based on the inability to do the job in question but just because she is in fact a “Woman”. Feminist came up with the term “glass ceiling” in reference to this barrier concerning the careers of women. In the Far East they have a similar term called the “Bamboo Ceiling”. Barriers against women are worldwide, it does not discriminate, and this reference is for all women and women alike. In...
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...It is not up for debate whether women are discriminated against in the workplace it is evident in census data; in 1998 women made 73 cents to the dollar paid to men. Even today, there is still a pay gap that exists between women and men. It is said that the organizations that are pro-equal pay, including some unions, support the idea that the government should set wages for all jobs. To the contrary, the organizations that are proponents of equal pay are not for job wages being set by the government-they wish to have the discrimination taken out of pay scales from within the company. Commonly, this pay gap is attributed to the fact that women in the United States are still expected to attend to familial obligations over work. Data shows that women do attend to family obligations, like having a child, caring for a sick family member, or caring for an elder; but they also do not give up on work. Yes, women often chose lower paying jobs in exchange for flexible hours and do spend a lower number of hours per week long-term at their jobs than their male counterparts. Because women are socialized to be the primary care givers they are kept at these lower paying jobs that are more flexible, the jobs allow them to care for their family yet still retain an income (possibly a second income for the household). Women’s changing roles in society has resulted in this workplace problem. Women are allowed and often encouraged to work but they are not rewarded or compensated at the same level...
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...and that a glass ceiling is still a predominant issue today. The first topic will be about the progress towards gender equality in the Canadian workforce. I will talk about some trends leading to this improvement. The first trend will be about the role of the women’s movement in the 1960’s. This movement was towards giving women greater equality in wages, working conditions, and to gain recognition of their social, economic and political position in society. I will talk about how this movement sparked the battle of gender equality in North America. The second trend will be focusing on the steady growth in the labour force participation among women with children. According to Statistics Canada, 64.4% of women with children under the age of 3 were employed, more than double the proportion of 27.6% in 1976. I will also talk about how there is a slight trend towards men taking more child care responsibility. The third trend will be about women and education. More specifically, how women seem to be more educated (graduating with more undergrad degrees) than men today. Based on data from Statistics Canada; women outnumbered men in 2009 with 34.3% of women having a university degree, compared to only 26% of men. In this section, I will also talk about how women are studying more male-dominated studies. In the second part of my report, I will discuss the glass ceiling in our Canadian society today, more specifically trends and reasoning as to why the glass ceiling still occurs...
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...The expression glass ceiling had been used to describe the artificial barrier placed on individuals that prevent them from advancing to high ranking positions within an organization despite the fact they are qualified. Although the glass ceiling can be experienced by any individual, it is primarily encountered by women. While many people realize the glass ceiling is still intact, some believe it has been broken by women. There are many factors in today’s work environment that allude to the fact that women are still facing the glass ceiling. Understanding what is holding women under the glass ceiling and what they bring to organizations when in higher ranking positions will make it all the more possible for women to break through the glass ceiling. While some women have broken through the glass ceiling, many still feel as though they are being held back. In a 2011 study it was found that in America women made up less than eighteen percent of senior managers in companies (Too Many Suits, 2). This small number can be contributed to many factors that keep women from advancing in the workplace. A primary reason holding women back is the outdated gender roles that are rooted deep inside many people’s minds. Professor Macarie and administrative and communication specialist Moldovan agree with Snowdon, Guardian business editor, in the belief that gender stereotypes have a lot of impact on keeping women from advancing in the workplace. Generally women are perceived as emotional...
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...A critical evaluation of Women in management- the glass ceiling at the St. Lucia Fire Service Executive Summary The topic of the glass ceiling has been of great interest in recent years especially in the field of management. The problem is that women demonstrate successful qualities over years and despite the qualities that they possess, the glass ceiling still continue to exist in organizations that are male dominating and find it difficult to break into management. The purpose of this research is to identify the barriers that exists impeding women’s career progression in the fire service and to make recommendations that the St. Lucia Fire Service may implement to increase capacity in senior management level. It is important for women to be part of senior management since women currently make a proportionally larger percentage at the workplace and also because the government has established that in any form of recruitment into the fire service, women should make up twenty percent of the capacity. This research examined how the concept of the glass ceiling is unavoidable in the fire service. Two stages of data collection and analysis were carried out. By using descriptive research the status of women in the fire service will be presented. A questionnaire was developed and delivered to two hundred fire personnel. An analysis of answers from the questionnaire was analyzed to assess the opinions about the impact of females on promotions to senior management. To...
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