Women in the Workplace: The Glass Ceiling

If glass ceilings existed, they would allow people to see through to the world above them. Because glass is clear, those existing under such a ceiling might not, at first, even notice that a barrier was in place which separated them from higher levels. Yet if they tried to pass through, they would quickly learn that the ceiling prevented them from doing that. But let�s face it. Women have known about glass ceilings in the executive suite and throughout all levels of the workforce long before the Wall Street Journal highlighted the problem in March 1986. It was coined in the media to describe what happens to women when they are denied opportunity to the upper levels of executive management. Thousands of qualified women and minority men are routinely denied top level jobs in corporate America. But instead of calling it racism, sexism, or xenophobia, we call it the "glass ceiling." For people confronting these barriers, it is discrimination - plain and simple.

Glass ceiling" is a term that describes the artificial plateau, beyond which women and other minorities are denied the opportunity to advance to upper levels of executive management in corporate America (Castro, 1997). It has become a routine practice to deny thousands of qualified women the top level jobs, merited by their performance. The "glass ceiling" barriers toward women are nothing but an insidious form of sex discrimination, in violation of law(Feldman, 1997). Glass ceiling barriers exist at all levels of an organization and affect people at different levels in various industries. And while CEOs increasingly recognize the value of work force diversity, particularly at the management levels, glass ceiling barriers continue to deny women and minorities the opportunity to compete for and hold executive level position in the private sector.

The Commission�s