In the 1980’s a term was introduced that changed how we viewed inequality in the work force. The glass ceiling is a metaphor for the invisible and artificial barriers that block women and minorities from advancing in the corporate ladder to management and executive positions. Although there was a dramatically growing presence in the workplace women and minorities remained underrepresented according to the United States congress in 1991. The wage gap continues to be a reality for working women. Gender stereotype and gender communication differences pose dilemmas for women as well. It has been said that people judge women’s abilities more harshly than men. Women are still not treated as equal to men when it comes to high stakes positions. Women are treated differently at fortune 500 companies till this day. They are paid, treated and promoted differently than men even though it is the 21st century.
Deborah
…show more content…
Beginning in January 2011, the United States was the only Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nation with no required paid parental leave. Although most discrimination has been driven out of organizations, subtle gender discrimination still exists and accounts for the lack of movement in shattering the glass ceiling. Women make up only 14% of the top executive positions at Fortune 500 Companies. Despite the fact that they compose 57% of the united States workforce. Women also control 73% of consumer spending and 51% of the United States wealth. Women are also better educated than men. In average holding 21% of undergraduate and 48% graduate degrees more than men. So if women make up more than half of the workforce, are well educated why is there still inequality? Not only are women qualified but it's proven that women-led organizations outperform men-led organizations in share price performance, price-to-book value ratios and ROI performance.
Unfortunately, even today, women are still trying to prove themselves equal to men in many ways. The “glass ceiling” is perhaps one of the most familiar and evocative metaphors to surface from the 20th century. This expression has been used widely in the popular media as well as in official government reports. The image suggest that although it may be the case now that women are able to get through the front door professional hierarchies, at some point they hit an invisible barrier that blocks any further upward movement. “Below this barrier, women are able to get promoted; beyond this barrier, they are not”. Such a situation can be considered a limiting case for a more general phenomenon: situations in which the disadvantages women face relative to men strengthen as they move up executive hierarches. “Traditional approaches to recruitment, organization and job design, performance management and promotions are often designed in ways that are more suited to men than to women. This is what creates the glass ceiling”. Beyond the limit of job titles, the glass ceiling also creates a pay difference between men and women performing the same work requirements.
Women face many obstacles as they climb their career’s hierarchy and for many different reasons their wage is comparably less than that of males. After the movements toward equality in the workplace, many think that sex discrimination isn’t present anymore. However, many still believe that the glass ceiling hasn’t shattered and still possesses a barrier for many women in the labor force. The glass ceiling and the wage gap exist for various reasons but, like many other women leaders, women can break the glass and abolish the gap.
Women have struggled to reach the top of the corporate hierarchy since the beginning of time. They have encountered prejudiced discrimination and inequality, and those who have noticed this unfairness simply put these problems on the backburner since they were merely the problems of women’s incompetence (Wynn). An intangible barrier blocks women from higher-level positions and equal pay to men, and this barrier is entirely relevant today’s American society. The Glass Ceiling has yet to be shattered despite its familiarity among Americans. Through education, eliminating stereotypes and unjust standards, and enforcing action plans, the Glass Ceiling can be broken (Johns).
In February 2015, Ellen Pao’s lawsuit against Kleiner Perkins, a venture capital firm, for gender discrimination went on trial. Pao alleged that she had been treated unfairly by her ex-bosses and passed on numerous times for promotion in favor of her male counterparts. While Pao did not win her lawsuit, the trial brought back to light the problem of gender discrimination and of the glass ceiling in corporate America. Since women started to enter the workforce, there always have been barriers and obstacles that prevented them from reaching the higher ranks on the corporate ladder. Public recognition that there was indeed a problem of discrimination helped giving women assurance
They frequently have a hard time simply being hired because of their gender. Gender discrimination leads to the management hiring or promoting a man over a woman, even if the woman has higher qualifications (Andres). This bias occurs in part because of lack of female leadership in corporate settings. Men make up an overwhelming majority of leadership positions in business and politics. While the results of one study found women to make up 53% of entry level employees, they found that women only made up 19% of top executive positions, such as CEO or CFO, in the same company (Harvard Business Review Staff). These statistics reveal that women are getting cut off at lower level positions with no basis for the actions of those making the decisions other than gender. Known as the glass ceiling, this phenomenon plagues working women. Not only are women denied high-level jobs, but they are also denied the same payment as men for the same work. This wage gap continues to rage on. For example, the Harvard Business Review reports that, in insurance, “saleswomen make only 62.5% of what their male colleagues earn.” Additionally, mothers are offered, on average, $11,000 less than childless women as a starting salary (Harvard Business Review Staff). This is undeniable evidence that women continually face imaginary barriers that prevent them from receiving fair wages. In a fair job market, whether or not a woman has a child would have nothing to do with what she is offered for her starting wage, and she would be offered the same pay as an equally qualified man applying for the same job. Tragically, differences like these are even more prominent in STEM fields, which have been male-dominated for
In America many groups have fought hard to gain equality in treatment, rights, and everyday living standards. Women are included amongst these groups. At one point in history women were not allowed to vote or carry the same positions as men in work. Due to amendments and affirmative action these hindrances for women have been abolished. What still remains to day is the inner struggle within jobs also known as glass ceilings? Glass ceilings are daily obstacles for most women in their jobs every day. As country of equal opportunity should we Americans continue to fight for more equality or accept the situation and be grateful for the change that has already come into place?
Through the course of history, women have accomplished many feats surpassing stereotypes of being only useful for their vanity. The scholar Chisholm-Burns states that “it is clear that gender bias remains a challenge for women in the workplace, particularly as they try to move up the career ladder” (312). Society has made it hard, but not impossible, for women to accomplish certain goals. Burns continues by giving an explanation of the term “glass ceiling”, which is another form of discrimination towards women. “Glass
The “glass ceiling” is a barrier to advancement that affects women when they work in
The institutionalized discrimination of women in the work place is nothing new or unheard of. The brunt of it has happened fairly recently as women began to enter the labor market in force less than a century ago. The affect of this discrimination has had long lasting, generation spanning affects, but as time has passed and feminism spread, the gender-gap has slowly begun to shrink.
Critically discuss the extent to which Fayol's classical analysis of the management function has largely been made redundant by the more recent empirical studies of what managers actually do, such as that favoured by Mintzberg.
Also, the majority of women have been able to secure employment from traditionally female occupations such as teaching compared to male-dominated careers like engineering. Moreover, democratic country like the United States of America has recognized gender inequality as a fundamental issue and espouse equal right between men and women in contributing to social, economic and cultural life. Despite this improvement, gender inequality persists as women are not represented and treated equally in the workplace (Michialidis, Morphitou, & Theophylatou, 2012). The increasing number of women in the workplace has not provided equal opportunity for career advancement for females due to the way women are treated in an organization and the society. Also, attaining an executive position seem impossible for women due to the glass ceiling effects which defines the invisible and artificial barrier created by attitudinal and organizational prejudices, which inhibit women from attaining top executive positions (Wirth
When people are talking about CEO’s, Presidents or any other person in a high position, who comes to mind? For most people, the person that comes to mind is a white male. Even in one of the most progressive and modern countries in the world males are associated with positions of power. Gender inequality refers to the unequal treatment or perceptions of individuals based on their gender. Although we have made abundant steps in narrowing gender inequality, patriarchy still continues in society and thus women today have yet to gain the same opportunities in the workplace. Even with acts such as the Equal Pay Act that passed 35 years ago, today, half of the workforce is consists of women, but the average workingwoman earns only 80.9% of what the workingman makes. There is also a lack of promotion in high positions for qualified women in the work force. These are just a few of the work place inequalities that females are faced with. Even with the many steps taken to ensure equality in the work field, the gender discrimination continues to exist.
For many decades, women have faced inequalities in the workforce. At one point, they were not allowed to work at all. Although women's rights have improved and are now able to work alongside men, they are still treated unfairly. According to the 2012 U.S. Census, women’s earnings were “76.5 percent of men’s” (1). In 2012, men, on average, earned $47,398 and women earned only $35,791. This is when comparing employees where both gender spend the same amount of time working. Not only do women encounter unfairness in work pay, they also face a “glass ceiling” on a promotional basis. This glass ceiling is a “promotion barrier that prevents woman’s upward ability” (2). For example, if a woman is able to enter a job traditionally for men, she will still not receive the same pay or experience the same increase in occupational ability. Gender typing plays a huge role in the workplace. It is the idea that women tend to hold jobs that are low paid with low status. Women are not highly considered in leadership positions because of social construction of gender. Society has given women the role of “caretakers” and sensitive individuals. Therefore, women are not depicted as authoritative figures, which is apparent with the absence of women in leadership roles in companies. Furthermore, sex segregation leads to occupations with either the emphasis of women in a certain job or men in a certain job. In 2009, occupations with the highest proportion of women included “secretary, child care worker, hair dresser, cashier, bookkeeper, etc.” (3). Male workers typically held job positions as construction workers, truck drivers, taxi drivers, etc. (3). Sex segregation represents inequality because the gender composition for these jobs depends on what ...
In today’s society, Women perform similar jobs to men. Whether it’s blue or white collar jobs, women are always present and thriving for success balancing a life of business and family. In the job market, some are graduates of the best schools and have interned at the best firms, but are still not compensated as equally as men. Following the recent comments by the CEO of Microsoft concerning women asking for raises and how they should trust the system to install equality, the issue seems to be still present, and women’s work is not rewarded similarly to men’s.
Gender Inequality at a Workplace Historically, males and females normally assume different kinds of jobs with varying wages in the workplace. These apparent disparities are widely recognized and experienced across the globe, and the most general justification for these differences is that they are the direct outcomes of discrimination or traditional gender beliefs—that women are the caregivers and men are the earners. However, at the turn of the new century, women have revolutionized their roles in the labor market. Specifically in industrialized societies, the social and economic position of women has shifted. Despite the improving participation of women in the labor force and their ameliorating proficiency and qualifications, the labor force is still not so favorable to women.