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 allowing women the opportunity to move upward but never reaching the very top. The complaint was that women were not generally allowed to be as successful, nor make as much money, as men in the same, or similar, occupations. Today many would have us believe that the glass ceiling is no longer a reality, with women demonstrating that they are just as successful as men in all occupations and industries. The Greenhaus texts state, “The progress in upward career mobility to the senior-most positions has been slow. This difficulty in rising above lower and middle management positions illustrates the presence of a glass ceiling.” Long before the 20th century, and well into it, women who had no means of support, labored hard at home, a person responsible for all of the care of the family without the compensation that paid employees receive. Things are changing, and have been for quite some time. However, this does not mean that all is well or that women have gained the recognition they deserve in many fields of occupation. It is a world of complicated reality where women have been struggling for many long years to achieve some form of success. Those who somehow managed to build businesses or transform companies were mainly the wives, the widows, the daughters or the partners of hugely successful men. Women in the past never had many rights. In the past, a woman's power was always restricted over her own future. They were forced to depend on the men. In society, the men were the ones who represented the women. A woman was depicted as her husband's wife and her children's mother. These women worked in the home usually producing cloth, sewing, or being a cook or nurse to her family. It is now 2011 and women want to be independent, they want to succeed in a career for themselves, they want it all-and they can do it all. One thing that men fail to understand is that some women do not have a choice. Some women never get married or have a family of their own, so they are left with no choice, but to throw themselves into their jobs. Others are single parents, divorced or widowed, needing to work in order to support themselves and their children. Men and their unfair beliefs toward women in the workplace make it sometimes impossible for women to have any chance of succeeding. It also causes many women to believe that they are not equal and that it is okay for them to be treated differently from men. Women are the first who need to change in this situation in order for there to ever be any modifications and a shattering of this glass ceiling, elevator or escalator. They must believe that they cannot only succeed, but also that they deserve a chance to succeed. Organizations tend to look for strong employees who can be professional and aggressive at the same time. As the business aspect looks at the situation, you are better off being secure that the person you hire is going to be there for a while, rather than trying to figure out what is going to happen in the future. Women have fewer opportunities to obtain broad and varied experience in most companies. They tend to be in supporting staff function areas such as human resources, communications, public relations, and customer service. Movement between these positions and upward is rare in most major companies. This results in shorter career ladders offering fewer possibilities to gain varied experience. When companies do invest in women and these women choose to leave the workforce it makes it much harder on the women left behind. “What are the reasons that women, despite solid performance records, have been unable to take an equal place with men in senior leadership positions? One of the reasons is occupational segregation. Men tend to be highly concentrated in the top professions, such as supervisors, managers, executives, production supervisors. Women tend to be over-represented in the status lowest paid professions in the work force such as teachers, secretaries, nurses and childcare providers. Women are also concentrated in the lower-ranked and lower-paid occupations within a given profession.” (Williams, 2010) “A stereotype is a preconceived perception or image one has of another person based on that person’s membership in a particular social group or category.” (Greenhaus, page 328). Stereotypes tend to be the main cause of women not breaking the glass ceilings. The Greenhaus text on page 328 also states, “The actions we take in response to our stereotype can ultimately confirm the stereotype.” An example is a female employee of a company has been selected for grooming up the corporate ladder. She is given higher education, assisted in many projects, teamwork, etc. Then she makes the decision to leave and become a homemaker. She has just proven the stereotype that women will leave to have babies so do not waste your time. In addition to stereotyping, the flattening of organizations in recent years means that promotions now are far steeper steps than they used to be. This leaves fewer opportunities for people to re-enter the workforce at higher levels. (Makice, 2005) This is true in my company where the organization is so flat that people have to retire or die before a promotion opportunity becomes available. Sometimes there is a ripple effect as the position is filled from within but eventually the only new hire is at the very bottom level. Not always a conscious decision but rather unwritten rules dominate. An example is that in a particular department whenever there is an opening, the only people who can be considered for that position can only first come from a particular department. Regardless of qualifications, abilities, experience, etc., they will only select from that particular pool of people. Other need not waste their time. “An organization can intentionally or unwittingly discriminate against members of subgroups.” (Greenhaus, page 334) My company has a career path guideline for certain individuals at certain levels. Their official word is that there is NO career path process because we are such a flat organization. Nevertheless, every year, the vice presidents write out career paths for each of their directors and key managers stating what they feel these employees are ready for and if additional training is necessary. While others can say that the performance appraisal process does address some of this, it is very rarely that the necessary training or education is every obtained. The Greenhaus text states on page 346 “if career planning activities are vital to success, all employees (not just women professionals, for example) should be provided with career planning opportunities. To do otherwise, it is suggested, would be unfair to one group – white men – and would put this group at a disadvantage.” Corporate leadership can demand and enforce merit-based practice and behavior internally. The power of stereotyping in the greater society could be substantially diminished if corporations across the board were to demand behavioral change in how they do their business. Although the presence of strong laws is powerful ammunition to fight to eliminate discrimination in the workplace, litigation is not the solution to the problem. Women who experience workplace discrimination are often reluctant to file official complaints for a variety of reasons including; feelings of inadequacy, fear of reprisal, and fear of being labeled troublemakers. Some women also fear retaliation from their employers as well. It is true that things are getting better for women in the workplace. They are beginning to make little cracks in the glass ceiling, but things are still not near to being equal. In order for that to happen, men and women need to work together as a team. Men, as well as women, have to do their part. They both must first believe that women are equal to men, and then they must act upon it. Change can be handled well or it can be handled poorly. Corporate leaders who have successfully addressed the business barriers to the advancement of women are those who have squarely confronted the reality that their priorities and the priorities of their middle and upper-level managers are not always synonymous. Their experience demonstrates that barriers can be overcome.

References
Greenhaus, J.H., Callanan, G.A., & Godsbalk, V.M. (2010). Career Management, Fourth Edition SAGE Publicaions, Inc.
Makice, A. (2005, July 21). “The Conundrum of the Glass Ceiling” The Economist. http://www.economist.com/node/4197626/print
Williams, R.B., & Martin, L. (2010, May 15). “Why Hasn’t the Glass Ceiling Been Broken?” Psychology Today. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wired-success/201005/why-hasnt-the-glass-ceiling-been-broken