Glass Ceiling Effect - Literature review Example

? GLASS CEILING EFFECT by + Glass Ceiling Effect Introduction The glass ceiling effect entails an artificial barrier to career advancement or promotions amongst women and minorities. This is a key form of discrimination within the workplace and widens the gap between employees that prosper and those that are, left behind. The glass ceiling effect denies women and the minorities opportunities to rise up the ladder through promotions, regardless of their performance or qualifications. The glass ceiling does not only affect employees in terms of performance, but also affects the success of organizations and the government offices. One of the key reasons why discrimination affects the employees’ performance is the fact that it reduces job satisfaction amongst the women and minorities. This as a result affects their performance in the workplace. This paper will look at the previous studies that have contributed to the development of the literature review relating to glass ceiling effects. It will compare and contrast the work of different researchers that have contributed to the literature review. This paper as well will look at a couple of strands relating to the glass ceiling effect including the pay gap, job satisfaction and promotions, in terms of how they affect employees within an organization. Research questions 1. Is there a relationship between gender and job satisfaction within the workplace? 2. How does the pay gap affect the performance of both women and men in the workplace? 3. Does promotion discrimination affect the employees in terms of performance and commitment to the organization? Literature review Job satisfaction A study by Hulin & Smith identified a strong inverse relationship between gender differences within the workplace and job satisfaction amongst employees. For example, the study shows that in organizations whereby gender discrimination is present, the level of satisfaction amongst the victims is low, compared to the satisfaction of employees that the discrimination favors. It involved men and women, obtained from several manufacturing plants. The study identified a strong relationship between female, as well as, male employees and the level of their job satisfaction. There is a substantial difference in terms of job satisfaction amongst men and women within the manufacturing plants (Hulin & Smith, 2005). Differences in job satisfaction amongst female and male employees are because of gender-based discrimination. The performance of employees goes down when they feel discriminated, which adversely affect the organization’s performance. A study by Goh & Coh meant to identify the relationship between the personal characteristics and job satisfactions amongst Turkish workers, from a couple of organizations, found similar results as the above study. It found that gender is a key factor that determines job satisfaction amongst employees within the workplace. Another study by the two as well contributes to the glass ceiling effect’s literature. It examined the influence of gender differences amongst 608 Singaporean accountants. The study found that the male accountants were more satisfied than the female accountants (Goh & Coh, 2002). Pay gap A study Stedham & Yamamura was, meant to examine the effect of the pay gap between female and male managers on job satisfaction, found a progressive relationship amid the two variables. It found that women are not satisfied with their pay, the promotion within organizations, as well as, their entire job satisfaction. On the other hand, men managers are satisfied with their pays. This contributes to the differences amongst male and female managers, in terms of performance within their organizations. Therefore, it is clear that one of the key motivating factors amongst employees and managers as far as performance is concerned is the pay. In other words, the more the wage, so is the performance of an employee (Stedham & Yamamura, 2003). Another study by Howard involving employees that hold managerial positions found different results. Unlike the above study that identified the pay as the key influencing factor that influences performance, it found that the key factor is the position that an employee holds. In other words, the study found a positive relationship between the level of employee, in terms of the job rank and the performance. The employees that hold senior positions or managerial positions work harder than employees holding junior positions do. One of the key contributing factors is the job satisfaction. In other words, employees holding managerial positions are more satisfied than employees holding junior position are, and they therefore work harder. Wage is also a factor because employees holding managerial positions earn more than junior employees do and they, therefore, work harder (Howard & Frink, 2007). The study as well concluded that male employees that hold managerial positions are more satisfied with their pay compared to their female counterparts. Therefore, the glass ceiling effect is a strong influence as far as satisfaction amongst male and female employees, as well as, their rank within the organization is concerned. Promotion Another contribution to the literature review is a study relating to the effect of discrimination in terms of promotions within an organization. According to a study by Mowday & Porter, discrimination of female employees, as well as, the minority groups adversely affect their commitment within the organization or the public offices. In other words, when an employee becomes a victim of workplace discrimination, as far as promotions are concerned, he or she becomes less committed to the organization. The employee’s likelihood of staying in the organization for a lengthy period becomes at stake. They move often to look for employment in organizations that comply with the glass ceiling regulations. Discrimination as well affects the psychological bond between the employees and the organization. Additionally, the goals and values of employees differ from those of the organization. In other words, the employees become, less attached to the organization (Mowday & Porter, 2000). On the other hand, (McCuddy, 2010) has different findings. He believes that there is no discrimination, based on the gender, as far as promotion within the workplace is concerned. He believes that women have lower academic qualifications and experience and, therefore, have unequal promotion opportunities compared to men. In today’s world, sustainability of the commitment to the organization, amongst the employees, especially the minority employees and women, has become a challenge for many organizations. According to (Tomaskovic-Devey, 2003), inequality of promotions has resulted, to many female employees leaving organizations to look for employment elsewhere, where they believe that promotions are, based on merit. Many organizations today are working towards ensuring that female employees and minorities remain in the organization for a lengthy period. Retention of female and minority employees is important since it helps the organizations to comply with other legal provisions governing hiring within the workplace. For example, many governments demand that there must be gender and racial balances within the workplace. Failure to comply with such guidelines, would amount to penalties, which are costly for some organizations, especially, the small and medium size organizations (Karsten & Praeger, 2006). Conclusion From the above discussion, it is clear that the glass ceiling effect has costly implications to both the employers and the employees. Discriminating employees in terms of promotion opportunities adversely affects the employee’s satisfaction, as well as, the overall performance of the organization. Reduction of job satisfaction adversely affects the employees in terms of performance. Discrimination within the workplaces mostly affects the minorities and female employees. The employees become, less attached to the organization, which increases the level of job turnover. Affected employees are always willing to leave the organization to look for opportunities elsewhere i.e. where they believe that their hard work, involvement and performance is, rewarded. References list Goh, C. & Coh, H., 2002. “Gender Effects on the Job Satisfaction of Accountants in Singapore. Journal of Work and Stress, 4(8), pp. 340-348. Howard, J. & Frink, D., 2007. The Effects of Organizational Restructure on Employee Satisfaction. 5(27), pp. 277-287. Hulin, C. & Smith, P., 2005. “Sex Differences in Job satisfaction". Journal of Applied Psychology, 3(13), pp. 89-99. Karsten, M. F. & Praeger, 2006. Gender, race, and ethnicity in the workplace : issues and challenges for today's organizations. 6 ed. Westport, Conn: Praeger Publishers. McCuddy, M., 2010. Gender bias in managing human resources in the Turkish hospitality industry: Is bias impacted by demographic context. Proceedings of the ASBBS Annual Conference,, 2(17), pp. 480-495. Mowday, R. & Porter, T., 2000. Employee-organizational likages: The psychology of commitment, absenteeism, and turnover. 5 ed. New YorK: Academic Press. Stedham, Y. & Yamamura, J., 2003. Gender and Salary: A Study of Accountants in Japan. 3 ed. Vancouver: s.n. Tomaskovic-Devey, D., 2003. Gender & racial inequality at work : the sources and consequences of job segregation. 3 ed. Ithaca: ILR Press. Read More