Facts about Glass Ceiling - Essay Example

of Institute] GLASS CEILING INTRODUCTION Wikipedia defines glass ceiling as situations where the advancement ofa qualified person within the hierarchy of an organization is halted at a particular level because of some form of discrimination, most commonly sexism or racism. The term glass ceiling was first used by Carol Hymowitz and Timothy Schellhardt in an article published in Wall Street Journal on 24th march 1986. (Wikipedia, n.p.) The labor department at that time took it very seriously and established a Glass Ceiling Commission. The glass ceiling commission studies the barriers in advancement of women and minorities and tries to remove these hindrances. Some people did not believe that there is such thing as a glass ceiling and argued that women are unable to reach higher management positions because they prefer to focus more on their family rather than their work. Women however insisted that it was real and no matter how hard they work a time comes when they no longer get promoted to higher management positions. This glass ceiling prevents untold number of qualified people from advancing in the corporate hierarchies. It may be invisible but it sure is impenetrable (Wallace, n.p.). FACTS Women make up almost one half of America’s nation but make only 7% to 9% of its senior managers. Women mangers get paid almost 9% less than male managers (Ostroff and Atwater, 726) According to a survey by a non profit research foundation in 2005, out of 500 top companies in U.S.A, which include very big names like Xerox, PepsiCo and E Bay, only 12 have women chief executives. Colleen ONeill, partner of Mercer Human Resource Consulting says: "Everyone in the U.S. is very focused on gender, and corporate boards are pushing for more equity [at the highest levels],"(Farell, n.p.) Companies think that if they hire women their profits will go down. Surveys show different results. Convent Investment Management did a study of Standard and Poors 500 and found that companies which promoted women and minorities had a return of about 18.3 percent over a five year period whereas companies which did not promote women and minors had a return of only 7.9 percent. The reason is simple. First of all the management in the first case had a diverse pool of people to choose from as they considered women and minors also, where as in the second case, the company did not fully utilize human capital. Secondly, treating the workers properly results in better productivity and higher morale. 95 percent of senior-level managers of the top Fortune 1000 industrial and 500 service companies are men even though women get almost half of all the Master’s degrees. Out of these 95 percent, 97 percent are whites (U.S Glass Ceiling Commission, 6) In order to compete in a diversified marketplace companies need to fully utilize human capital. By excluding women these companies also exclude extraordinary amount of talent, creativity and productivity. Today, women are trying to seek more satisfying and rewarding jobs and if they do not find what they are looking for they try to set up their own businesses. Women are leaving the corporate sector twice the rate men are leaving and they are also forming new businesses at the same rate. Since 1990, there has been an increase of about 43% in Women Business Owners. Women own about 7.7 million firms. These statistics show that these women were experienced, skilled, educated and enthusiastic as they had opened up their own businesses. But due to this glass ceiling and unsatisfying jobs they were forced to leave their jobs and seek another option. It was a loss for the companies and not for these women. Nora Frankiel says: “Women have reached a certain point -- I call it the glass ceiling. Theyre in the top of middle management and theyre stopping and getting stuck. There isnt enough room for all those women at the top. Some are going into business for themselves. Others are going out and raising families.” Why does glass ceiling persist? The answer varies. It is a common perception that women are less qualified than men and that they don’t have the characteristics to succeed. Studies show that women are not only effective but better managers, leaders and team mates than men. A study was done in which 31 managerial skill levels of almost 900 managers of top U.S corporations were tested, and it was seen that women beat men in almost 28 areas out of these 31. Women were said to be more prompt, controlled, analytical and task oriented. As we can see, women possess all good qualities a manger should posses but they do not have same opportunities as men. Even if they do get to a management position there is no room for them to advance. (Moskal, 17) It is misconception that only men are interested in top management positions. It is thought that as women have to take care of their household also they will not be interested in jobs which require more responsibility. It is also said that women cannot be mobile and it is difficult for them to balance their work and personal responsibilities. It might be somewhat true, that they cannot be as mobile as men, but the reason again arises from the businesses themselves. Companies tend to be less supportive for women who want to do International assignments. However we can see who can be more organized than women who not only takes care of the house, children but works hard at work too. It is said that their families get in the way of their advancement, as women go up the ladder of success they realize that their family is more important to them and that they are risking missing out important events from their children’s lives. Vice President of a bank who happens to be a woman said: Theres a different quality of what men give up versus what women give up. The sacrifices for women are deeper, and you must weigh them very consciously if you want to continue. (Tischler, 52-60) A study on almost 54 companies was done in the state of Tennessee in 1995. It showed that only one company had three female board members, twelve had two and 25 had only one member. The average age of these board members was 53. Hence it shows that women were almost non existent. Out of 102 companies in 2002, only 37% had at least one member on their board of directors. Almost 63% had no women at all in their board of directors. This shows the attitude of our society, where women are considered as less efficient and less intelligent. This lack of growth in women sitting on board of directors is disappointing. Diversity of the board members is important. (Arfken et al, 182 & 183) It’s not just that women are not allowed to progress but they are also not paid equally. A study of eleven countries in Europe shows that Gender wage gap varies across different countries, management level and whether it’s a public or private sector. The magnitude of gender pay gap widens towards the top management level and in a few cases it also widened at the bottom. It was found that the wage gap was highest in Belgium, Britain, Denmark, Finland, Germany and Netherland. (1995-2001). It was also noted that these gaps were higher in private sector than in public sectors. (Arulampalam et al, 169-172) Companies and CEO’s agree that there is a glass ceiling. But accepting this is not enough, it does not guarantee they will change their current corporate practices. As there are very little women in the upper management, the ones who are there have certain levels of discomfort. They have to work more hard as their work is scrutinized more than their male co workers. Women spend more hours working and this develops a negative attitude, because they are sure that no matter how much they work they will never be able to make their way to the top as easily as their male co workers can. (Evertson, 12) WHAT SHOULD MANAGEMENT DO? This glass ceiling phenomenon also has an impact on the business itself. Human resource professionals have a broad impact on the organization as they are often in the leadership positions. They should know how this glass ceiling will affect their customer loyalty and their potential growth. Usually the CEO’s and the Presidents of the company ask advice from these Human resource professionals for any structural or other change their company needs to maximize its performance and profits. These human resource professionals should be honest about it because if they don’t use their human capital to the fullest they might not achieve what they want to. Discrimination against women can lead to poor hiring practices, unfair training and development, and promotional opportunities which are in favor of men. Corporate management reviews sometimes known as the Glass ceiling audit should be done. Organizational structure should be examined in order to reduce this glass ceiling effect. HR policies and practices should be reviewed in order to find out if they are fair and inclusive. Organization’s informal behavior should also be noted. What are the traditions and norms? Are they working against women? Different surveys should be carried out and men and women’s perceptions about organization’s culture, career expectations should be noted. Organization’s best practices in favor of women should be noted. The company should map out their strength and weaknesses. If any woman in the organization is talented enough to be in the top management, she should be given a chance. It should be made sure that the company has a diverse culture. Performance goals should be set for everybody, making sure that no discrimination is done in appraising whoever does best. Women should be encouraged and educated for career development. Senior level woman managers should be acknowledged as role models. Leadership development programs for women should be exercised and if applicable they should be supported for foreign assignments also. Difference in salaries of men and women should be noted, and an action should be taken to determine why this change has occurred. After all these things have been implemented changes should also be noted. Women’s advancement to high level management should be tracked. It should be noted if the change in the hiring policies has done any good. CONCLUSION Although a lot of effort has been taken to eliminate these barriers but still this glass ceiling persists in form of cultural norms, stereotypes and employer’s policies and practices. New Zealand has appointed its first women prime minister. In Finland a women became president of Central Bank. Commissioner of Human rights in the United Nations was a woman. The former prime minister of Norway became the director general of World Health Organization. (Wirth, 93-103). What does this show? This shows that the glass ceiling, though still there, but is starting to crack. "Women advance in the workplace but still trail men." Murphy is a member of Senior Leadership team of the country’s 10th largest Accounting and Management Consulting Firm. She was the co founder of PTA committee. The policies her group recommended made their company shine to top 100 best places to work. She is also the incoming vice chair of American’s Institute of CPA’s. She says that the most important factor is flexibility, and that companies should make sure that men and women both are represented fairly in the company’s top management. (Kahan, n.p.) Women have made significant progress in advancing gender equality. All over the world women’s labor force participation has increased. Jobs which were previously reserved for men are now being taken over by women. Women are now being trained and educated, and in some areas more than men. All over the world women movement, government organizations are helping women build up their career, and much thought and energy is put in to eliminating this gender barrier. I think without the help of all these people it would have been very difficult for women to stand where they are today. Although women themselves have been striving very hard indeed, but only one woman cannot make a difference in this male oriented society. Though we are not getting the results we expected yet there is a hope that a day will come when there will be no gender or racial discrimination. Gender equality spurs economic growth and helps in enterprise productivity. Though women are trying hard, but there are always family obligations and predefined values of male dominance in corporate culture which is the main hindrance in female advancement. The nature of these hindrances varies. Women in higher management seem to encounter with this discrimination more than woman working at lower levels. Though women usually had more years of education then men, still they are not treated equally and a high level of eligibility is set for them in order to enter the job market. Even though indications show that women’s labor is increasingly in demand, only a very small number of businesses are investing in woman. No matter how qualified a woman is it is always thought to be more risky to invest on a woman’s training rather than a man’s training. They do not understand the fact that making a woman visible at the top management will not only attract more customers (as the customers will see that they are not discriminating) but improve their reputation also. Women have captured an increasing number of jobs in the labor market but the quality of women’s job has not yet increased. This reflects that even though they might be growing in the job market but their representation in the higher management is very low especially in the private sector. Even though sometimes women might get top management positions their wages are considerably lower than that of men. The reason is simple. The management makes sure that women are kept in less strategic areas of the company. The companies explain themselves by saying that women become manager at young ages where as they require older more experienced personnel for their higher management positions. Women who get frustrated because they are not getting their right share usually leave jobs. In recent years, there have been repeated attempts to encourage women to remain in work and to entice more of them into top level positions. But successive reports show that this does not appear to be happening. Let’s look at ourselves. Is all this happening because women are incompetent or because they are better than men? I think women can do better if they are given equal opportunities than men. They might operate in a different way, but that way is certainly better. I think government should take measures and ensure that women are given equal opportunities. Hiring should be based on merit and no discrimination what so ever should be done. But the glass ceiling cannot be broken if the corporations do not take interest. Companies should make sure that no discrimination is not just against women but against other minorities as well. Works Cited Arfken. Deborah. E: Bellar, Stephanie. L: Helms, Marilyn.M.2004 The UltimateGlass Ceiling Revisited: The Presence Of Women On Corporate Boards. Arulampalam, Wiji: Booth, Alison L: Bryan mark L.2007. Is there a glass ceiling over Europe? Exploring the gender pay gap across the wage distribution. Cornell University. Evertson, Adrienne: Nesbitt Amy. The Glass Ceiling Effect And Its Impact On Mid-Level Female Officer Career Progression In The United States Marine Corp sand Air Force. California, Monterey Farell, Maureen. 2007. Shattering The Glass Ceiling--Web 2.0 Style. . Retrieved November 20, 2007 from: http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/entrehr/2007/05/22/mclennan-xerox-ebay-ent-manage-cx_mf_0522damsels.html Frenkiel, Nora. The Up-and-Comers; Bryant Takes Aim At the Settlers-In. Adweek. Special Report; March, 1984.Magazine World Kahan, Sturat. 2004. The glass ceiling is slowly cracking:but in some cases how much is upto women themselves”.Accounting today October 11-24, 2004 Moskal, Brian S. 1997.Women Make Better Managers, Industry Week. Ostroff, Cheri and Atwater, Leanne E. 2002, Does Whom You Work With Matter? Effects of Referent Group Gender and Age Composition on Managers’ Compensation. Retrieved November 20, 2007 from http://www.apa.org/journals/releases/apl884725.pdf Tischler, L. (2004, February). Where are the women? Fast Company. U.S Glass Ceiling Commission.Cornell University.1995. Glass Ceiling Commission - A Solid Investment : Making Full Use of the Nation’s Human Capital. Retrieved November 20, 2007 from: http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1126&context=key_workplace Wallace, O, 2007. What is the Glass Ceiling. Retrieved November 20, 2007 from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-glass-ceiling.htm Wikipedia, 2007. Glass Ceiling. Retrieved November 20, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_ceiling Wirth, L. (1998). Women in management: Closer to breaking through the glass ceiling? International Labour Review. The JournalNews.com. March 28, 2004 Read More