Angela Merkel The Glass Ceiling

Anne-Marie Slaughter constructed the article, “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All” including personal and statistical measures to prove that, though women have come far, they are not to the standard of men. She begins the article informing us of her job as the first female director of policy planning at the State Department in Washington D.C. Admittingly, with such a high-profile job and finding herself struggling to balance her 14-year-old son, she made the decision to quit her job after two years. Accordingly, Slaughter pondered her years working in a high power workplace, realizing

In the United States, study after study continues to show that women have fewer opportunities to advance in the workplace than men. These disadvantages are a result of society’s views of women in leadership positions and how women may view themselves in these roles. Women have been making progress in terms of equality in pay and job positions, but significant gaps remain. Women who strive to be promoted into higher levels of responsibility in their companies often meet resistance that prevents them from achieving the goal of a senior or executive level of management. This barrier is referred to as the “glass ceiling” and it is a controversial issue in our country today. The glass ceiling called this because women are able to see the higher level positions, but can reach them because of an intangible barrier. One can look at the Fortune 500 companies, which are the most successful companies in the U.S. in terms of revenue to see how few women are in leadership positions. Clearly, women are significantly underrepresented in these companies, as less than 5 percent of these companies have female chief executive officers (CEO) today (Dockterman 105). Providing the opportunity for women to move into management positions, like CEOs, would bring a unique talent and a new perspective on how the company can operate to perform better (Buckalew 147). The “glass ceiling” is a real obstacle that creates an intangible barrier that puts women at a disadvantage in advancing in a company.

“Frauen: German Women Recall the Third Reich” by Alison Owings displays interviews with women who lived in Germany during the 1930s to 1940s. The two women in this book, Liselotte Otting and Freya von Moltke discuss their feelings about the Nazi government and their actions, most importantly how they felt about genocide of the Jewish population. Both women discussed their attitude and behavior toward during this time.

This is as a result of the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1 who ruled England from 1558 for consecutive 45 years. Her leadership styles are adored by many to date. However, her leadership is as a result of inheritance from her father King Henry VIII. Thus, women in England do not have a great reason to become proud of the fact that their country was the first ever across the globe to be ruled by a woman. This is because the leadership of Queen Elizabeth 1 is not attributed to political and cultural struggle. Similarly, the political leadership style in most countries across the continent was hereditary. Asia result, women born in king and queen dynasties would inherit leadership. To date the political significance of women in Europe cannot be neglected. This is with reference to the German chancellor Angela Merkel who is one of the power female political across the globe.

The “Glass Ceiling” is known as an invisible barrier that stops someone from gaining more success. In this case it deals with women in the workplace, not being able to move up in a company. Even though no one knows who started the phrase, “A widely read Wall Street Journal story in 1986 popularized the term”(Napikoski). The “Glass Ceiling” has played a big role in women not being able to be

The "glass ceiling" has held women back from certain positions and opportunities in the workplace. Women are stereotyped as part-time, lower-grade workers with limited opportunities for training and advancement because of this "glass ceiling". How have women managed their careers when confronted by this glass ceiling? It has been difficult; American women have struggled for their role in society since 1848. Women’s roles have changed significantly throughout the past centuries because of their willingness and persistence. Women have contributed to the change pace of their role in the workplace by showing motivation and perseverance.

Gender plays a huge role in workplace 'success' and can be a big challenge especially if the employee is a woman in a male dominated workplace or career. No matter how 'hard-nosed,' 'ruthless,' 'workaholic' a woman may be, or how much personal success she achieves, there will always tend to be some type of obstacle to keep her from getting completely to the top of the corporate ladder. She must also still fight stereotypes that undermines her confidence or limits her potential. Since the early 20th century, women and minorities have sought equal opportunities in education and in the labor force with little success. These obstacles or barriers are all known as the glass ceiling.

Forcing Merkel to make some controversial decisions to please liberal Germans; however, citizens affectionately call her “Mutti” or mommy because she has steered Europe through social and economic turmoil for over a decade. Merkel fought for a strong European Union, establishing Christianity as a core value along the way, believing that a strong Europe creates a stronger Germany. An anomaly in German politics, Angela Merkel is not only the first East German-born Chancellor and the first woman Chancellor, but she also pushed to enact an unheard-of progressive tax system in 2005. Internationally, Merkel strives for a strong independant Europe, and rejects parasitic trade agreements, such as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with United States. Merkel’s international policy puts Europe first, and other countries second, similar to a fascist

Angela Merkel is the Chancellor of Germany.   Last fall, she was elected to her third term as chancellor of Germany, making her one of the only two European Union leaders that survived the economic crisis (The Guardian, 2013).   Angela Merkel was named by Forbes in 2014 as the most powerful women in the world (Forbes, 2014).   Angela Merkel’s leadership style is pragmatic and methodical (The Guardian, 2013). Anne Applebaum (2013) states “She reigns. She doesn’t tell people what to do, she doesn’t give orders, and she isn’t bossy or pushy. She doesn’t throw Germany’s weight around or make demands. She simply sets parameters, and then lets everybody else make ‘choices’ themselves.”   Merkel’s leadership style is prudent, democratic, and modest. Merkel prefers discussion, deliberation and consensus (Zeeb, 2013).   The Germans call her “Mutti” (mummy), because she understands what her country wants and makes sure her country gets it (Zeeb, 2013 & The Guardian, 2013). Angela Merkel is a no nonsense leader that is well respected.

This dissertation will discuss Angela Merkel’s Leadership style and ethics during the Euro crisis. It will also compare Angela Merkel’s leadership style to servant leadership style. It will also describe how servant leadership may or may not change the outcomes of the Euro crisis. In the closure of the dissertation, I will discuss my own leadership philosophy.

For my research question I will be asking: “How is America making progress on gender equity?” Fundamentally, I believe that women are still misrepresented, and are still facing many challenges in the workplace, especially in the business world. The gender stereotypes play a considerable role in the way the society sees women as leaders. However, it will be judicious to consider the small but noticeable changes that have been made over the past years concerning gender equality in the American workplace.

The term glass ceiling was coined more than twenty years ago by the Wall Street Journal to describe the barriers that women face at workplace. The word ‘ceiling’ suggest that women are blocked from advancing their career while the term ‘glass’ is used because the ceiling does not always visible. Women might work as hard as men do but they only earn about seventy-five per-cent of the men’s income though they might be of the same seniority, experience as well as education level. The earning differential is due to the traditional responsibility for family and childcare tasks assigned by the society towards women. This is because the society still assumes the high-paying professions as masculine and feminine women could not fit the requirements of holding the position and they better do a more nurturing job. This typical thinking causes men to be numerically dominant in almost all area like in key global and national decision-making position such as international organisations, governments, and as well as the board of CEOs and directors of private enterprises. As an example, rarely are women seen to sit in the parliament seat or hold the superior position in a government party. Take the case of our own Datuk Ng Yen Yen who did not succeed in her bid for the MCA’s vice presidency in October 2008. She challenged the tradition within the male-dominated party but then her failure indicates the hesitance of the

As The Economist (September 28th 2013) says, Angela Merkel won a landslide victory and became the chancellor of Germany for the third time. The crisis gave us a hard time and most big European countries dumped their leaders during this period. However, Angela Merkel again proved to be a leader that most people follow and admire. Is it purely because she does things right for her people? Or does it rather spark from her personality, including her behavioral, communication skills or influential authority? This paper will elaborate ideas on what makes Germany’s chancellor such a powerful leader and by using psychological theories it will lead the reader to defining the leadership style Ms. Merkel exercises.

The social alternation was given to women by the 19th amendment, guarantees the right to vote for all women; however, women still struggled with social expectation. Even though with the ability to make a difference in politics and economics, alpha female contributes her hours in perfection because she is constantly improving and being approved. Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the leader of Social Democrats and Prime minister of Denmark shows characteristics as an alpha female. She is independent and thoughtful, most all of, a woman with abilities to govern a country. During these positions, she had to make difficult decisions such as cutting the welfare in Denmark, which Sweden, Finland, and Norway have all cherished. Despite the criticism, she stood for what she believes- what benefits most people. (Scrutton & Jenson, 2013) Moreover, even a selfie with David Cameron and Barack Obama during Nelson Mandela memorial was magnify by news around the world. A woman with great abilities in politics and economics was still judged daily based on her action and reaction. Many other alpha females are criticized by their actions, not to improved their talents and experiences but to pull them down. High competition generates high pressure and these can cause anxiety, depression, and eating disorder. Even more serious, the continue working in instance environment might cause heart failure and occupational overuse syndromes.

The person chosen for this leadership report is Angela Merkel. I read “Modern World Leaders-Angela Merkel” written by Clifford W. Mills. Being born in Berlin, with my pride in being German, as well as being a female with my own leadership ambitions, I felt Angela Merkel was a perfect fit for me. Gaining knowledge on the leadership style from one of the most powerful and influential women in the world, while also learning the values and beliefs my country is grounded on, I find Angela Merkel to be extremely interesting leader to study.