Glass Ceiling: Men Vs. Women

In today’s economy, it is a hard fact that many women will have to enter the workforce. In her article for The Atlantic, “Why Women Still Can’t have it All”, Anne-Marie Slaughter examines the difficulties faced by women who either have children or would someday like to do so. Having given up on the task of holding a high powered government position while being the mother of a teenager, her kairotic moment, the author discusses the changes that would be necessary in order for women to find a real work-life balance. Although Slaughter 's target audience is primarily women who seek high powered positions, the article contains ample information that should appeal to both men who seek to balance the needs of a growing family with their work responsibilities, as well as workplace policy makers who could help usher in the necessary changes. Her goal in sharing her experiences is to argue that women can succeed at the very top level of their organizations, “But not today, not with the way America’s economy and society are currently structured” (Slaughter).

The change in policy that allows women and men to bring their newborn children to work with them is, in a sense, just one more change in our country norms and values. At one point leaving your child with a baby sitter or at a daycare center all day was considered being a bad parent, meaning it was the norm to stay home and take care of your child yourself. Then, as divorce rates went up and more women were forced to raise their children on their own, that changed and it became the norm for women to go back to work after a set time for maternity leave. This also made sending you child to a daycare center or leaving them with a babysitter the norm since you couldn’t be there to take care of your child. With women being allowed to bring their babies into work with them, that is again changing the norms of society, specifically those having to do with the care of children. Women used to be given a hard time when they brought their children into work with them, even if it was only for a matter of minutes. Now many of them are allowed to bring their children in for a whole day, every day. This is enabling women to care for their own children and raise them in their own way with their own values, instead of entrusting those important responsibilities to someone else. Mothers are also forming a closer bond with their children in an important time in a child’s development. This will lead to a stronger bond later

The negative mind-set of employers on pregnant employees plays an important role in causing discrimination. Women’s performance ratings were seen to decline after being pregnant, from “superb” to “terrible” as shared by one victim of pregnancy discrimination. This is because they are perceived as “overly emotional, often irrational, physically limited, and less than committed to their jobs” as compared to their non-pregnant woman counterparts and are hence “less valuable and dependable.” There is also the problem of additional workload for remaining staff or the potential need to hire temporary staff to tide over the maternity leave period. To compound the issue, employers suffer uncertainty as to when the employee will return to work, or worse, the employee leaves for good after their maternity leave period. In fact, a study done shows that only 60% of women go back to work within two years of their maternity leave. It is hence unavoidable that employers, being cost sensitive, worry that all the extra cost incurred will ultimately become a meaningless loss if their pregnant employees do not return to work.

It also undermined the Congressional goal of eliminating discrimination in the workplace” (National Women's Law Center). Women also face discrimination because they are often penalized for having children. Women must face outdated ideas of what a woman can accomplish if she’s pregnant or already has children. The jobs that are considered traditional for women and are more understanding about women being mothers, are usually the lowest-paying jobs.

In her interviews with woman she was sure to interview very well educated women and those that strived for mere perfection. One thing is that the men in the lives of these women were not supportive and not mentioned of much. The men and society of today have placed a lot of responsibility on a woman’s shoulders when it comes to the child. It is the woman who makes the decision or is given the task to make the heavy decisions regarding the child’s future. Because of this many women choose to stay at home to be sure that the children will receive everything that they deserve and that they are not lacking in any area. Another issue that she reviews is that employers do not work with moms at all. For example she talked about the scenario where two moms brought a solution to their problem to management yet it failed to receive approval instead one mother was offered more money (Guest, 2011). Employers are not very flexible when it comes to mothers and don’t provide the proper care that is needed for a child. Since men are the ones that don’t carry the responsibility of the child’s well-being having proper day care is not a factor for them. Then there is the cost of day care which is high and can at times not compare to what the individual is making.

Two scholars from American Enterprise Institute, Mark Perry and Andrew Biggs, share similar opinions with Schlafly about child bearing and its impact. Mark Perry and Andrew Biggs wrote the article titled, “The ’77 Cents on the Dollar’ Myth About Women’s Pay”. Perry and Biggs agree with Schlafly that having children does not benefit women’s salaries and the gender wage gap. Biggs and Perry claim that when mothers leave the workforce to take care of their children it creates a disadvantage to them. They explain that when the mothers return the workforce, “they have less work experience than similarly-aged males” (5). They correlate experience with wages; saying that new mothers will not have as much experience, which will lead to a smaller paycheck when they return. Perry and Biggs also argue that new mothers are less appealing to employers because their male counter-parts who are of similar age, will have more experience than them (5). The employers may feel that the new mothers may not be as qualified or become as successful as a man. Ultimately, like Schlafly they argue that women who choose to have children are willingly creating part of the wage gap because they are choosing to have limited experience in exchange for

Recently women’s rights and women’s equality in the workplace has come back to the fore as a topic for discussion in government agencies and the United Nations. Whilst this is a very important topic, when it comes to time off from work when a new child is born, women in the US have some provision, whereas men have none.

Glass ceiling is an expression or phrase that refers to an invisible, unseen barrier that prevents qualified individual from achieving further success. Glass ceiling also called grab mentality because the attitude of crab is grabbing one another. Likewise, glass ceiling is often observed apparently in the workplace, businesses, and other institutions that barrier is usually very dominant counterpart between an involve person.

Today, America has progressed tremendously when it comes to mathematics, science, technology and engineering (STEM). While former President Barack Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Act for equal rights and equal pay, woman still lag behind. Also, as Hilary Clinton broke the shattered the glass ceiling by becoming the Presidential nomination for the Democratic Party, she still was not able to break the glass ceiling. I have watched multiple women work tiresome hours to support their families, yet be treated with less respect because they are a woman. I want to be able to live in a world where I get the same compensation as a man for doing the same job. My gender is not a reflection of my work ethic and should not be used against me or other

The fourth claim presented in “Pregnancy Discrimination and the American Worker” is that women are forced to make decisions about their careers that males are not subjected to. Women live by a double code of standard as they are faced with many barriers due to pregnancy. ” A third of managers would rather employ a man in his 20s or 30s over a woman of the same age for fear of maternity leave” was the information presented by Deardorff after 500 law firm executives were interviewed. Key leadership positions require full commitment by the person being appointed. These multibillion dollar firms are steadily recruiting more personal to keep pace with the competition in the market. There is no room for personnel to be out due to pregnancy which

Childfree women are also being offered more career promotions than women with children. The pay gap might also increase with age because women hit the infamous “glass ceiling” at the top of their professions. The “glass ceiling” is the highest level they can obtain in their careers’. In supporting my statement, many women hit the “maternal wall” of discrimination before they ever reach the “glass ceiling.” Sarah Glazer provides a perfect example, “A civil engineer in Pennsylvania was awarded $3 million in a lawsuit because she was passed over a promotion after the birth of her son. She testified that the president of the company asked her if she wanted a career here of if she wanted to have babies” (Glazer 36). The president of this particular company obviously came to the assumption that her level of production in her chosen profession would decrease due to raising her child.

Correll identifies a variety of factors that could help explain the motherhood wage gap. The factors include but aren’t limited to, “reduced investment in human capital by mothers, lower work effort by mothers compared with nonmothers, unobserved heterogeneity between mothers and nonmothers, and discrimination against mothers by employers” (Correll 1299). All these things contribute to the gender wage gap. Women in the work place already have to prove themselves in comparison to men, the element of being a mother creates another obstacle for women who are mothers. This also places a harsh reality on women who are not yet mothers but are thinking

A second key issue is the hiring process. Many companies prefer to hire men over women for a positionregardless of their education or experience. Some reasons this may be is because most females have to balance work and family duties which may be a huge barrier in helping advancement in an organization, so an employer may prefer to hire a man who will not come with the baggage of children or the issue of balancing work and family duties. During an interview some women are not hired because they cannot be taken seriously because some may wear too much make-up or their pants suit or skirt may be too tight. Women that are pregnant are also sometimes not considered for a position because the manager may worry about the women wanting time off work on maternity leave. This may not be a direct financial concern about paying women while on maternity leave. It's more about the cost of replacing and training someone to cover their role while they are off.

Why do some people advance quicker than others in the workplace? Some will say hard work,natural talent,or even ambition. Workers may have one of these, all of these or even none. What if a worker has all of these, but they still don't succeed? This is something that does happen and the people in leadership let this happen. This problem is something widely debated and some question if this is something that is truly plaguing the business world. This issue is an ethical disagreement, that bosses let happen called, “The Glass Ceiling.”

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?