The Glass Ceiling Theory : Women And Minorities

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.

I took an Uber the other day, and my driver, an African American woman, gave me a deeper insight on what I have learned in Chicano studies this quarter. It so happens she was writing a dissertation on minority women in leadership positions. What struck me the most about her findings was that one of the biggest determinants for minority women being able to be promoted to leadership positions was their partner’s race. If the woman’s partner was aso a minority the woman was less likely to be in a leadership position. Minority women in top leadership positions were mostly single, or married to white men. She believed minority men preferred women who stayed at home. I saw this as a consequence of minority women being marginalized by men within their communities. This was evident in founding of the Chicano movement and the exclusion of women from the beginning of the movement. The movement was founded to challenge ahistorical borders by recovering the Chicano narrative. The transition from Chicano to Chicano/a aimed to challenge the marginalization of women in the movement by acknowledging that women had been historically wounded and violated. The final transition to

Women in America have faced numerous issues while trying to obtain equal rights as their male counterparts. These issues can include sexual harassment, discrimination and most importantly, less access to professional development and career growth opportunities. However, for African American women, these same issues can have a more severe impact on their chances of employment, receiving a promotion or an increase in their pay wage. Research shows that African American makes less earnings and receive fewer promotions than their Caucasian counterparts (Hill, Miller, & Benson, 2017).

The gender bias found in relation to leadership in the civil rights movement often excludes African-American women’s contributions as being of less importance and prominence; however, in hindsight informal leaders were on equal level with formal leaders and bridge leaders served an important function resulting from exclusion.

Leadership - The perception of excellence in business leadership needs to be re-examined. This requires challenging the norms that determine leadership eligibility. Are there drivers that perpetuate a leadership incumbency that excludes females? What is the basis for these drivers?

The main problem is the challenges to recruitment and retention of women in general, and the particular subset of African American women in particular. Quantitative analysis will be used to ascertain and organize data to offer empirical evidence that supports the claims of low representation of African American women in Philadelphia leadership roles; however, this qualitative study will delve into the causality of this phenomenon, and this qualitative study may offer new insights into the involvement, and articulation of business strategies surrounding recruitment and retention of, African American women in levels of leadership within the Commonwealth. And while this topic may cause discomfort to both the researcher and the interviewees, “discomfort is an important, even desirable component of qualitative research. Being uncomfortable makes us more aware and alert, stretches our thinking, and enriches our insight about the very struggles and experiences of the marginalized or

Do male, African American leaders manage employees differently than their Caucasian counterparts in the business industry? This question begs an answer because the study of leadership is limited since it seldom examines contributions from other perspectives. African American contributions to assorted fields are often espoused during Black History Month, yet their collective experience fails mentioning in such an important discipline as, leadership. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, African Americans comprise 13.2% of the population. Minorities will increase in the coming decades with the U.S. population becoming more ethnically and

According to United Way (2017), the vast majority of their Board of Trustees, employees and volunteers create a great internal representation of their organization (United Way, 2017). Similar to Verizon, United Way understands the importance of bringing diverse minds together to collectively push the organization forward. While diversity statements acknowledge an organization’s attempt to include all qualified individuals, according to Jonathan Webb (2017) women currently only earn 75% of their male counterparts salary. As the importance of a title or position advances, a number of women in leadership roles continue to decrease heavily despite account for almost half of the entry-level (Webb, 2017). While based on the diversity statements from Verizon and United Way provided, they are making great efforts to promote diversity, there is no way to ignore that there continues to be an ongoing issue regarding glass ceilings for a specific group of employees. Whether it be favored by a particular group by race, gender or financial class, in certain scenarios, a glass ceiling definitely given to a special group of

The purpose of this literature review is to explore challenges, experiences, and successful strategies that African American women have encountered in the shaping of leadership in higher education. This review focuses on the history and struggles of women in higher education, male dominance, and African American women who have become successful in leadership roles. Some of the literature reviewed suggests that if efforts are not made to support the upward mount of African American women in leadership positions, the possibility of the decrease in this population is inevitable.

“In New York City, where colored people are about half of the population, 80% of the NYPD stops were of blacks and Latinos.”(Quigley 1) Racism is like a barricade holding colored people back from becoming as successful as they want to be. Racism affects people in the workplace by limiting their chances to seize a job or promotion they are qualified for and should get. As an example, it has been proven that people who have white names have double the chance to be interviewed for a job than a person with an African American name. Racism is not the only persecution that affects people, sexism also is still a big problem in America. Sexism demeans and is unfair to women all around the globe, these women deserve to be treated as equal to men. In terms of women in leadership positions, the number of women with managerial positions is substantially lower than men. “In 2009, less than a quarter of CEOs were women in the US, and they earned significantly less than their male colleagues made.” (Gender Inequality and Women in the US Labor Force) Women are treated differently, even in places where gender has absolutely no importance towards the job. As an example, most people interview women and men differently, many questions women have to answer have zero importance to their qualification for the job. For example, interviewers ask women about children, which has

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to understand the experiences of eight Black women in mid-level management positions, who aspire to advance to senior-level administrators in higher education at four institutions. According to the American Council on Education (2015), as more women are moving through the pipeline as college graduates, they are not advancing to leadership roles at the same pace as their male counterparts. Furthermore, the trend is exacerbated for Black women. While the literature reported that there are more women in senior-level administrative positions breaking through the glass ceiling; there are a group of Black women in mid-level positions not advancing at the same rate as senior-level administrators, which

Within the upper echelons of upper management is scant room for African American women. This mini-proposal outlines a research project that focuses on the phenomena of the nominal amount of African American women are in positions of management or organizational leadership within the City of Philadelphia.

As the author points out, the figures on women in leadership is staggering in disparity. The article takes time to focus on identifying and highlighting reasons what makes a successful leader. Having an opportunity to attend a leadership meeting, in which we discussed improving inclusion at my company, this article presented many of the same reasons that as a company we tried to understand, “Why do we not have more women in leadership?” This article really underscores that in order for a business to survive and grow or for that matter, any organization to flourish you need to find individuals that embody the above-mentioned leadership traits not just seniority.

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?

Gender and race are often synonymous with one’s place in organizational power structure. Those individuals who occupy the top positions have a tradition in maintaining traditional rules and procedures related to hiring, seniority, and other personnel practices that work to their advantage and exclude others. A good example is that corporate policies and practices can subtly maintain the status quo by keeping men in positions of corporate power. Boards of directors, which are mostly comprised of men, sometimes perpetuate the status quo by selecting CEO’s who look like them. Other gender based barriers include behavioral and communication styles that differ vastly from the company’s norms and women’s lack of opportunity to gain general management and or line