Womens Issues

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.

This case study involves Deborah Westman and her work at the Bank of Montreal (BMO) as a junior employee. Deborah has aspirations of progressing within the bank to higher levels of leadership, but is concerned about possible barriers due to her gender that have prevented other women from advancing. The bank is actively seeking to provide better opportunities for women to attain key leadership positions through the use of a task force and new policies. Deborah is uncertain if she can take advantage of the increased awareness of women in the bank, and if the barriers to higher leadership will actually be removed. Possible strategies will be recommended for Deborah in order to assist in her career.

Meanwhile, the segregation of jobs by gender and other factors affect pay equity. A term used back in the 1980’s as a metaphor for the invisible and artificial barriers that blocked women and minorities from advancing up the corporate ladder to management and executive positions is called the glass ceiling (Hill, 2013). Louisville Women’s Careers Examiner argues “ Glass ceilings are still found in the workplaces, not only in the discrimination of pay scales, but also marked by sexual harassment, exploitation at work and as a feeling of insecurity in women due to conduct of the opposite sex” (Hill, 2013, p.33). Societal barriers that women tend to face are prejudice and bias, cultural, opportunity and attainment, gender, and color-based differences. Moreover, several other barriers women run into are governmental, business structural and internal businesses all of which have ramifications on their chances of success.

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

Although in 2012, only 18 women served as CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. Furthermore, in a recent report, women only held 16.6% of board seats in 2012 in the fortune 500 companies (Aguilar). Women are somehow being held back from achieving their higher potential, and is is not due to lack of education. The department of education found that “140 women will graduate with a college degree at some level this year for every 100 men”(Aguilar). Most people believe the reason is because of the phenomenon of the “glass ceiling”. Many large companies do not hire women for the upper level positions, because they have always hired men, and many companies may believe that they do not see women in that position. This is also influenced by the media as well, as “women hold only 3% of clout positions in telecommunications, entertainment, publishing and advertising.”(Newsom 2011). With so few women leaders in the media industry, women are rarely portrayed in highly respected executives roles. This in turn communicates to young girls and the public in general that women are not supposed to hold these

Sexism against women in the workplace is still common, particularly in managerial positions, which creates glass ceilings for women who can do as good or better job as their male counterparts. It is a sad fact that sexism still exists in the twenty-first century. What is the glass ceiling you may ask? The glass ceiling is (Bell, Mclaughlin, & Sequeira, 2002) as “the invisible or artificial barriers that prevent women (and people of colour) from advancing past a certain level” (Federal Glass Ceiling Commission-FGCC, 1997; Morison and von Glinow, 1990). As a civilization where we want equality for all – we should strive to eliminate inequality caused by the glass ceiling. I believe that if we do not seek to eliminate sexism, it will have a negative impact on us and future generations.

This myth has been perpetuated throughout history and in result; we have barriers such as the glass ceiling in existence. If we were to pull up a list of the Board of Directors for any given company, the probability of it being a predominately male group is high. This notion alone shows how companies have continued to dwell in olds days where men are considered more capable than women. The Glass ceiling effect has continued to place barriers against women endeavor in achieving success in their careers and participation in their work place. Women have not been able to realize their potential in their work places since they are not offered equal chances as compared to their men counterparts who enjoy great opportunities in organizations. The fact that an organization is ran by men, may cause an adverse effect on the performance of men. Obviously, a man thinks differently than a woman. It is likely that a decision made by men only is likely to ignore the interests of women in the organization. This creates a domino effect because it affects the woman’s performance in business since they only get limited chances to learn, and limited job assignments that will enhance their skills. Hence, low or limited skills and experience will lower their overall

"Women's advancement often stops short of the general management level" as a partial result of discrimination by white men in positions of power, which include the differences of developmental job assignments they are afforded (Ohlott 46). "Developmental job assignments have been found to be one of the most important factors in preparing both men and women for upper-level management positions" (Ohlott 46 - 47).If women do not experience these same job assignments, they may be less prepared than men for handling future upper-level management jobs. These types of job assignments lead to high-level positions, make managers more visible, and prepare them for future jobs. With men being in the top ranks of organizations in most cases, they are less likely to assign these challenging tasks to female subordinates (Ohlott 49). "Organizations more often move women into staff positions and out of functions central to a business" mainly because those making the staffing decisions are more interested in advancing their own careers (Ohlott 49).

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.

This is the limiting advancement in a company due to their gender without taking into account their level of productivity for the company benefits. This social discrimination is called the glass ceiling effect. Studies have been conducted to find out what kind of women (educated versus non educated), or social status is most likely to experience the glass ceiling effect. In her recent findings, Weinberger (2011) suggested that only two subsets of women experience slower earnings growth: young mothers and women with exceptionally high earning levels. Although women in the first category can excel through time, “once they get to the top of the corporate ladder, they are still experiencing the glass ceiling effect versus their opposite counterparts with the same age and education level” (Weinberger, 2011). The samples from this study research are limited by only two subsets of women, let alone these findings are not reflecting the positive effects of women who own their own business. Although, business owners don’t experience the same kind of discriminations than those who are employed, they are still limited by the credit market due to their gender and minority status quo. In a study made in 2008, Blanchflower found the possible gender-based discrimination experienced by small business owners within minority groups in the United States, He found evidence that “firms owned by minorities in general and blacks in particular are much

The glass ceiling is responsible for women and minorities not being able to achieve what they are capable of. A glass ceiling is an invisible barrier. For many of the years, women were not put in jobs that require top executives such as management and that is why many of them have not accumulated the

Several theories have been utilized to guide research exploring the glass ceiling metaphor. The social role theory explains the labor division between men and women and the difference in their leadership style (Sabharal, 2015). Men are regarded as more agentic- aggressive, dominant, and independent. Women behaviors are more communal- empathetic, nurturing and kind. This theory posits that individuals might question the capacity of women in leadership roles, because requirements of leadership contradict the social role of women (Sabharwal, 2015). Because men majorly occupy leadership roles, it is largely assumed that leadership demands male-like personas. Therefore, women are judged less favorably when seeking management positions. Moreover, managers are less likely to promote women because of their social responsibility as mothers, which ascribe the primary responsibility of family (Sabharwal, 2015). Role incongruity and the perpetuating masculine stereotype contribute to the challenges women face in leadership positions (Sabharwal, 2015).

The “Glass Ceiling” is the term giving to the invisible obstacles sometimes found in the workforce. The barriers that limit women’s and minorities progress toward employment equity extend from the glass ceiling at the top of corporations to the floor of low paying jobs in the labor market. These barriers are created by a process at exclusion that continuously eliminates women, minorities, and other underprivileged groups from being candidates of higher positions. When a company exercises this type of discrimination, they look for the most defensible explanation they can find to make this behavior seem acceptable. The “glass ceiling” is still very much a part of the corporate world today as it was many years ago. This is evident by the

Even though numbers are slowly rising in the United States, there are still more men in executive positions than women. According to one survey, female workers only made up 43% of legislators, senior managers, and senior officials whereas male workers made up 57%. In congress, congresswomen make up only 17% of representation compared to congressmen making up 83% (Ferrante, 2011, p. 312). Gender stratification is one explanation for the tremendous gap. Ferrante (2011) describes gender stratification as the unequal distribution of opportunities and resources amongst male and female employees. (p. 311) For example, male workers have an increased opportunity to receive a promotion than a female worker. According to Tinsley (2013), women are more likely to receive executive positions when a company is doing well, rather than when a company is suffering. Some companies stereotype that women workers will leave the workforce soon to bear children, limiting their chances of achieving executive status (Ferrante, 2011, p. 316).

The business world today is competitive. It's full of fierce, educated, and motivated people. For some people it's tough to rise to the top and for some people it comes much easier. It's not always about hard work! One might ask for a map to the yellow brick road, but few people are ever provided with it. Most people are stuck in an ocean making calculated guesses as to how they can reach land. Which route is the best? How much school is enough? How many certificates of accreditation is enough? How much work experience is enough? All of us ask these questions attempting to navigate our ships in a competitive world were only a few individuals ever get to their targeted career position. How many of those in leadership positions are women?