Women And Minorities: The Glass Ceiling

Another aforementioned obstacle for women and minorities is the glass ceiling. According to Alison Cook and Christy Glass of Strategic Management Journal, “nineteen fortune 500 companies are currently headed by people of color, and twenty one are headed by women (Strat. Mgnt. J., pp.1080)”. In companies that have a glass ceiling, women and minorities are often viewed as less competent and not capable of properly managing or leading certain tasks and duties within an organization, such as departments, meetings, and subordinates. Minorities and women are often viewed as less educated and unqualified when being reviewed for top management positions. In 1970, the women’s workforce was made up of 11.2 percent of women that were college graduates

Currently, women are more likely to seek out and achieve higher education goals than ever before and continue to trend even higher in the future. Still male executives and leaders look to advance individuals much like themselves when promoting individuals to executive positions. Studies show that there are misconceived, negative perceptions and views about working with female managers. In 2006, a U.S. poll showed that 31 percent of male employees that range “between the age of 18 -34 were equally likely to say they preferred a male as their superior over 29 percent choosing a female boss, when accepting a new job. Twice as many 35 – 54 year old males (38 percent) prefer a male supervisor over a female (19 percent) as their boss. (Gary Powell Organizational Dynamics pp. 2) Stereotypes, perceptions, and attitudes toward minorities, and gender continue to create barriers that prevent individuals from achieving top-level management positions. As U. S. companies implement affirmative action plans and strive to create a more valued diverse working environment, we may see the glass ceiling start to shatter. Upper management and human resources must work together to implement successful policies to create a diverse, positive work environment and help give individuals the experience and tools to tear down these

Attitudes and perceptions are not the same; perceptions are how an individual views a particular situation. This could be how we are treated at work or how the individual is compensated for their efforts on the job. The individual’s viewpoint may be that they are being treated unfairly, and whether the tasks and work that the individual is required to perform is considered important or trivial. Perceptions or how we believe that we are being treated is a main point in the equality theory. In the equality theory, “asserts that perceptions of compensation equality are a motivational factor affecting employees’ behavior. (International Journal of HRM pp.1318) The idea is that an employee evaluates his or hers compensation, rewards then compares it to his/her job requirements and outputs. The employee will compare the compensation equality against a worker with comparable duties both inside and outside an organization. This perception can have a positive or negative affect on the employees’ behavior, attitude and moral, based on the results of the comparison or how the employee believes that he or she is being compensated or treated in the organization. Positive and negative attitudes can also play an important role in an organization as a worker or employees’ attitude can affect his/her performance but will also affect other co-workers around the individual. A