Glass Ceiling Women

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Looking at women's issues within the work force is a daunting task due to the plethora of inequalities and injustices that are present in our modern world. There are insurmountable obstacles that women face when trying to make a living for themselves within the paid labor force, and even more obstacles when they try to change their situations by rising through the corporate ladder. These issues take on many different forms and are affected by intersectionality.

The glass ceiling was coined by Marilyn Loden, who at a panel in 1978, described the feeling of being stuck and not advancing within the New York Telephone Company (Vargas, 2018). The term glass ceiling is a metaphorical barrier that does not allow women to advance themselves within …show more content…

Many companies still deny women and minorities the opportunities that they would give to white men, based upon the fact that they assume a woman can't handle their emotions, don't have the necessary skills, or would just not be able to handle the stress of the job. "I am referring to the biases that assume men are "born leaders", that working mothers are not committed to their careers, that women are too emotional, that sexual harassment is not a problem, and that there is no room on the executive floor for people who speak softly, have a high degree of emotional intelligence and favour participative leadership over autocratic management." (100 Women, 2017). It is interesting that these beliefs are still held but in more subtle forms. For example, many young women are denied opportunities in management because they might need maternity leave, or they might have to go pick up their children, and other common biases based upon a person's gender.

The glass ceiling is not the only thing holding women back within the workplace. Many women are affected by gender roles within our society, without realizing that this is what is happening. "Glass walls erected by these unconscious biases box women into traditional roles and limit our opportunities." (Mccartney, 2016). Being female identifying alone puts one into a box that is hard to get out of. Traditional gender roles of the male bread winner and the stay at home mom are very present in our culture in various

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