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Fair and equal pay
Discrimination against women in the workplace
Discrimination against women in the workplace
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The existence of the glass ceiling reminds us of current issues in gender equality and female leadership, faced by the business community both in the United States and abroad. The Civil rights movement and incentives towards feminization of various aspects of public life resulted in official recognition of equal rights and opportunities for female professionals; however, in many cases such recognition takes purely formal shapes. In too many cases women get professionally discriminated at work place. They get paid less, have fewer opportunities for promotion, and in case of performance management or even downsizing, are often considered the first to be purged from a company. The number of female CEOs in companies, both in America and abroad, remains very low, although there are signs of improvement that are being seen. It is paradox, as in other areas of professional life, such as governmental institutions or even the military, there seems to be far less discrimination, although a sort of glass ceiling also remains. It may be proven, that these obstacles to professional growth of female executives are of artificial nature, and the working style of women is by no means inferior to that of males. There are various points of view and outlook on the Glass ceiling at the executive level for female leaders in large organizations and a number of facts that verify that female professionals deserve equal rights and working conditions.
The glass ceiling is a phenomenon which originated within the past few decades and may be defined as lack of promotion opportunities for female professionals at an executive level. It is true that excessive discrimination by gender is punishable by law in vast majority of developed democratic nations, however ...
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...fessional and advancement opportunities is time-consuming and not always flexible, there are reasons to believe that even in the foreseeable future there will be no such thing as gender inequality and glass ceiling.
Works Cited
1. Albrecht, J. (2003). Is there is glass ceiling for women in Sweden? Journal of Labor Economics, Vol. 21, No.1 (2003), p. 145-175
2. Pelled, L.H.(1999). Exploring the black box: an analysis of work group diversity, conflict and performance. Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 44, No.1 (1999), p. 3-28.
3. Lublin, J.S. (2012). Companies are grooming more women for the corner office. Forbes, May 22, 2012.
4. Hoenig, C.(2013). Supreme Court Redefines Workplace Discrimination. DiversityInc. Web. Retrieved from http://www.diversityinc.com/diversity-and-inclusion/supreme-court-redefines-workplace-discrimination/ on December 11, 2013
Does Father really know best? In Corporate America, men seem to want full control. Our organizations have been created by men for men and they have great opposition to women infiltrating their management positions. Men have created glass ceilings for women in the workplace. A glass ceiling is an artificial barrier that allows women to see the top of the corporate ladder but at the same time denies them access to the higher rungs of that ladder. Women keep hitting their heads on the glass ceiling until they develop so many knots on their heads that eventually they give up on their goals and ambitions.
The glass ceiling is defined as the “unseen, yet unbreachable barrier that keeps… women from rising to the upper rungs of the corporate ladder, regardless of their qualifications or achievements.” According to the Department of Labor, the glass ceiling is made up of “artificial barriers [that are] based on attitudinal or organizational bias that prevent qualified individuals from advancing upward in their organization into management-level positions.” Qualified women are continuously denied a promotion to the highest levels of corporate America and other professions. Once women reach a certain level at their career, they plateau and the glass ceiling prevents them from advancing any higher.
This phenomenon was first described in a Wall Street Journal report by Hymowitz and Schellhardt (1986). Morrison, White and Velsor (1987) adopted the term in academic settings in their book titled: Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Can women Reach the top of America’s Largest Corporations? They defined glass ceiling as “a transparent barrier that kept women from rising above a certain level in corporations”. Many studies across different disciplines adopted the term since then (Bullard and Wright 1993; Cornwell and Kellough 1994; Crum and Naff 1997; Kellough 1989; Lewis and Emmert 1986; Lewis and Nice 1994; Mani 1997; Naff 1994; Naff and Thomas 1994; Newman 1994; Pfeffer and Davis-Blake 1987; Reid, Kerr, and Miller 2003; Wilson 2002). As a consequence, social psychologists provided the theoretical explanation of why there is fewer female on managerial positions. They came to the conclusion that this phenomenon is closely related to the fact that leadership is considered as a male quality. Traits that can be found in the literature, such as: ambitious, directive and risk-taking, are generally associated with men (Sabharwal, 2013). Moreover, there are some theories that try to expand the role of men in leadership even further. The “think-manager-thin-man” is undoubtedly dominating the literature (Agars
Dahlin, K. B., Weingart, L. R., & Hinds, P. J. (2005). Team Diversity and Information Use. The Academy of Management Journal , 48 (6), 1107-1123.
In no way will this paper deny workplace inequality, but rather by using research, data and logical argumentation, it will attempt to dispel the negativity, and clarify the reasons for variation among wages and success between genders within the United States workforce. This paper will explain the idea of a glass ceiling that is not socially constructed, but rather is now in the process of being re-studied and possibly explained as a self-fulfilled prophecy.
Despite the ability of women to now enter into a variety of occupations and positions, men still dominant the power structure and make it much more difficult to rise. Within organizations men are given preferential treatment as a result of viewing women as the inferior gender. Men get promotions easier than women and women are expected to display exceptional behavior in order to receive any type of promotion at all for the same amount of effort. Often times, the presidency is considered the last glass ceiling, and one that is believed to likely be shattered by the election of the first women president. However, even if this glass ceiling is shattered, the existence of glass ceilings in a variety of organizations can still be seen. For example, the severe lack of women within congress (a meager 20) shows how difficult it is for women to be elected and hold their spot despite being just as qualified as their male counterparts. Similarly, Professor Redding provided examples of women within occupations such as lawyers and doctors. While the opportunities for them to get into these occupations has widened, there is still a gap within the occupations
The “glass ceiling” is a barrier to advancement that affects women when they work in
The glass ceiling has been defined as “an invisible barrier analogous to subtle male discrimination, which was as hard to pin down as it was effective in limiting women.”(Steiner 666) While overt discrimination has decreased due to the consequences of legal actions, subtle discrimination on the other hand is still common business practice in many organizations. Case studies have shown that subtle discrimination is based on establishing invisible barriers, which prevent high performing women from reaching their potential. The following factors contribute to the strength of the glass ceiling and prevent it from shattering. The first constraint has been described as “gender based assumptions about careers and aspirations.” (McCracken 160) The second hurdle limits the advancement opportunities for high performing and ambitious women. Finally, the absence of formal and informal leadership development and networking possibilities exacerbate the inequality.
Date: Thursday February 8, 2001 Work Place Roles Of Men and Women Compared in Today’s Society
Also, the majority of women have been able to secure employment from traditionally female occupations such as teaching compared to male-dominated careers like engineering. Moreover, democratic country like the United States of America has recognized gender inequality as a fundamental issue and espouse equal right between men and women in contributing to social, economic and cultural life. Despite this improvement, gender inequality persists as women are not represented and treated equally in the workplace (Michialidis, Morphitou, & Theophylatou, 2012). The increasing number of women in the workplace has not provided equal opportunity for career advancement for females due to the way women are treated in an organization and the society. Also, attaining an executive position seem impossible for women due to the glass ceiling effects which defines the invisible and artificial barrier created by attitudinal and organizational prejudices, which inhibit women from attaining top executive positions (Wirth
Parcheta, N., Kaifi, B., & Khanfar, N. (2013). Gender Inequality in the Workforce: A Human Resource Management Quandary. Journal of Business Studies Quarterly, 4(3), 240-248.
This is when comparing employees where both genders spend the same amount of time working. Not only do women encounter unfairness in work pay, they also face a “glass ceiling” on a promotional basis. This glass ceiling is a “promotion barrier that prevents a woman’s upward ability” (2). For example, if a woman is able to enter a job traditionally for men, she will still not receive the same pay or experience the same increase in occupational ability. Gender typing plays a huge role in the workplace.
When we think about how it used to be 100 years ago, the only people in leadership roles where men, and there was no presence of women. Why is it that we tend to see more men in leadership positions? Usually when we think of what a leader looks like, we tend to describe them as powerful, assertive and confidence. Because of stereotypes our society immediately labels this person as a man, due to the roles that we are expected to follow. Today, there has been a huge shift for women in leadership positions; however, there are many challenges that they still have to overcome. A process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal (Northouse, 2007) defines a leader. Moreover, leaders come in different forms whether in a professional, educational, or group setting. As a male college student and an advocate for equal rights between men and women, my understanding of the struggles that women face has a huge impact on my philosophy of leadership. The three most important concepts in this course that has resonated with me the most are double bind, and think manager-think male and glass ceiling.
Gender stratification limits women’s achievement in their lives. In term of jobs, women continue to enter a narrow passage of occupations range. Compared to men, women often face greater handicap in seeking job because the higher income and prestigious jobs are more likely held by men. In the workplace institution, men are also prior to a faster promotion. There is a case where women were allowed to get promoted to a more advance posi...
Gender inequality is present in all aspects of human society, from culture, politics, and economic stand point to personal relationships. Gender inequality can be viewed as a major problem especially within the business world (Corporation, 2016). In the past, men are seen as leaders in all aspects. For example, men could work without any criticisms, they could participate in political issues and were given higher education. Women on the other hand, were given no political participation, criticized for working outside the household as they were responsible for chores such as takes care of their children, cooking or cleaning and given limited education compared to men. Although there are claims rights equality of women in 21st century and much has been written about it in the field of business (Player, 2013), but there is still a gap between male and female. This essay aims to explore the impact of gender inequality in business and will analyze the details in terms of the men are given high pay and specific jobs over women.