It is apparent that gender inequality in the workplace is not a uniquely American phenomenon. Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner (1998) in their excellent analysis of multicultural management address the issue of gender issues with this challenging observation. "One might ask whether organizations should seek to promote women because they are "just as good" or because they are "significantly different" and they want the benefit of that difference" (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 1998, 229).
The feeling of the two authors is that gender differences are not as essential a stumbling block as are racial issues. "Ethnic diversity exhibits far greater differences than gender, perhaps because women can more easily approximate men (and vice versa) than black Americans, Hispanics, American Indians and Asian Americans can approximate Caucasians"(Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 1998, 230). Harris and Moran (1996) in their discussion of empowerment point out that by the year 2005, more than 60 percent of the American Workforce will be women. However, the question remains: What part of that percentage will be managers? "Reality is that today, only approximately 30 percent of the management positions are held by women, so it will be a few decades before the transformation of the male-dominated work culture is accomplished. The glass ceiling is real" (Harris & Moran, 1996, 170). To determine if the "glass ceiling" is, indeed, real, the rest of this analysis will focus on that question. The analysis will focus, for clarity on one industry -- commercial airlines. The data will concern the role of women at Delta Airlines in the United States and Air France in France.
Moshavi, writing in Business Week (1998) provides a thorough analysis of the "Glass Ceiling" as a hidden or unstated barrier to advancement within a corporation. She concludes that "Among all women, top reasons for leaving were, in order: inflexibility; glass-ceiling issues, s...