The Glass Ceiling: Fact or Fiction
This is an excerpt from the paper...
Over the last few decades, women have made great strides in moving up the corporate ladder. Women such as Carleton Fiorina have managed to reach the top of their field by becoming the president and CEO of their companies. Looking at the incredible progress of these women, the "glass ceiling" -- the concept used to describe the barriers blocking women from top-level positions -- seems to be obsolete and irrelevant to the working women of today. However, working in a world dominated by male decision-makers and their established practices, most women have been unable to shatter the glass ceiling, regardless of their talent, efficiency and experience. Although women have made tremendous progress in the workplace by achieving mid-level managerial positions, top-level positions remain as elusive to them today as they were more than a decade ago. One of the most significant factors is cultural stereotype. To many CEOs, women cannot compete against their male counterparts because they get pregnant and are responsible for domestic tasks. Therefore, they are placed in dead-end managerial positions with no real potential of reaching the executive suite. In this paper, the relevance of the concept of the glass ceiling to the area of management will be assessed. Essentially, this paper will prove that in spite of the fact that some women have made it to the top of the hierarchy, the CEOs of corporations have not overcome their biases against women. F
. . .
responsibilities.
However, this stereotypical thinking is unfounded. According to the Catalyst survey on successful women, these women have defied the conventional expectations that women's work is affected by their domestic roles. Seventy-two percent of these women are married and 64 percent have children, thus shattering the myth that women are unable to succeed at work and still have a household.
Furthermore in a male-dominated environment, women cannot succeed because men are not used to working with them at a high management level. Employers often promote people who share similar social characteristics and traits with them. Consequently, male employers promote men to the upper echelons, thus generating a consistent work environment. Essentially, the top management that is dominated by men is unwilling to acknowledge diversity in opinions that may challenge the stasis. Considering the reality that women make up 60 percent of the purchases, women can increase the company's business by offering new perspectives to the situation.
The case of Ann Hopkins who sued successfully against her former employer, Price Waterhouse, illustrates clearly the extent of discrimination against women. Even though she had brought in more
. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
Price Waterhouse, Carleton Fiorina, Smith Smits, International Inc, According Catalyst, Purdue University, Yunker Valian, According Fiorina, Valian Ultimately, glass ceiling, Dow Jones, reach top, managerial positions, male counterparts, top positions, top echelons, existence glass ceiling, gender stereotyping, catalyst survey, real authority, job ladders, concept glass ceiling, glass ceiling management, according catalyst survey, reach top echelons,
Approximate Word count = 2509
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)
More Essays on The Glass Ceiling: Fact or Fiction
|
Customer Service
to Over
32,000 Professionally Written Papers!!!
