Breaking the Glass Ceiling
...eeting the challenge of global competition; to promote good corporate conduct through an emphasis on corrective and cooperative problem-solving; to promote equal opportunity, not mandated results; and, to establish a blueprint of procedures to guide the Department in conducting future reviews of all management levels of the corporate workforce (Martin 3). Glass ceiling has been around for years and will exist today, tomorrow and everyday; until it is stopped. CRACKS IN THE GLASS CEILING The glass ceiling has been around for a while but just recently started to be noticed and fixed. During the past 14 years the wage gap has narrowed by about 12 percent, according to the National Committee for Pay Equity (Thomas 16). We’re not sure if salaries decrease as more women enter management ranks or if men are leaving lower-salaried jobs for higher pay in other companies, creating opportunities for women (USA Today Magazine 7). In 1999 the Labor Department randomly audited about 5000 companies that held government contracts, to crack down on wage discrimination based on gender (Siskos 20). In 2000 former President Clinton pushed Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would impose harsher penalties to companies practicing wage discrimination (Siskos 20). These two acts will help the glass ceiling but won’t completely destroy it. Women with similar education and experience still earn less than their male counterparts. This act will hopefully help woman know that their rights will be taken seriously and that someday they will reach the top. THE CAUSES OF THE GLASS CEILING Many people believe that the glass ceiling is just a way for women to deal with problems that enable them to climb up the corporate ladder*. To achieve equal pay and representation, women must stop trying to break the corporate glass ceiling and instead find a window of opportunity to climb through (Thomas 16). Women believe that everything they want to will be given to them, but in reality women need to work even harder than men and find that opportunity. What causes the glass ceiling is a question that has been left unsolved. One cause is that women have no work experience. Another is that woman need flexibility to provide for families and other things. Last, is that woman are know to be too assertive. Many believe this is what causes the glass ceiling to form. NO EXPERIENCE Women are struggling to obtain a job, but having no experience causes a glass-ceiling barrier. They have the education and all other necessities, but the work experience limits, women opportunities. Many believe that women can’t handle a job like men but in reality women can do anything men can. Giving a woman a job will be done twice as fast and done correctly (LaTeef 48). Women with similar education and experience still earn less than their male counterparts. Clearly, for women, there remains a missing link between performance and payoff (USA Today Magazine 7). Sadly women opportunities are very limited as well as their experience. Men are given more opportunities than women are to higher positions because of experience. Many believe that a women can’t handle jobs that men can so women are given jobs that easy and not made for a man. Figure 1 shows different job opportunities and the percentage of men and women who obtain those jobs (Davidson and Cooper 5). According to the graph women are given more full time jobs in clerical and other related jobs. The total number of full time jobs men hold is 24% higher than full time women. Women aren’t given the chance they deserve and with out experience they never will (LaTeef 48). Table 1 Percentage distribution of women and men in employment. FLEXIBILITY Although, the glass isn’t shattered, women today want to have more and more opportunities for challenge and mobility to prove and stretch themselves (Solomon, 86). But when frustrated by inflexible work environments and [persistent] barriers to the top echelons, they are less tolerant of glass ceilings and glass walls (Solomon 86). Single women believe that it is proven that hey have a distinct advantage in their careers (Davidson and Cooper 134). Single women are taken more seriously in the workforce because they only have one thing on their minds, work. On the other hand workers believe that when women reach 30 that they are slightly different for not having a family (Davidson and Cooper 134). In Table 2 and 3 notices that 43% of working women are single, 57% women have families. While 76% men are married and 24% are single. Women today want to start to have families and still have full time jobs. For example if managers had to attend as many meetings possible [often after hours] and work hard to protect their turf. These women try to take leave to have children and sometimes end up losing their jobs (Martin 10). They’re leaving to start their own businesses, ...