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Glass Ceiling & Sticky Floors

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Glass Ceiling & Sticky Floors
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Gender Communication
Women are continually hammering against a glass ceiling and also their advancement is usually hindered by a promotion bottleneck in the middle management and a sticky floor. According to a recent research on an analysis of careers from a number of employees, it was found out that the rates of promotion for men from the start of their careers to senior management was higher as compared to women who started at the same level. Majority of men were promoted as compared to women who had equivalent experience and education. This has adversely affected gender communication by way of intimidation whereby the women are left feeling inferior (Ivy, 28).
I picked this topic so that I can comprehend deeply on the effects of glass ceiling and sticky floors approach to communication, and how it is related to gender communication. Knowledge about this topic would adequately prepare me for the world since I would be knowledgeable on how to handle various aspects of my life which include my workplace and my relationships. I came to discover that the glass ceiling and sticky floors issues had only been studied at a high level especially at the top of the management. Women are only promoted to very top positions only if they have successfully made it through at the middle management level (Wood, 157). From my conclusive research I discovered that there is usually a floor that is men dominated by the men in regards to promotions. Unfortunately for women, it is extremely difficult to penetrate through this floor due to the fact that there is a lot biases towards women promotions. Men are easily promoted whereas for women, they have to demonstrate capabilities beyond reasonable doubt that they deserve a promotion.
I learnt that there is also the challenge of a mid- level bottleneck towards women which ideally favored men. This concept ensured that few women were promoted from the mid-level management to senior management. This meant that a lot of women were stuck at the mid-level management and they did not progress further from this level. However, this was not same case with men who had similar credentials to the women regardless of both sexes having similar qualifications academically and experience (Krolokke and Ann, 58).
I was deeply surprised by the aforementioned findings and I had to ask myself various questions about the topic. I still have not understood where there should be that prejudice towards women yet there is an affirmative action regarding women. I am yet to establish effective solutions to the link between challenges of gender communication in relation to the glass ceiling and sticky floors approach to communication. A number of areas need to be researched thoroughly so that the relation of the two aspects are understood and practice to the letter. Challenges that face the two aspects should be dealt with through consensus so that there can be a win- win solution where both parties, that is the male and female live and work in harmony (Wood, 159).
In conclusion, I wish to strongly suggest that the gender equality aspect should be practiced and women should effectively be given equal opportunities like their male counterparts. Gender communication needs to be a two way traffic and both the male and female should have equal opportunities to express themselves. The barriers that create the glass ceiling and sticky floors approach to communication should be eradicated. Everyone should be given equal opportunities for harmony between both sexes to prevail.

Works Citied
Ivy, Diana K. Genderspeak: Personal Effectiveness in Gender Communication. Boston: Pearson Education, 2012. Print.
Kroløkke, Charlotte, and Ann S. Sørensen. Gender Communication Theories & Analyses: From Silence to Performance. Thousand Oaks, Calif. [u.a.: SAGE, 2006. Print.
Wood, Julia T. Gendered Lives: Communication, Gender, and Culture. Belmont, CA: Thompson/Wadsworth, 2008. Print.
Wood, Julia T. Gendered Lives: Communication, Gender, and Culture. Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage, 2013. Print.

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