The Glass Ceiling
The Glass Ceiling –
Women in Top Management
Table of Content
According to the Economist, women in top management are still only represented by an embarrassing small amount. Not only one DAX listed company in Germany is run by a woman, only 15% of the CEOs of Fortune 500 are female and only 5 of FTSE-100 firms in Britain are led by women (The Economist, 2011). But why do we still observe such gender inequality in senior positions although women and men are entering the workforce approximately in equal numbers? The reason is still the Glass Ceiling which discourages women from making it to the top management. This essay should give an insight in the still observable phenomenon of the Glass Ceiling. First of all, I will define the problem and give reasons for the issue. Afterwards, I want to concentrate on facts why companies should engage more women into leading positions and how they can achieve it.
The Glass Ceiling is a metaphor for the invisible but observable barrier which women face in business. It discourages women from promotion and slows down their career (Business Dictionary). The problem is caused by several reasons, some are self-imposed by women theirselves and others are due to old-fashioned prejudices in society.
One reason for instance, is the “old boy network” which men built up helping each other to make it to manager position and having useful business contacts as well. Unfortunately, there is no comparable network available for women yet. They still have to cope with the exclusionism of that network and therefore they have to work even harder to achieve the same position as their male counterparts (Tucker, 2007).
Another important reason researches found, is that women’s commitment to their job differs from those of men. Apparently, they are less committed to their work and more interested to achieve a work-life balance. Since women have to tradeoff between family and career, there are still
Women in Top Management
Table of Content
According to the Economist, women in top management are still only represented by an embarrassing small amount. Not only one DAX listed company in Germany is run by a woman, only 15% of the CEOs of Fortune 500 are female and only 5 of FTSE-100 firms in Britain are led by women (The Economist, 2011). But why do we still observe such gender inequality in senior positions although women and men are entering the workforce approximately in equal numbers? The reason is still the Glass Ceiling which discourages women from making it to the top management. This essay should give an insight in the still observable phenomenon of the Glass Ceiling. First of all, I will define the problem and give reasons for the issue. Afterwards, I want to concentrate on facts why companies should engage more women into leading positions and how they can achieve it.
The Glass Ceiling is a metaphor for the invisible but observable barrier which women face in business. It discourages women from promotion and slows down their career (Business Dictionary). The problem is caused by several reasons, some are self-imposed by women theirselves and others are due to old-fashioned prejudices in society.
One reason for instance, is the “old boy network” which men built up helping each other to make it to manager position and having useful business contacts as well. Unfortunately, there is no comparable network available for women yet. They still have to cope with the exclusionism of that network and therefore they have to work even harder to achieve the same position as their male counterparts (Tucker, 2007).
Another important reason researches found, is that women’s commitment to their job differs from those of men. Apparently, they are less committed to their work and more interested to achieve a work-life balance. Since women have to tradeoff between family and career, there are still
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