Preview

Womens Issues

Best Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2062 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Womens Issues
Running Head: What are the Problems and Challenges Facing Women or Minorities in Achieving Executive Positions?

Individual Final Research Project

What are the Problems and Challenges Facing Women or Minorities in Achieving Executive Positions?

Tasha Brown

Strategic Human Resource Management, GB520.01

ABSTRACT The aim of this paper was to explore the impact of the “glass ceiling” in corporate America, identify the challenges, and examine what problems women or minorities face when pursuing the rise up the corporate ladder. The paper also reviews and identifies the socioeconomic gender gaps, trends and impacts of work-life issues, and the lack of mentorship available to women or minorities. Results of research and studies conducted show women and minorities have made some progress from a sociological perspective managing to break through some barriers, but the mere existence of the “glass ceiling” continues. Through the eyes of those who are and have faced such challenges and problems, examination of this research will help to identify issues, and propose solutions to help corporations to better understand and recognize those hidden and subtle barriers. Lastly, this research will help organizations see the trends and how advancing women or minorities into executive positions can benefit the organization.

Outline I. Overview II. History A. Problems and Challenges 1. Women face 2. Minorities face 3. Human Resources face 4. Diversity III. Glass Ceiling Barriers A. Types 1. Different compensation for comparable work 2. Discrimination or harassment (sexual, ethnic, racial, religious, etc.) 3. Work and family 4. Lack of mentorship IV. Leadership Challenges A. Roles and responsibilities V. Battle of the Sexes A. Recruitment B. Educational C. Experience VI. Trends VII. Summary/Conclusion

What are the Problems


References: The Glass Ceiling. BusinessDictionary. (2011). Retrieved February 20, 2011 from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/glass-ceiling.html Lyness, K.S. & Thompson, D.E. (2000). Climbing the Corporate Ladder: Do female and male executives follow the same route? Journal of Applied Psychology, 85, 86-101. The Sun Reporter (1995). Glass Ceiling Commission’s Final Report Top Executives. Retrieved February 5, 2011 from http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-2379898.html Sunder, R. (2009). The Observer. Women still face a steep climb to the top table. Retrieved February 4, 2011 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/aug/23/women-directors-gender-gap-survey. Fitzpatrick, L. (2010). Time CNN Nation. Why Do Women Still Earn Less Then Men: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1983185,00.html Society for Human Resource Management (2004). Women in Business and Mentoring. Retrieved February 5, 2011 from http://www.shrm.org/Research/Articles/Articles/Pages/MentoringSeriesPartIIIWomeninBusinessandMentoring.aspx. Bell, M., McLaughlin, M.E., Sequeira, J. Discrimination, Harrassment, and the Glass Ceiling. http://www.wallnetwork.ca/inequity/5bell.pdf Brown, E.M., Haygood, M., & McLean, J.R. (2010). The Little Black Book of Success. Laws of Leadership for Black Women. Random House Publishing Group. Burress, J.H., & Zucca, L.J. (2004). The Gender Equity Gap in Top Corporate Executive Positions. American Journal of Business. Retrieved February 14, 2011 from http://www.bsu.edu/mcobwin/majb/?p=111 Silverman, E.R. (1997). The Scientist. Faculty of 1000. Retrieved February 14, 2011 from http://f1000scientist.com/article/display/17500/
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Case Study: The Shattered Ceiling
    • 2014 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Case Study: The Shattered Ceiling

    For decades intelligent, ambitious, business minded women have had their careers stunted by the boys’ club cooperate glass ceiling that exists in companies all across, not just the United States, but across the globe. Women have had to take a backseat to men even though they have had the same education, training, and drive as their male counterparts. Women have been bashing their heads against the glass ceiling trying to gain access to the boardrooms and CEO offices of cooperate America with the end result being the concussions they have sustained for all their hard work and dedication. It has taken the persistence and hard work of a few pioneer women to finally begin to crack this glass ceiling and ultimately shatter…

    • 2014 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Indian Act
    • 8799 Words
    • 36 Pages

    Indian Act

    Kellerman, B. and D. Rhode, eds. 2007. Women and Leadership: The State of Play and Strategies for Change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.…

    • 8799 Words
    • 36 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Best Essays

    Glass Ceiling Research Paper
    • 3109 Words
    • 13 Pages

    Glass Ceiling Research Paper

    It is the unseen, yet unbreachable barrier that keeps minorities and women from rising to the upper rungs of the corporate ladder, regardless of their qualifications or achievements. While minorities and women have made strides in the last 30 years, and employers increasingly recognize the value of workforce diversity, the executive suite is still overwhelmingly a white man’s world. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 created the 21-member, bipartisan Federal Glass Ceiling Commission. The Commission’s mandate is to study the barriers to the advancement of minorities and women within corporate hierarchies (the problem known as the glass ceiling), to issue a report on its findings and conclusions, and to make recommendations on ways to dismantle the glass ceiling (Lookwood,…

    • 3109 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Best Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Glass Ceiling Thesis
    • 1110 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Glass Ceiling Thesis

    Members of the women’s movement say that “The Glass Ceiling” prevents women from moving into executive positions. The first thought of The Glass Ceiling came to forefront in 1987. Women believed they were unfairly being paid less than men, but what these women did not…

    • 1110 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Glass Ceiling
    • 1229 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Glass Ceiling

    Women and minorities, despite their growing prominence in the work force, are statistically shown to be excluded from high-level corporate positions. The glass ceiling is a term describing the barrier that prevents minorities, particularly women, from reaching the top tier. Recently, there are more women breaking through the divide, but their percentages are small and are growing at a glacial pace. Therefore, the glass ceiling can no longer be thought of as impenetrable, but as more of a semipermeable membrane. Women must overcome the many hurdles that contribute to the existence of the glass ceiling, like education, lifestyle, and cliquish behavior based on stereotypes. In order for the United States to see gender equality in the workforce, there must be major attitude adjustments that can only be influenced by cultural changes brought on by new governments policies.…

    • 1229 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Gender Pay Inequality
    • 1828 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Gender Pay Inequality

    The presence of the gender wage gap in the American workplace is a highly debated topic in today’s society. Despite their competence to do the job, women in top jobs face gender disparities in income in the United States.…

    • 1828 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Inequality In America
    • 960 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Inequality In America

    This invisible limit on women’s climb up the corporate ladder poses as a very difficult hurdle to dodge towards success in the work place (Conley 315). If a person simply cannot go any further in their job, why would they bother to put forth more effort? In order for a company to succeed, it is necessary for its employers to go above and beyond what they are expected to do; when a person feels that they no longer must do this, however, the bare minimum will most likely be expected of these people. Women make up 46.5 percent of the workforce in America, yet they only occupy less than 8 percent of the head corporate positions (The Conundrum). This number is astounding based on the percentage of women that make up the workforce in total, and is frustrating for the women who are well-equipped for the job at hand. If this glass ceiling barrier were to be broken, the workforce would have a more equal balance of corporate heads, and would most likely have a more productive workforce because of this. With everyone is striving to make it to the top, all will be going further than what is expected of them. Based on the glass ceiling provided to women in the workforce, a barrier is created that must be broken through to improve productivity and equality within the work…

    • 960 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Role Of Women In The United States
    • 293 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Role Of Women In The United States

    The role of women in the United States has changed dramatically in the last 50 years. The proportion of women attending college, matriculating from graduate schools, and obtaining doctorate degrees has increased dramatically. No longer are women associated with low expectations both in education and the workforce. Women now seek and receive the highest leadership roles in education, professions, and business. For example, according to Laff (2006), in the banking industry women holds several management positions and in human resource management. Given these significant increases in women-owned business and upper-level management position in and organization setting, one might conclude that this migration of women towards leadership roles has been successful in management positions.…

    • 293 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Gender Pay Gap
    • 1237 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Gender Pay Gap

    Today, women represent almost half of the workforce in the labour department. There have been increasingly more opportunities for women to enter the labour market who are equally competitive in some fields as men. Despite the high amount of achievement and participation that women have made in the labor force in recent decades, they are still struggling with the access to the upper level positions in the organization. This barrier to vertical movement for women in the workforce is commonly known as “glass ceiling”. This metaphor of ‘glass ceiling’ represents the invisible and artificial barrier that women experience at some point during their progress toward high-ranking positions (Sampson & Moore, 2008). It tends to limit their advancement…

    • 1237 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Managerial Stereotypes In Corporate America
    • 1355 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Managerial Stereotypes In Corporate America

    In this article, author Dean Elmuti and co authors, Judith Lehman, Brandon Harmon, Xiaoyan Lu, Andrea Pape, Ren Zhang and Terad Zimmerle, took a deep dive to analyze the managerial stereotype in US for executive women in the workforce. They also discuss the factors and personal traits that effects the advancement in the upper management, history of women rights, different type of stereotypes situations, factors in career advancement and multiple roles that benefits women for managerial roles. In additional to that, Dean also discussed about the challenges of women in the managerial roles, how they juggle there business and family life and the…

    • 1355 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Best Essays

    The Glass Ceiling
    • 2461 Words
    • 10 Pages

    The Glass Ceiling

    Burnett, A., Mattern, J. L., Herakova, L. L., Kahl, D. H., Tobola, C., & Bornsen, S. E. (2009).…

    • 2461 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Best Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Women in the Workplace
    • 2215 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Women in the Workplace

    Looking at the history of the gender gap is essential to understanding the need for women’s leadership in corporate America today. In 1890, when the first officially recorded numbers of women in the work force were published, only 15 percent of women claimed to work outside the home and a woman’s annual salary was about half of a man’s (Goldin, 2008). At that time, the “gender gap” could be better described as a canyon. In the 120 years since then, the gender gap has steadily shrunk, if not by concerted effort, then by circumstance and happenstance. World War II and the Civil Rights Movement brought about changes in the workplace that no one could have predicted. In 1960, only forty-percent of all women were represented in the work force...today women represent almost half of the total labor force with almost 80-percent of women working. The numbers really do not paint a clear picture though. Because the problem lies in the lack of women in leadership as shown in this Catalyst visual:…

    • 2215 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    The Glass Ceiling: a Perspective of Women Working in Durban
    • 7525 Words
    • 31 Pages

    The Glass Ceiling: a Perspective of Women Working in Durban

    References: Akande, A. (1994), “The glass ceiling: women and mentoring in management and business”, Employee Counselling Today, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 21-8. April, K., Dreyer, S. and Blass, E. (2007), “Gender impediments to the South African Executive Boardroom”, South African Journal of Labour Relations, Vol. 31 No. 2, pp. 51-67. Billy, S. and Manoocherhi, G. (1995), “Breaking the glass ceiling”, American Business Review, Vol. 13, June, pp. 33-9. Broadbridge, A. (2001), “Barriers in the career progression of retail managers”, The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, Vol. 8 No. 1. Broadbridge, A. (2008), “Barriers to ascension to senior management positions in retailing”, The Services Industries Journal, Vol. 28, pp. 1225-45. Cassell, C. and Walsh, S. (1994), “Falling back or fitting in: cultural barriers to women’s progression in management”, British Academy of Management Conference, September, pp. 14-16. Cross, C. and Linehan, M. (2006), “Organisational barriers and the female managerial career: some empirical evidence from Ireland”, Journal of Work Place Rights, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 245-58. Davidson, M.J. and Burke, R.J. (Eds) (2000), Women in Management: Current Research Issues, Vol. II, Sage, London, pp. 236-49. Glass Ceiling Commission (1991), Executive Summary: Fact Finding Report of the Federal Glass Ceiling Commission, available at: www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/history/reich/reports/ ceiling (accessed 16 October 2010). Grant Thornton International Business Report (2011), available at: www. internationalbusinessreport.com/Press-room/2011/women_in-senior_management.asp (accessed 26 February 2012). Hardy, M. and Bryman, A. (2009), The Handbook of Data Analysis, C&M Digitals (Pty) Ltd, Chennai. Har-Even, E. (2004), “Women and the glass ceiling in the American workplace: describing the phenomenon and its internal and external causes”, The Manchester Review, pp. 11-19. Harris, M. (2010a), “Stress levels higher among women: multitasking their own worst enemy”, The Business Times Report, 15 August, p. 4. Harris, M. (2010b), “Women walk the tokenism tight rope: sexism finds new life when firms treat equity as mere window-dressing”, The Business Times Report, 22 August, p. 1. Hede, A. and Ralston, D. (1993), “Managerial career progression and aspiration: evidence of a ‘glass ceiling’?”, International Journal of Emerging Sciences, Vol. 1, pp. 253-82. Hoobler, J.M., Wayne, S.J. and Lemmon, G. (2009), “Bosses’ perceptions of family-work conflict and women’s promotability: glass ceiling effects”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 52, pp. 939-57. ILO (2006), Global Employment Trends for Women, International Labour Organisation, Geneva. Insch, G.S., McIntyre, N. and Napier, N.K. (2008), “The expatriate glass ceiling: the second layer of glass”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 83, pp. 19-28.…

    • 7525 Words
    • 31 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Best Essays

    Gender Gap
    • 2085 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Gender Gap

    Employers constantly hold women to different standards than their male counterparts in the workplace. Shelley Rider, current president of Interloop North America, commented, “as some large, traditional corporations have fewer, bigger jobs in top management available, it 's harder for everyone to advance. This is especially true for women and minorities, who are often expected to have demonstrated that they have fully mastered a new role prior to being promoted, versus their white male colleagues who may be given ‘stretch opportunities.’” For women, this is frustrating because they are just as qualified, if not more qualified, than their male counterparts. Gender bias in business affects female professionals financially, emotionally, and mentally as they experience inequality in the office.…

    • 2085 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Best Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Why Women Should You Deserve To Be Successful?
    • 714 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Why Women Should You Deserve To Be Successful?

    It is heartening to know that the number of women engaged in paid employment has risen considerably over the years all over the world, with ample records to prove that the companies that had taken the best efforts to promote women had been the most profitable. Globally, there has been a rise in the number of women executives in the corporate corridors as well as public servants in the political corridors. But how many of these women actually succeed in reaching the top of the corporate or political ladder? Unfortunately, very few if the figures are to be believed. Women constitute only up to 16% of the directors in the Fortune 500 companies, 4% of the CEOs of the Standard & Poor's 500 companies and 4% again…

    • 714 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics