guravs' termpaper

8/8/2019 guravs' termpaper

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LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY

TERM PAPER

ON

GLASS CEILING

SUBMITTED TO SUBMITTED BY

NIDHI NEGI MAM GAURAV OJHA

LECT. (LSB) ROLL.NO.1907A02

MBA (HHM)


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since the term was coined, "glass ceiling" has also come to describe the limited advancement of

the deaf,blind

Blindness

Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological

factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define

blindness...disabled, and aged. It is believed to be an unofficial, invisible barrier that prevents

women and minorities from advancing in businesses.

OVERVIEW

This situation is referred to as a "ceiling" as there is a limitation blocking upward advancement,

and "glass" (transparent) because the limitation is not immediately apparent and is normally an

unwritten and unofficial policy.

This invisible barrier continues to exist, even though there are no explicit obstacles keeping

minorities from acquiring advanced job positions there are no advertisements that specifically

say no minorities hired at this establishment, nor are there any formal orders that say

minorities are not qualified but they do lie beneath the surface.

When a company exercises said discrimination, they will usually attempt to use an indirectjustification, such as "You are shouting obscenities that upset the customers.

The "glass ceiling" is distinguished from formal barriers to advancement, such as education or

experience requirements. Mainly this invisible barrier seems to exist in more of the developing

countries, in whose businesses this effect is highly "visible".

In economics, the term glass ceiling refers to situations where the advancement of a qualified

person within the hierarchy of an organization is stopped at a lower level because of some formof discrimination, most commonly sexism or racism, but since the term was coined, "glass

ceiling" has also come to describe the limited advancement of the deaf, blind, disabled, and aged.

It is believed to be an unofficial, invisible barrier that prevents women and minorities from

advancing in businesses.


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HISTORY

Sexual discrimination was outlawed in the United States through the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in

the hopes of allowing women to rise in the working world once proper experience has been

achieved.

The term "glass ceiling" has been thought to have first been used to refer to invisible barriers that

impede the career advancement of women in the American workforce in an article by Carol

Hymowitz and Timothy Schellhardt in the March 24, 1986 edition of the Wall Street Journal.

However, the term was used prior to that; for instance, it was utilized in a March 1984 Adweek

article by Gay Bryant.

The term glass ceiling was used prior to the 1984 article by two women at Hewlett-Packard in

1979, Katherine Lawrence and Marianne Schreiber, to describe how while on the surface there

seemed to be a clear path of promotion, in actuality women seemed to hit a point which they

seemed unable to progress beyond.

Upon becoming CEO and chairwoman of the board of HP, Carly Fiorina proclaimed that there

was no glass ceiling. After her term at HP, she called her earlier statement a "dumb thing to say."

However, the term was used by the U.S. Department of Labor in 1991 in response to a study of

nine Fortune 500 companies. The study confirmed that women and minorities encountered

considerable glass ceiling barriers in their careers; these barriers were experienced earlier in their

professions than previously thought.

United States Senator Hillary Clinton used the term glass ceiling in her speech to endorse

Senator Barack Obama for President: "And although we weren't able to shatter that highest,

hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it."


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OBJECTIVE:

To analyze and understand how glass ceiling occurs what are the concept behind it (i.e why,

when does glass ceiling occurs). How and what are the methods that should be adopted toovercome the glass ceiling .To signify the role of management for improvement of worst

condition.

METHODOLOGY:

The completion of this term paper was not possible without the help of secondary sources which

I have used. I owe my deep sense of ineptness and thanks to all those sources who played a vital

role incompletion of my term paper.In making this term report I collected the whole lot of data

from publications internet and various business magazines. Some of the sources are like:-

Internet (various websites)

Newspapers (the Hindustan times, the times of India economic times, the Hindu.)

Magazines like coping with crises, master mind, India today, business lines etc.

Current affairs book.

CONTENT:

GLASS CEILING IN VARIOUS SECTOR EFFECTING WOMEN

The overall employment situation of women has not evolved significantly since 2001. The

Global Employment Trends(2003) reported that women continue to have lower labor market

participation rates, higher unemployment rates and significant pay differences compared to men.

Women represent over 40 per cent of the global labor force, approximately 70 per cent of women

in developed countries and 60 per cent in developing countries


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There has also been little change in their share of professional jobs in the last few years. Women

occupy around 30 to 60 per cent of professional jobs in the sample of countries from which new

data were available. This represents an increase of 0.7 per cent between 1996-99 and 2000-02.

However, considerable variations remain between womens share in different types of

professional jobs. Cultural and social attitudes towards what constitutes male or female jobs

result in occupational segregation1, although the extent of the problem varies from country to

country, and from job to job. Women are mainly concentrated in the feminized professions

such as nursing and teaching (horizontal occupational segregation), where at the same time they

remain in lower job categories than men (vertical occupational segregation).

However, women continue to make small inroads into non-traditional fields such as law,

information and communication technology (ICT) and computer science, and engineering, and

there is evidence that employers are beginning to promote women more systematically and to

introduce family-friendly policies in order to retain them.

However, women who choose non-traditional jobs can face special constraints in the workplace,

not least of which are isolation, limited access to mentoring and female role models, and sexual

harassment.

WOMEN IN PROFESSIONAL JOBS:

Women work in a variety of professional services all over the world. They are predominantly

found in traditionally female professions such as nursing, teaching and administration, although

they have also been infiltrating many of the male-dominated fields, particularly the ICT sector

and judicial systems around the world

The statistics show that there has been little change in their share over the last three to five years

with women continuing to occupy close to half or more of professional jobs in many countries.

However, considerable variations remain between womens share in the different profession.


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Womens share as professional, technical and related workers, 1996-99 and 2000-02

y OCCUPATIONAL SEX SEGRATION IN PROFESSIONAL WORK

The main factors contributing to occupational sex segregation are cultural and social attitudes

towards what constitutes a male or female job and gender inequality in education and

training, which have resulted in both sexes being streamed (or streaming themselves) into

different professions. In many countries, occupational sex segregation in professional jobs is still

prevalent, although the extent of the problem varies from country to country, and from job to job.

Traditionally, engineering, physics, the judiciary, law and health service administration are

considered male jobs and library work, nursing and teaching (especially in primary education)

are considered female jobs. This phenomenon is called horizontal occupational

segregation. Even in jobs dominated by women, there is also vertical occupational


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segregation where men are more likely to hold the more senior and better-remunerated

positions.

For example, in the health sector men predominate as doctors and administrators. New areas

where women are making headway in non-conventional jobs in some parts of the world include

in the information and communications technology sector and the judiciary.

In spite of the slow but steady increase being seen in the share of professional women in the

workplace, the nature of womens career paths continues to block them from making progress in

the organizational hierarchies in which they work.

On recruitment, qualified women tend to be placed in jobs that have a lower value in terms of

skill requirements and remuneration. They find themselves in what are considered non-

strategic jobs, rather than in line and management jobs leading to higher positions. Thus, they

effectively become support staff for their more strategically positioned male colleagues.

The reason for the slow increase in women working in male-dominated professions can to a

certain extent be attributed to the different constraints they face compared to women who work

in traditionally female professions.

Workplace discrimination, such as a lack of acceptance by male supervisors orcolleagues, lack of proper training, isolation, and limited access to mentoring and female

role models, is more likely to make them leave their jobs.

Sexual harassment also tends to occur more frequently in non-traditional workenvironments. Women may be subjected to inappropriate language or unwelcome sexual

conduct.

Also, if male supervisors or colleagues resent the presence of women in their workplace,they may use sexually harassing behavior to humiliate them.

WOMEN IN ICT (Information and communication technology)


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Catalyst, a research and advisory organization in the United States working to advance women in

business, casts doubt on the idea of women managers thriving in the technology sector. In a

recent regional survey of 75 senior executives, it found that companies were not promoting

women to management positions. Respondents cited corporate culture, the lack of career

development

opportunities, womens isolation and lack of role models or networks and mentors, and the all

too familiar argument that work and family responsibilities are mutually exclusive.

WOMEN IN LEGAL SYSTEM

Womens share as judges in 2001 and 2002 was more than 50 per cent in six Eastern European

countries including Hungary (70 per cent), Romania (68.7 per cent), the Czech Republic and

Estonia (62.2 per cent), Croatia (61.7 per cent), and Lithuania (51.8 per cent). The lowest share

was recorded in the United Kingdom (15.6 per cent), Ireland (19.2 per cent), and Armenia (20.6

per cent).

In 2001, women accounted for 26.5 per cent of Polish high court judges, 35.5 per cent in the

highest administrative court and 16.6 per cent in other administrative courts. In early 2003, out of

the 18 judges elected to the International Criminal Court (ICC), seven were women.

In spite of these encouraging findings, resistance to womens progression to traditionally male-

dominated professions is still prevalent. For instance, women lawyers in the United Kingdom

find it difficult to progress in their careers because of the inflexibility of the professions working

conditions.

In 2003, a survey by the Young Solicitors Group, the Association of Women Solicitors and the

Law Society drew attention to the fact that woman lawyers were defecting from the profession

because of the long working hours.


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The survey found that 60 per cent of women leaving the profession did so for family-related

reasons, and out of these 67 per cent were deterred from returning to work because of the

difficulties of balancing their work and personal lives and because of the professions attitude to

women returning to work.

Womens decision to drop out at a crucial point in their careers had resulted in the profession

being dominated by men in the upper echelons. Women professionals are very aware of the

negative career consequences of reducing working time, and they are reluctant to take advantage

of flexible working hours even when they are offered.

WOMEN IN MANAGERIAL JOBS

Management positions represent only a small proportion of the total workforce, although this job

category has grown over the last few decades due to the growth in the service sector. The

expansion of this sector has often given more employment opportunities to women and, although

they remain under-represented, their increased participation in the sector has exceeded increases

in their labor force participation as a whole.

Recent global statistics show that women continue to increase their share of managerial positions

but the rate of progress is slow, uneven, and sometimes discouraging for women faced with

barriers created by attitudinal prejudices in the workplace.

In those professions normally reserved for men, women managers are few and far between. Even

in female-dominated sectors where there are more women managers, a disproportionate number

of men rise to the more senior positions.

The rule ofthumb is still: the higher up an organizations hierarchy, the fewer the women.


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WOMEN LEADERS IN POLITICS:

In general, women aspiring to careers in politics still encounter obstacles and difficulties, which

suggests that the democratic principles of parity and

equality continue to be burdened by the deeply entrenched rules and practices

inherent in political life.

Womens share ofsingle or lower parliamentary seats (selected countries

Difficulties faced by women in politics

Eighty per cent of the respondents considered that the increasing representation of women in

politics had renewed public trust in politics, and that the public recognized that women worked

hard and wanted to achieve concrete results. The women generally believed that female

representation in politics was changing society for the better.

.

A majority of the respondents claimed that their presence in Parliament had moderated male

members behavior; for example, men used less sexist language and were more polite.


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The women viewed the media as both helping and hampering then in politics. On one hand, the

media focused on traditional stereotypes of women such as their appearance and privates lives,

instead of their political act ivities.

On the other hand, media coverage showing their relatively novel status as politicians

made them visible. However, there was a perception that women were frequently shown in the

media as only concerned with womens or social issues rather than with more strategic issues

such as economics, transportation or finance.

WOMEN IN TERTIARY EDUCATION

The number of female students enrolled in tertiary or higher education continues to grow, and

parity with male students has been achieved or surpassed in many countries. These higher levels

of education should enable female graduates to compete for professional and managerial jobs as

never before.

Despite this increasingly enabling educational environment, differences in the nature and quality

of tertiary education and training for females and males continue to pose obstacles for many

women duringrecruitment and later in their careers when vying with men for promotion to professional and

managerial positions.

One challenge is that academic choices young women make mean they lack the relevant

educational profile to enter and progress in professional and managerial careers to which they

aspire.

Women traditionally choose caring professions such as teaching and nursing. If, however, they

show an interest in careers in which few women are working, they may bow to pressure from

peers, parents and teachers not to pursue these fields.


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Womens share ofmanagerial jobs, professional jobs, and tertiary enrolment, 2000-02

Selected countries using ISCO-1968 classification

Women also know that employers are influenced by views that tend to classify jobs as being

more suitable for women or men , hence women adapt subjects they study and their choice of

profession accordingly.

In some countries, womens labor force participation might be seen to conflict with the

traditional roles of women as careers, and regardless of their level of education women may have

to prioritize their family responsibilities over employment.


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Earning the same base rate of pay for doing the same job is only part of the equation.Differences in fringe benefits and bonuses offered to men and women also contribute to

earnings gaps.

PERCEPTIONS OF WOMEN AS MANAGERS:

WANTING IT ALL

Many women and men want it all: a successful career and a happy family life. However,

finding a balance between paid work and family life is difficult, especially for women. Women

still perform a large share of household tasks in addition to childrearing.

Therefore, they often have to choose between paid work and family, or they have to prioritize

one over another at some stage during their lives. Men seem to be able to have it all more

easily, but traditionally their participation in household tasks is far less than that of their female

partners.

Finding a balance between work and family is clearly a problem for women worldwide although

it can be exacerbated in more family-oriented cultures where women are expected to take care of

their homes, husbands, children, etc. and men are expected to provide the money for the whole

structure. There arestill very differentiated roles for both, according to many.

On the other hand, it was argued that the focus on family in Latin American countries ensured

the availability of childcare facilitates, which helped women who wanted to stay in the

workforce find ways of adapting their working schedules. It was also noted that womens

decisions on prioritizing work and home were made on the way up the corporate ladder, so that

by the time they reached senior management level they had already found ways of balancing

work and home.

Also, women would cease to be discriminated against for taking parental leave or for working

part-time. The article concluded as long as work/life issues are regarded as only womens

issues, theres a limit on how much progress women can make.


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BARRIERS:

The women face the following problems in their work.

Lack of management or line experience. Lack of mentoring and role models for women at the highest levels. Exclusion from informal networks and channels of communication where important

information on organizational politics and decision making is shared.

Stereotyping and preconceptions of womens roles and abilities, commitment andleadership style.

Lack of flexibility in work schedules. Lack of career and succession planning. Counterproductive behavior of male co-workers including taking credit for womens

contributions

Sexual harassment Attributing womens successes to tokenism.

The impact ofcorporate culture:

Corporate culture is a fundamental reason for womens absence from management

and leadership positions which includes.

Sexual harassment was a major workplace problem (51 per cent). Womens exclusion from high-profile training programmers represented a major problem

(38.8 per cent), but over 39 per cent felt this was a non-issue.

Difficulty with child care arrangements was a major workplace issue (19.7 per cent). Positive action was very important and responsibility for pushing for changes should be

shared by management (69 per cent).

It was very important or at least important that the business sector should be directlyinvolved in positive, voluntary action in support of womens progress into management

(87.5 per cent).

Provision of equal employment opportunity legislation would not be adequate in meetingthis objective, and the administration of such laws was important (70.6 per cent).


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They had never actively promoted the need to recruit and retain capable and high-potential women at management level (69.7 per cent).

An organizational policy on equal opportunity in recruitment, training and promotion (71per cent) had been implemented.

They were not ready to consider the implementation of a sexual harassment policy (26per cent).

They might consider a sexual harassment policy in the future (32 percent).

LITRETURE REVIEW:-

RESEARCH PAPER 1:

Glass Ceilings and Glass Escalators ,Occupational Segregation and Race and Sex

Differences in Managerial Promotions byDAVID J. MAUME, JR. ,UniversityofCincinnati

:Source: www.google.scholar.com

This paper discusses that the Panel Study of IncomeDynamics to examine the effect of race and

gender compositionin the origin occupation on movement to a managerial position.

It show that

for men, percentage of women in the originoccupation positively affected the chances of men

moving toa supervisory position and that Blacks were less likely than

Whites to be promoted.

For women, percentage of women and percentageof Blacks in the origin occupation significantly

decreased chancesof women attaining a management position.

The findings suggest the impact

of a "glass escalator" for Whitemen, a "glass ceiling" for others, and contradict the notion

of a

"declining significance of race."

ARTICLE 2:

Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling Without Breaking a Nail: Women Executives in

Fortune Magazine's "Power 50" List Sherianne Shuler 31 aug 2004 : source

www.google.scholar.com


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The article tells that "there is not a glass ceiling" in today's organizations. ,". The increasing

number of women executives demonstrates progress, the magazine coverage perpetuates familiar

stereotypes of women in organizations. This popular business magazines are part of the broader

discourse in which organizations are situated, this paper examines Fortune's "Power 50" lists,

arguing that they help to construct the glass ceiling. This shows that in present scenario that the

organization are making attempt to remove this discrimination from corporate world.

ARTICLE 3:

Have women shattered the glass ceiling? ByAntamani Wilson :21 june 2000. Source:

www.google.scholar.com

This article tells that 500 companies, women occupy 15% of board seats and are 3% of CEOs. In

Canada, women make up 14% of board seats and 4% of CEOs at FinancialPost500 businesses.

There are only four female CEOs leading the 100 most highly capitalized blue chip companies

listed on the London Stock Exchange, while 10% of board seats in Europe are held by women

a percentage largely buoyed by Norway's strict boardroom diversity laws.

In the United Kingdom, women earn 23% less than men. Organizations should build in checks

and balances that root out unconscious biases. They should collect and review salary growth

metrics and provide development across all levels. Managers must guard against stereotypes

influencing judgment and make assignments based on qualifications.


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ARTICLE : 4

Glass Ceiling Effect December 5, 2008 By: keshev mallick: source: www.soople.com

This article tells that invisible barrier affect working women the most as it diminishes any

chances of advancement for someone who is career conscious. This discrimination leads women

to have feelings of low self-esteem, decreased motivation and a slowing down of interest in their

jobs. One of the many fangs of the glass ceiling effect is the evident difference in wages for the

same job. Also, women are given inferior statuses within the same job and in most places are

treated as subordinates to their male counter partners. Workplace discrimination is witnessed in

all levels from blue collar jobs to professional careers.

ARTICLE: 5

Through the glass ceiling: prospects for the advancement ofwomen in the federal civil

service. by Katherine C. Naff Source: google scholar

This article discusses the discrimination in the federal government has been Illegal since the

passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The progress made by women in terms of representation

has been impressive: women now hold nearly half of the white-collar jobs in the executive

branch. Meanwhile, the focus of those opposed to gender discrimination has shifted to jobs in the

upper levels of government, since only about one in four supervisors and one in ten executives in

the federal bureaucracy are women. Such statistics suggest that while employment may no longer

be denied to women based on sex alone, some form of discrimination continues to prevent

women from moving into supervisory and management positions.


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CONCLUSION

The successful elimination of glass ceilings requires not just an effective enforcement strategy

but the involvement of employers, employees and others in identifying and reducing attitudinal

and other forms of organizational barriers encountered by minorities and women in advancing to

higher level management positions in different workplace settings.

REFERENCES

y http://www.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=http://filipspagnoli.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/women

y http://www.wethewomen.org/entry/un-report-confirms-the-bias-present-against-women-worldwide/

y www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/.../HROB019.htm -y www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1268524321.html - 23 hours agoy www.google.comy www.wikipedia.comy www.wipcoaching.com/downloads/the-real-glass-ceiling.pdf

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