2 of the book was about the glass ceiling that women has to face in
the workplace. As a woman who will soon be getting ready to graduate
and go into the workforce, this particular part of the reading led me
to do more research about this topic.
According to an article by Nancy Lockwood in June 2004, there were two
reasons that explained the lack of advancement of women in the
workforce. The first one was lack of networking. It was true that
women have a different web of connections than men. Therefore, women
lacked the networking that men had with each other—something that
could be really vital when it came to tips, experiences, and
suggestions regarding business. The second reason was the fact that
most women were considered the primary caregivers of the family. This
meant having to juggle children, chores at home, family, and work.
Unfortunately, there were not many companies that helped women who had
additional priorities, such as perhaps building a company day care for
any working mothers or a better insurance for the woman and her
family.
Aside from this article, I also went and did some research some
statistics from the past years regarding women and the workforce. Some
interesting statistics were:
-Fortune 500 executive officer positions held by women in 2009: 13.5%,
or 697 out of 5,161.
-Fortune 500 corporate board seats held by women in 2009: 15.2%, the
same as in 2008, and just slightly higher than the 2007 percentage of
14.8% and the 2006 percentage of 14.6%.2
-In 2008, 59.5% of all women over 16 were in the labor force, compared
to 73.0% of all men.
Though we may have come a long way from where we were years ago, I do
agree with what was said in the book we read in class, which was the
fact that better understanding of those with corporate power, and
everyone in the workplace in general, will lead to better changes for
the workplace.
Sources:
Bagadi, Deepali and Marrisa Agin. Catalyst: Expanding Opportunities for Women and Business. 9 December 2009. 23 January 2010
Lockwood, Nancy. "The Glass Ceiling: Domestic and International Perspectives." June 2004. BNET: The to-go place for management. 23 January 2010
Thank you for that additional research. I believe that discrimination against women is more pervasive and subtle than people realize. Another possible explanation is emotional: people tend to favor people who are more like them. Men may hire and advance men because they understand and relate to them better. Women may feel subtle pressure to act more like men as a result. This is ultimately harmful to the company.
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