Chapter 2

Like many, I found the subject of the glass ceiling that women in the workplace face worth putting further research into. I believed that for the most part, women had equal opportunity in the work force. While this may not be completely true, women have made a lot of progress since the early 1900's. One may assume that women are becoming increasingly prevalent in the professional aspect. However, upon further research, I found a surprising statistic. "Women have reached the apex of Washington's political landscape, but they are almost nowhere to be found in executive offices and boardrooms in the state's biggest publicly held companies"

When I read that, I realized I have never made that connection on my own. I then understood what the book was trying to convey by referring to the "glass ceiling" that all women face. "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 form of 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..." Women are being held back by their supervisors and managers. This was something that I thought was on its way out, not something that was increasing. I believe that this problem would be easily settled if managers acted more out of ethics rather than personal opinion and belief.

Sources:

Harris, Craig. "Women Still Struggling to Break Glass Ceiling.." SeattlePi (2008): n. pag. Web. 30 Jan 2010.

Break the Glass Ceiling. 2008. Break the Glass Ceiling Foundation. 30 Jan 2010