The Glass Ceiling: Fact or Illusion

The Glass Ceiling: Fact or Illusion

The glass ceiling is it a fact or an illusion? The two words "Glass Ceiling" are used to describe the barrier that exists for women and minorities-when it comes to getting promoted into the upper echelons of a company. Does the ceiling exist or is it a figment of the imagination? The writer intentions are to present a picture of that ceiling, and show how it plays a part in corporate America. That in fact the ceiling is an injustice being done to women and minorities, and it does exist.

Glass is clear, something that can be seen through. A ceiling is the overhead surface of a room, the end point of how high the room is. "If glass ceilings existed, they would allow people to see through to the world above them. Because glass is clear, those existing under such a ceiling might not, at first, even notice that a barrier was in place, which separated them from higher levels. Yet if they tried to pass through, they would quickly learn that the ceiling prevented any such rise" (Russell Madison). The glass ceiling represents modern day racism, not only against minorities, but women as well.

Therefore, history has contributed much to the situation. You see, men (white males) have always thought of themselves as the superior being of all races, and gender. A woman's place was always in the home, cooking, cleaning, and raising the children. Minorities (blacks) roles were as slaves, never meant to own anything for themselves, but only to serve. Discrimination is a more polite way to look at it. "Discrimination occurs when the civil rights of an individual are denied or interfered with because of their membership in a particular group or class. Statutes have been enacted to prevent discrimination based on a person's race, sex, religion, age, previous condition of servitude, physical limitation, national origin and in some instances sexual preference". (http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/civil_rights.html).

Studies and statistics show that in fact, there exists such a discrimination barrier in corporate America. Being a member of management and a minority the writer has witnessed promotions, and pay raises given on the bases of who hunts, fishes, or plays golf with the boss, and not on job performances and merits. Today, the writer attends school, to get a degree, for the purpose of advancing his career. He has been told that competing without one, even with the experience that he has, would not be sufficient. So there is in fact a barrier of discrimination, a glass ceiling.

It seems to be that the biggest barrier to women and minorities at top management levels is the bunch of boys sitting around a table making all the decisions. In other words when a decision has to be made concerning who should be promoted to senior management, male corporate leaders are inclined to select people as much like themselves as possible - so there is no astonishment that women and minorities are often not even considered at promotion time. The guys at the top look at their former colleagues and old school ties as resource pools.

The first light was shed by the bipartisan Glass Ceiling Commission report on corporate America's dismal record of advancing women and minorities to upper-level management and decision-making positions. "U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich headed the commission. The results are stark. In 1992, white males, while making up only 43% of the total labor force at Fortune 1,000 Industrial and Fortune 500 Service companies, were 97% of the senior level decision making positions. The paper includes multiple examples of the biased policies many-but not all-white corporate officers' employ to support their exclusionary decisions". (Black Enterprise, Sept 1995 v26 n2 p22).

Minority men and women still lag behind in holding high management positions. It tends to be that those who are fortunate enough to get promoted into those positions serve only as tokens, or as company quotas that have to be met. They're only able to exert a limited amount of authority-of which if used the wrong way would instantly mean career suicide. A glass ceiling inequality represents a gender or racial difference that is greater at higher levels of an organization than at lower levels. "Over the last ten years, the proportion of African-American men and women holding management positions has only ranged between 5 and 7 percent". "Despite legislative mandates to eradicate racial discrimination in the workplace, African-American managers still encounter a number of highly interrelated barriers that operate at the individual, group, and organizational level to restrict their advancement. At the individual level, the foremost barrier to their advancement is subtle racism and prejudice. They still work in an environment where Whites hold negative stereotypes and attitudes about their suitability and competence for management responsibility. They also experience more overt racial harassment in the work place in the form of racial slurs, racial jokes, and abusive language.