Our society today is characterized by a lot of division and stratification. There is the division between the rich and the poor, the whites and the blacks and the man and the woman. These divisions make individuals face a wide range of glass ceiling as they move upward in their chosen paths. The concept of the glass ceiling for women indicates an invisible obstacle or barrier that restricts upward movement for women within a particular organization. Statistics show that very few women are involved in upper level management. For example, as at 2016, women only made up 14.6% of executive officers at Fortune 500 companies and only 4.6% of Fortune 500 CEOsThis issue of the glass ceiling for women is not an emerging issue. In fact, the term has been used as far back as 1987. We have decided to consider the reasons why this has been the case, share a few stories to show that this concept is not a myth but indeed very real. Lastly, we’ll share a few solutions to help the situation. We’ll do all these from the male point of view; we want you to see why men think there is a glass ceiling and how we think it can come to an end.
Reasons for the glass ceiling
1. Stereotypes on gender roles
The long-held stereotypes that kept women from places of work might have diminished by allowing women into the workplaces, but it is a fundamental cause of the glass ceiling. It is the reason many organizations still find it difficult to place women at the seat of decision making. This age long stereotype hasn’t totally left the society, it manifests even in things as little as college writing. Several ladies do not use writing services, since college men usually look strangely at a girl who can write her term paper without help from best essay writing service, and these ladies feel the need to challenge that stereotype.
2. Alienation of women
The Federal Glass Ceiling Commission, stated in a report that one of the reasons for the glass ceiling is that there are corporate climates and cultures that do not like the idea of a woman at all in business or corporations. Of course, if any woman were to even break the cultural limitation and get into the workplace, her entire upward mobility will be full of difficulties.
3. Women take up more household responsibilities
Women spend a lot of time on household chores and childcare, far more than men. Pew Research Center states in its data that women spend 32 hours a week on household duty compared to 18 hours for men. The effect of this is that women are more inflexible and have less hours to put in. This consequently affects their chances and shots at executive positions.
Some examples of the glass ceiling (statistics and experiences)
Before we take a look at the big manifestations and examples of the glass ceiling, it is important to state that the glass ceiling can be seen in even issues as small as not believing that a girl can write best essays in a group or be the best student in a class. All these are placing invisible limitations on the female gender.An example of the glass ceiling is an experience written by Olga Mack, a general counsel at a marketing platform. She stated her experience at a program for leaders in the business industry where she discovered that she was the only woman in the room. She stated that this has become a norm for her and that she has had to deal with the assumption by many people that she was accompanying a man or was the guest of a particular person.Another intriguing story was told by Elizabeth Knight on Quora where she narrated how she worked at a restaurant, taking on several roles and responsibilities including the training of new employees. She was even awarded employee of the month five times in a row. However, when the slot for a manager opened up and she asked to be made one, she was told that “women make terrible managers” and was not given the position. This is a prime example of a glass ceiling even in small scale enterprises and organizations.We have heard of other accounts of the glass ceiling. Here is a man addressing the issue. Robert Popeo, the chairman of a law firm stated in an interview that women needed to step up and fight this, admitting that they have been marginalized in this area. He further appealed to corporations to pick executives based on excellence, stating that the best departments in his firm are run by women.
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We might not be able to get all the stories of women who faced the glass ceiling at one point or the other, but statistics help us to shed more light. As at 2018, Statistics show that even though women make up more than half of the professional level jobs, they make up only 25% of senior and executive level positions. They also still make up less than 10% of the CEOs in America. To put the last fact in proper context, it means that we still have less than 1 woman in every 10 CEOs. Solutions to the glass ceiling phenomenonSeveral individuals across all industries have put forward ways to eliminate the glass ceiling for women. Assignment Holic UK research together stated recently that; the conversations around the world, show a bright future for women in executive positions. Some of the solutions include:
1. Men should support gender equality
Several men and women all over the world are calling on the male gender in general to support and promote gender equality. So far, it would seem that women are the only one combating these ceilings by themselves, but if the men who are at the other side of the ceiling help in breaking it down, then we would overcome this ceiling in shorter time. Rush My Essay service research of the issue shows that in companies where the upper management team are open to allowing women rise, more women are involved in executive roles. If both genders combat the ceiling together it will go down in no time.
2. More female mentoring programs
Another way to help women break the glass ceiling is to focus on the women themselves. The truth is many women have become beaten or unambitious because they know there is a ceiling, mentors can help fix this. According to one of the articles of australianwritings, mentorship is a proven powerful way to help people develop and to set very high goals and achieve them. Organizations should pair women with mentors of any gender who are interested in seeing them break through this ceiling. A research of EssayOnTime proves that any individual with a mentor is more likely to do well in the professional field.
Conclusion
The glass ceiling is very real and it limits several women today. This is indeed a very sad development that needs to be checked and stopped. After all, our democracy provides for equal rights for all and sundry. It is therefore a relief to see the conversation out in the open and to see that men and women are fighting this. We call for more actions and conversations.
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