`Women of Color` and `Glass Ceiling`

Name

Professor

Subject

14 December 2008

Women of Color and Glass Ceiling

The term glass ceiling actually pertains to the situations in which the advancement of an individual within the hierarchy of the organization is constrained . The constraint is usually based on some form of discrimination such as prejudice or racial discrimination . It is referred to as a ceiling because the constraint blocks one 's rise in the ranks . The word glass has been appended to illustrate transparency which means that the constraint is not immediately noticeable and is

likewise not written or stipulated in the policies of the organization . The glass ceiling is set apart from the other barriers to advancements such as requirements concerning education or experience . The analogy of the glass ceiling was employed to demonstrate the alleged condition that enables women and minorities to achieve only minor positions and keeps them from advancing to the top positions in the highest levels of the corporate world . For most people , the issue of the glass ceiling is an extension and an evidence of gender and racial discrimination and as such , should be counteracted by the implementation of affirmative action laws . Indeed , the phrase glass ceiling is frequently used in reference to the access of women to upper management this is likewise extended to other groups such as racial or ethnic minorities or based on the age of the individual

At present , statistics show that about seventy-one companies or 14 of the Fortune 500 companies still do not have...