Breaking the Glass Ceiling

Breaking the Glass Ceiling Introduction

Politics and human rights policy have changed significantly throughout the second half of the twentieth century , notably in relation to attitudes about race , gender , and sexuality , and although they have nurtured a particular vision of social justice . Unfortunately , not all the problems of equal opportunities at the workplace have been solved For female employees , glass ceiling proposes great opportunities to be equally treated and protected (to some extent . During half a century breaking glass ceiling ' policies have proved their effectiveness , but cannot abolish ' gender and

racial inequalities . For this reason training and promotion activities as a part of breaking glass ceiling ' policies are vital for successful organizational performance

The significance of breaking glass ceiling ' policies is that it gives women opportunities to be promoted and highly paid , occupy high administrative posts according to their skills and professionalism Findings were provided by Federal Glass Ceiling Commission and revealed that 95 percent of senior level managers are men and of that 95 percent , 97 percent are white . And of the five percent of these managers who are women , only 5 percent are minority women (Redwood , 1996 . In spite of the fact that equal opportunities policies have implemented for decades and women occupy 44 percent of the executive . this category is extremely broad , and women are grossly underrepresented at the top executive positions of Fortune 500 corporations (Jackson , 2001 ,

. 30 . To over come these possible threats organizations should conduct programming of specific human resources activities , based on personal development and human capital policies

The problem is that many women are deprived their right to occupy high administrative position . The necessity of breaking glass ceiling is caused by dominance by white males in American workforce . At the beginning of the XXI century they occupy the majority of managerial positions and many of the more important blue-collar jobs . The role of women is to occupy lower-paying positions . On the other hand , women racial minorities found considerable barriers to entering the labor market at the higher paying levels

Following Chaffins et al (1995 ) glass ceiling is "the form of discrimination has been depicted as a "barrier so subtle that it is transparent , yet so strong that it prevents women and minorities from moving up in the management hierarchy (Morrison Glinow , 1990 cited Chaffins et al 1995 ,

. 380 . The glass ceiling has been evident in both position and pay within organizations (Frieze et al , 1990 cited Chaffins et al 1995 ,

. 380 . In general , glass ceiling means the invisible barrier for women and minority groups that prevent them to be appointed to high administrative and managerial positions

Glass ceiling is a symptom of a big problem of equal opportunities and discrimination at work , and a part of diversity management . Equal opportunities policies play a major and continuing role in the lives of people , especially with the growth of large-scale business organisations and the divorce of ownership from management . Organisations of one form or another are a necessary part of a...