The Impending Glass Ceilings Within the Workplace
Women in the world are constantly faced with being judged and criticized by societal bias and inequality, which is seen heavily in industry/work environments. Women originally did not go out for work as their lives were very family-centered, but this changed when WWII came about as there was a need for women to enter the workforce. This allowed women to leave their homes and advance in careers outside of family matters expanding their opportunities and individual success in life. The articles chosen will examine the vertical as well as the horizontal restraints that hinder women's’ attempts to progress and advance in society. In order to push past these glass ceilings, we need to be able to identify the restraints and stereotypes in order to overcome them. This subsection will answer the question, how has the glass ceiling affected the work environments? While there are many glass ceilings for women in the workplace only a few will be discussed. Some of these constraints include the double barrier of being a minority and a woman, issues with women trying to advance in male-dominated fields of work, and looking at how women in management positions are treated differently and how that can inhibit the creative process. I have found that due to these barriers placed upon women and especially woman who are minorities, it makes entering and excelling in the work field or a certain industry difficult. While there has been some progress in dealing with inequality of gender and race in the workplace like installing family plans or protection in the workplace, there are still ceilings that need to be acknowledged in order for attainable solutions can be created.
The social bias and implications assumed and created by society have now trickled over into the work force. Specifically, in the United States women are faced with barriers that hinder their attempts to expand and advance in the work environment. It is especially difficult to work up in a field that is not equally diverse. Women who are minorities often are faced with two barriers, which can be looked at as vertical and horizontal glass ceilings compared to their Caucasian coworkers. This double barrier that some women face makes the work environment uncomfortable and unequal as there is a heavy bias towards males and then white females workers compared to female workers of color. From the article "Breaking the Glass Ceiling: African-American Women in Management Positions” it discusses how African American women are often given a fake managing position which on paper looks authentic, but the duties required are less in amount of work and often seen as less professional. As these women try to climb the ladder in attempts to excel in their careers they are shot down or inhibited by being in an unequally diverse environment and by being a woman. The issue today is still prevalent even though, “The proportion of minority females, especially African-Americans and Latinos, in the workforce has increased significantly and employers are now faced with the difficult task of learning how to integrate minorities into the workplace” [1] While yes technically the shift to becoming more inclusive and diverse within work environments is increasing, the idea of how and what protections plans should be put in place to make the environment more maneuverable and comfortable is still being hammered out. Even though work environments might say they are working on becoming more inclusive and equal without any bias to the workers what is said on paper or at a conference is very different from what is actually being done in each work place. An example of this would be management positions that are given to women who are minorities. This is actually more common than one would think, “The unequal access to meaningful management jobs as well as the lower wage returns for black female supervisors raise concern since the recent Workforce 2000 report shows that minority women will represent the largest proportion of the increase in the non-white labor force during the next several years. African American women face getting lower management positions that include less responsibilities and less wage premiums.” [1] The article "The Status of Asian American Women Scientists and Engineers in the Labor Force,” by Shang-Luan is a little older but important because it looks at scientists and engineers with a specific focus on Asian and Caucasian women in the work field. This article is important for discussing implications of gender and race in the work force, creating this double barrier. It discusses how at the higher level of work Asian women scientists will earn less compared to their Caucasian women coworkers. Looking at the 1982 SSE data it shows that Asian women have two disadvantages due to bias in both gender and race. [2] This comparison is made about the level of prestige one gives off, which would be the white male who is seen more as a “real” scientist. When comparing Caucasian and Asian women in the science and engineering work force white women are seen as more prestigious, but when you look at African American women scientist, they have three disadvantages hindering their success. This proves there is a hierarchy when it comes to gender and race bias especially in male dominated fields but in the work environment in general.
Women who choose to enter the work force are constantly being treated differently or are being compared to their male coworkers due to gender bias within most work environments especially heavily male dominated works fields. These fields that are often assumed to be more for men would include IT field jobs, any science/engineering jobs, and manufacturing jobs. Science and engineering jobs used to be very male dominated making it hard for women to advance and be taken seriously. Some assumptions/stereotypes that women are blasted with every day are that they are “too emotional” which is “unprofessional” or they cannot handle the amount of vigorous work and are assumed their knowledge and skills to be less compared to the males with the same position. Another category of jobs that predominantly males are assumed to fill would be manufacturing and or construction. These jobs are more male dominated due to the physical toll that these jobs require, a women can however also succeed in these fields of work. One article focuses specifically on women in the manufacturing industry. It looks at the conditions effecting women in this sector using historical references as evidence, like the effects of World War II. World War II allowed women to start being able to hold jobs and go out into the workforce to make up for the lack of males in the work force due to the war. The article suggests that women are even stereotyped into certain careers manufacturing being male dominated while being a teacher is seen as a female career. [3] The reason that people commonly associate or assume that a man would be better suited in a manufacturing or mechanical environment goes back to that “ideal worker,” being a strong competent male who looks professional. The main thought when it comes to manufacturing is the physical inducing labor and the toll that can take, when being interviewed for a job in this field a male might be hired over a female due to the fact that a women might want to have kids and has kids, which is never considered when interviewing a male but always considered when interviewing a women for the same position. This however does not excuse the unequal gender ratio in these work environments and we should continue to put or add family protection plans for working women in order to help them succeed in work. The two main fields that are male dominated one being manufacturing the other IT which is discussed well in the article "Sustaining Gains: Reflections on Women in Science and Technology in 20th-Century United States" by Sally Gregory. The article looks at group and individual participation and mentions that there needs to be more safe spaces created so that everyone has an equal opportunity to express their ideas. The need to install these supports and plans for women in these fields is pertinent for a comfortable work environment. Not only is it hard for these women to enter and grow in these jobs, but to be in the environment every day one should feel comfortable enough to share the creative ideas they have instead of feeling shut out of discussions. Now lets further dive into IT culture and what it really is like working there which is discussed at an in depth level by Rose Mary and Steven Thomas in the article "Workplace Culture that Hinders and Assists the Career Development of Women in Information Technology.” Women in computer and technology fields often see a decrease the farther along in their schooling or careers continue making IT a male dominated environment. IT careers are not only competitvie but also pretty isolating, which deters women away from trying to move up or evene feel comfortable. The main things found that hinder women’s advancement include the state of competition in the work environment, male dominated, not diverse and often feeling like a hostile environment. Overall in order to fix the gender gap within the IT field education on workplace etiquette and how women and men experience different work environments this will allow women to grow and become leaders in the IT work field. [4]
This last section will discuss more in depth how women cope in managing positions, exploring what a managing position for women really means compared to a male in a manager position, and exploring the invisible barrier that inhibits women’s ability to think creatively and feel comfortable. Women who want a managing position in their particular field of work find it challenging to climb up and even when they are given a management position it is often not what it really is. A common and disappointing action that is done in many places of work is to give a women a managing position but different from a managing position they would give a male worker. Typically, a women in a “fake managing” position will either have to run everything they have done by someone higher up just to “check” or they will be given easier tasks or even less work in general then an actual manager would have. For these bigger corporations on paper or at conferences it looks as if that field is becoming more inclusive and gender equal which is quickly glanced over and accepted, but if we break down the tasks of a person in that management position one would be able to see the difference in level of treatment to the worker in that position or the work itself. This discussed in detail in the article "Breaking the Glass Ceiling: African-American Women in Management Positions," by Aparna Mitra, which also breaks down the work hierarchy or so it goes. It was found that African-American women in managment positions who have the same level of education (highschool and college) earn lower wages than their black male coworrkers. This proves that females especially black female supervisors are segregated into femeale jobs or "alteernative" managing jobs. Another thing to notee is that black females do not earn wage premiums but their black malee and white female coworkers do geet wage premiums with their given suervisor jobs. [1] Three things are found that make it difficult for women to hold managing positions which include job segregation, discrrimination, and gender divide in capital attainment. These token or fake positions women are often given deepen the divide between gender and are oftene times seen as less critial and reequire less thought. Things to also consider and that are discussed would be firm size, whether the field is heavily male dominated or if thee supervisor is a male, also we have to look at who is determining the wages whether it is the goverrnment or the advisors of the company. [1]
[1] Aparna Mitra, "Breaking the Glass Ceiling: African-American Women in Management Positions," (Equal Opportunities International 22, no. 2 (2003), 67-79.
[1] Mitra, "Breaking the Glass Ceiling: African-American Women in Management Positions," 69.
[2] Shang-Luan Yan, "The Status of Asian American Women Scientists and Engineers in the Labor Force," (Race, Gender & Class 6, no. 3 (Jul 31, 1999), 109.
[3] Lori Hale, "A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF WOMEN IN MANUFACTURING." Race, Gender & Class 20, no. 1 (2013): 281-293.
[4] Wentling, Rose Mary and Steven Thomas. "Workplace Culture That Hinders and Assists the Career Development of Women in Information Technology." Information Technology, Learning, and Performance Journal 25, no. 1 (Spring, 2009): 25-42. https://search-proquest-com.mutex.gmu.edu/docview/219817356?accountid=14541.