glass ceiling (andreas athanasiou 2008)

8/3/2019 GLASS CEILING (Andreas Athanasiou 2008)

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/glass-ceiling-andreas-athanasiou-2008 1/14

Managing Workplace Relations – Individual Assignment – AndreasAthanasiou 5697018

Women and the glass ceiling in Australia: Myth orReality? Discuss.

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on whether the glass ceiling exists in Australiatoday. It uses extracts from books, newspaper articles, magazinearticles & online journals to explain all the main arguments fromboth sides of the debate. Comparison between Australia and therest of the world using recent & old statistics from multiple sourcesgive a conclusion that the glass ceiling in Australia doesn’t existanymore. This paper will give the reader a clear look at how theglass ceiling was shattered and why it appears that the majority of the rest of the world’s women still face discrimination in the

workplace.

Swinburne University of Technology – Semester 1 - 2008 of 14




Women and the glass ceiling in Australia: myth orreality? Discuss

INTRODUCTION

The term “glass ceiling” refers to circumstances where theadvancement of a person in an organisation is blocked at a lowerlever because of some form of discrimination, and not because of lack of qualifications (BtGC.com, 2008). This term is most commonlyused in sexism situations (which this report is focused on), but it canalso refer to the restricted progression of the handicapped, aged &minorities. “Glass ceiling” is defined as an invisible (unwritten &unofficial) barrier that determines the level to which a person (in our

case, a female) can rise in an organisation (McKay, 2008). It usesextracts from books, newspaper articles, magazine articles & online journals to explain all the main arguments from both sides of thedebate. However, most journals & articles were very one-sided anddelivered different statistics. This paper will show us how womenfare in politics, in the police force, in major ASX 200 companies etc& the law behind it all. We also see the way managers, companies,employers and women and men themselves see the glass ceiling.Radical feminism is also discussed and how it views discriminationagainst women. It is a philosophy that highlights the patriarchal

roots of unfairness between men and women. Radical feminismviews patriarchy as separating rights, privileges and authorityprimarily by the gender of the individual and as a result oppressingwomen and privileging men (Lewis, 2008).

GENDER POLITICS

A 2008 study conducted by TIME Magazine reported that theaverage of all the world’s government cabinets showed that only14.5% of them are occupied by women (Time Magazine, 2008) &

only 3 countries had a majority of female ministers (Finland, Norway& Spain). When comparing all the different regions, North & SouthAmerica had an average of 22.9% combined, followed by Europe(22.4%), Africa (18.3%), Asia/Pacific (9.1%) & the Middle East (with just 7.1%). It should be noted that the western region of Europe hadthe highest average in the world & 13 countries had not even onefemale cabinet minister.





Figure 1.1 – Gender Politics Chart (Time Magazine, 2008)

In contrast to the rest of the world, Australia’s average of femalecabinet ministers is around 29.7%, a percentage significantly higherthan the 14.5% world average (Time Magazine, 2008). If we were toonly use these statistics as an argument for this topic, theconclusion would be that since Australia has one of the highestpercentages of women in politics (and possibly double the amountof the U.S. – 23.8%), 2 times the world-wide average & 3 times it’sregion average, there is no such thing as a glass ceiling in Australia.

WOMEN IN THE POLICE FORCE

The Victorian Police was a 100% male dominated organisation upuntil 1917, when it took small steps toward including women inpolicing. It followed the example of the New South Wales & Adelaidepolice forces which had employed policewomen just 2 years earlier(Policelife Magazine, 2007). 26 years later, the first female seniorconstable was introduced and in 2001, the first female chief commissioner in Australia, Christine Nixon (AAP, 2001). This was ahuge step towards completely breaking the glass ceiling inAustralia, at least when it came to the police force, and today

almost a quarter of police in Victoria are female (Szoke, 2008).





However, in 2007, the glass ceiling debate again became a hugestory in the media when Christine Nixon was knocked back from joining the all-male Athenaeum Club (Royall, 2008). The Chief Commissioner would have been the first female to break 140 yearsof tradition for the all-male club. The prestige club fell under

criticism because “it excluded 51% of the population from theireligibility criteria” and “they were crusty and outdated for thismodern era” (Royall, 2008). The establishment of a female Chief Commissioner was a victory for women, considering not that longago there wasn’t even a sergeant in the Police force. However, thefailed application by Christine Nixon gained more press and possiblyundid everything that was gained in 2001 by introducing her as aChief Commissioner.

WOMEN ARE MORE PRODUCTIVE – TRUE OR FALSE?

Economists have long believed that the least productive societiesare those in which women are denied opportunities to join theworkforce (Walt, 2008). In underdeveloped countries, womennormally go without the most basic tools needed to earn a living(such as education, training & access to capital), yet there isabundant evidence linking economic progress with empoweredwomen. Figure 1.1 shows that some of the most underdevelopedcountries in the world are also the ones with the lowest percentageof women in politics (North Africa, Southeast America, Asia &

Eastern Europe). A recent study by the London School of Economicsshowed that states in India where women are better educated werealso those with higher economic growth rates (Walt, 2008).

A study by MassMutual Financial Group in 2002 revealed thatexclusively women-owned businesses do more with less. Althoughwomen-owned businesses were smaller in size, they generated thesame amount of sales with fewer employees compared to male-owned firms (26 employees compared to 50) and therefore were 1.7times more productive (Houston Business Journal, 2003). InAustralia, women perform an average of 20% more work than men,or an additional 98 minutes per day (Glass Ceiling Stats, 2008).

So why were women-owned businesses more productive? Whenmen are in charge of managing others, they typically view their jobsas needing to focus primarily on the business side of things; andrelationships are secondary to the business task at hand. Men seemto say “Do a good job, be competent, and I’ll like you (Nelson,2007). On the other hand, for women it’s often the reverse; theyneed to first feel good about those they are working with and thebusiness part is secondary (Nelson, 2007). Women understand that

employees get more motivated if they work with their managers ona more personal level.





DO THE TOP JOBS ELUDE WOMEN?

We saw that when it comes to politics, there is no glass ceiling in

Australia when comparing the statistics with the rest of the world.However, in the everyday corporate jobs, there are very few womenat senior levels in Australia. Women who are equally as welleducated as men represent only 12% of ASX 200 executivemanagers & only 5 ASX 200 companies have had female CEOs since2004 (Hewett, 2008). But it doesn’t end with corporate jobs.

Even though Victoria Police has made significant gains and hasdemonstrated commitment to offering equal opportunity to women,they have a very long way to go. While females represent 22.2% of

the force today & 42% of those are constables, by the time theyreach sergeant level and above, only 8% are women (Szoke, 2008).

The same goes with the labor force; In Australia, females represent45% of the labor force, which is on par with the average of 43%across rest of the world. However, for the same companies, just10% are executive managers in Australia which is significantly lowerthan expected, yet higher than the average of 7% across the world(Accenture, 2006). But what do women (and men alike) from thesecompanies think about the glass ceiling debate? We will have afurther look in the next section.

VIEWS FROM WOMEN & MEN EXECUTIVES

A 2006 study by Accenture/Forbes magazine, 1,200 executives(including many from Australia) added fuel to the glass ceilingdebate. Predictably, 70% of women and 57% of men believe thatthere is an invisible barrier that prevents women from getting aheadin business (Clark, 2006). Many claims in that survey weresurprising. Were women unhappy that, on average, they weremaking 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man (Sachs, 2008)?No. Globally, the same percentage of men and women (58%) feltthat they were compensated fairly. On top of that, women were assatisfied as men with the professional levels they had achieved(Clark, 2006). Additional figures showed how females in the sales,medical, technology & construction professions earned 64 cents, 72cents, 85 cents & 86 cents per dollar males made, respectively(Cullen, 2008). But were women complaining? Surprisingly, themajority weren’t, as we will see now why.

Another study by Catalyst found that men were much more

ambitious than women, and desired the top jobs more often thanwomen. Women were happy once they reached their initial goal





when it came to business; men however, are never satisfied. Theglass ceiling doesn’t affect job satisfaction, because women makesacrifices at work in exchange for greater happiness in their lives asa whole (Clark, 2006). Do women choose less stressful jobs so theycan enjoy life more? That’s probably correct with the above study

findings, according to the author, Hannah Clark.

Her claim is backed in a study by CNN which found that female warveterans from Iraq & Afghanistan reported more mental traumathan males (CNN.com, 2008). Women that have been back homefrom the war for over 2 years are still dealing with depression,nightmares, sleeplessness and anger from serving. For the first timeever, women are assigned to combat support roles and are seeingviolence firsthand in an unconventional war. The study also foundthat 22% of women that served suffered from “military sexual

trauma” compared to just 1% of men (CNN.com, 2008). Maybefemales cannot handle the pressure the way males can? If yes, itshows a sign of weakness from women. Or maybe males don’t wantto report any mental trauma they may have experienced becausethe army has always been viewed as a man’s job.

VIEWS FROM EMPLOYERS & MANAGEMENT

From the perspective of employers, there are mixed opinions. Whilemost agree that women are more productive, they still prefer to hire

men. The employers’ refusal to hire women has to do with the long-term costs involved (HWR, 2008). Although they agree women arewell-qualified, they accept that their unemployment is not due tothem being uneducated or unqualified, but to discrimination (HWR,2008). Especially women with children, they receive maternityleave, special benefits for children, child care leave etc, making itmore efficient to hire men. Without a doubt, we are facing asituation where women’s privileges are working against them.Employers (not just in Australia, but around the world) explicitlyrefuse to hire or retain women employees when men are notentitled to parental benefits, since they view all women as potentialmothers they will not be able to afford in an increasinglycompetitive economy (HWR, 2008).

LAW – EQUAL OPPORTUNITY FOR WOMEN

EOWW (Affirmative Action - Equal Opportunity for Women - Act 1986Cth) was introduced in 1986 in Australia aimed at gaining equalityfor women (LaTrobe, 2007). EOWW exists to ensure that all staff hasequal access, on the bases of their merit, to employment,

promotion, training etc. In 1999 the Opportunity for Women in theWorkplace Act was introduced, an amended version of the 1986 act





(Eowa, 2008). The updated version aimed to promote merit inemployment, promote equal employment opportunity and furthereliminate discrimination & encourage consultation betweenemployers and employees on these issues. It also required that allprivate sector companies, community organisations, non-

government schools, unions etc to establish a workplace program toremove the barriers to women entering and advancing in theirorganisation (Eowa, 2008). The re-introduction of this Act was avictory for women Australia-wide, since the government hadaccepted that there was still discrimination in the workplace, or elseit wouldn’t have brought this Act forward.

RADICAL FEMINISM ANALYSIS

Radical feminism is a philosophy that highlights the patriarchal rootsof unfairness between men and women (or more specifically, thesocial dominance of women by men). Radical feminism viewspatriarchy as separating rights, privileges and authority primarily bythe gender of the individual and as a result oppressing women andprivileging men (Lewis, 2008). The following is the radical feministperspective on the glass ceiling and view of society's structures andlimitations. There were five factors that were examined (Wrigley,2002) on how radical feminism views this debate:

Factor 1: Denial

Acknowledging the glass ceiling means having to deal with it insome way. The initial denial of a glass ceiling is the result of a rathercomplicated process in our culture that works to maintain the waythings have always been, and therefore denies that discriminationagainst females is present in the workplace or anywhere else in ourculture. So, women face the glass ceiling at work, they may devisestrategies to either justify its existence or minimize its perceivedimpact on their careers, and future overall. According to the study,many successful women believed that there is no glass ceiling forthem because of their ambition, hard work & ability, even whenperhaps luck played a role, and they would rather attribute theirsuccess to merit rather than luck (Wrigley, 2002). Denial as viewedfrom a radical feminist perspective acknowledges that womenrefuse to confront & blame the structure for their inability to betreated fairly in the male-dominated workplace, and instead, blackis turned back on the woman herself, on the lack of experience shemay have, not working hard enough etc. They prefer to questionthemselves rather than "challenge the status quo" (Wrigley, 2002).

Factor 2: Gender Role Socialization &

Factor 3: Historical Precedence:





Many believe that the way females "have been built" and with theirperceived feminine traits they are better in such things ascooperation, consensus building & conflict resolution (Grunig, Toth &Hon, 1999). Women who disagree with the fact that men andwomen are perceived differently will always be up against a losing

battle. As Prof. S.L. Bem of Yale University sees it, we are allproducts of our own gendered upbringing and we enter a highlygendered world where people see things through a gender lens(Bem, 1993). Radical Feminists believe that men are responsible forwriting the rules, they feel they are in power, and will always haveself-interest of keeping everything the way it is now (Wrigley, 2002).

Factor 4: Women Turning Against Other Women

Women didn’t get the support they perceived they would get from

other women and disliked it. It gets confusing for everyone involved,since instead of challenging the structure of the larger culture, theychannel their resentment at other women, and are even led tobelieve that the glass ceiling is even partially caused by thesewomen. Some women believe the "try being one of the boys"strategy would be a smart idea, but at the end of the day thisstrategy fails because being manlike, hard, harsh & cold is notdesirable in women (Wrigley, 2002).

Factor 5: Corporate Culture

A male having a job title and a female having the same title seemslike it’s the same, yet it’s very different. It’s a different environmentwith different rules and structures in place. Women know this, yetthey will follow the career they want to according to their goals,objectives & values and take advantage of the knowledge thatcorporate cultures can be more limiting for women who want toadvance (Wrigley, 2002).

In summary, radical feminists believe that the above 5 factorscontribute to the glass ceiling, with the structure being the chief culprit behind these factors when viewed through a radical feministlens (Wrigley, 2002). Radical feminist perspectives question whetherthings will ever change and whether women will even acknowledgethat the structure must be changed. It is clear that it will beextremely hard for this to happen, because of the way some womenapproach this (denial, attempting to be "one of the boys", blamingother women, accepting "traditional gender roles" etc), and it’s aradical feminist perspective that women are fooling themselves if they believe things will get better for them in the workplace if they

don’t acknowledge that the structure needs to dismantled (Wrigley,2002).





FURTHER ANALYSIS, OPINION & RECOMMENDATIONS

Women and the glass ceiling in Australia: myth or reality? There is

no doubt that around the world there is a glass ceiling. Worldwide just 14.5% of politicians are women; 13 countries have no women inpolitics; a majority of men & women worldwide agree that there is aglass ceiling. Employers secretly admit that they prefer to hire menover women, yet overlook reports about complaints regarding theprevention of women reaching key management positions(Robertson, 2008). However, when contrasting the statistics with therest of the world, there is reason to believe that Australia hascracked the glass ceiling.

By analysing women in politics and the police force, where the focuswas on the most in this paper, it’s hard to argue otherwise. Femalesrepresent double the world average when it comes to politicians andalso represent almost a quarter of police officers; both figuressubstantially higher than the average of rest of the world. Even inthe study by Accenture/Forbes, women were happy with theirsituation in pay & personal achievements. But one could argue thatthey are simply in denial, which is a core factor when exploringradical feminism. Maybe women continue in their current jobs andaccept the “discrimination” enough to at least fit in and carry onwith their duties. One clear finding in this research is that,

worldwide, hard work & competence are not enough to guaranteepromotion in the male-dominated structure which is present in amajority of corporations. As long as the media allocates stories onwomen that have made it, the public will ignore the fact that mostwomen have not.

The researcher of this paper agrees that to become a CEO,president, or even a member of the board of directors of a company,you must look at all aspects of that person’s career. Such a big levelof responsibility requires enormous dedication to supervising boththe short-term & long-term needs of the business, which willcertainly result in loss of time on hand to spend with family. Moremen than women are willing to commit themselves to the course of action demanded by such a rigorous goal (Madden, 2000). Do thesefacts get weighed in on the glass ceiling debate? Just because 51%of the Australian population are women, does it mean that womenshould hold 51% of top jobs? There is no doubt that there still isminor discrimination across all sectors, but in Australia, the glassceiling was shattered years ago. Earlier we analysed how inAustralia, females represent 45% of the labor force yet only 10% areexecutives in the same companies. The researcher believes that the

reason is because women aren’t willing to commit themselves to theenormous responsibility that comes along with the top end of





business. Men need to be in charge and be the boss, and they arewilling to work the ridiculous hours in order to get what they want,whereas women want something different (Souder, 2007).

Is there a solution to this so-called “glass ceiling” problem? Are

there any recommendations on how to break the so-called “glassceiling”? We have seen how much women in the workplace rightshave evolved over the past few decades, so who knows if this willstop. The market changes & times change rapidly (along with thelaw) and everyone needs to be able to move along with it; you havegot to constantly keep updating, because people get bored(Hoffman, 2006). There are few recommendations & solutions thatwomen have used that may or may not have helped them “lead apath beyond the glass ceiling and into a successful career”(BtGC.com, 2008). They include:

- Building a track record in given functional areas to establishcredibility: It could be harder for women than men, but both sexesstart from zero in a new company.- Developing leadership skills: Show how they can step up and takeover during difficult times, and not break down under pressure like itis assumed females would do.- Taking risks: Be different and don’t go by the book. Try and find adifferent angle to complete a task that proves to be more effectiveand more efficient.- Delivering performances with exceptional results: Try to go betterthan everyone else, however, without alienating yourself.

- Trying to consistently exceed performance expectations: Don’t justbe “another worker” who just does their job. Try to always leave agood impression not just to the employer(s), but to the workmatesas well.- Seeking out difficult or highly visible job assignments: Instead of going for the easiest assignments that just about anyone can do, gofor the ones that will earn you respect from others.

CONCLUSION

The glass ceiling debate will always be going on until there is aneven number of females and males in top job positions across allareas. The writer of this paper however, analysed the statistics thatwere presented to show why, in his opinion, there is no such thingas a glass ceiling anymore in Australia. There is no doubt that inmany countries around the world there is discrimination againstwomen working in top jobs and getting paid fairly for their work.However, Australia has shattered the glass ceiling because eventhough women agree that it may exist, they don’t believe it hasslowed them down because they are as satisfied as men with the

professional levels they have achieved (Clark, 2006). The belief alone is what creates the glass ceiling. Those who complain about





glass ceilings must keep in mind that glass can be shattered if onestrikes it hard enough and long enough (Madden, 2000).

REFERENCES

AAP General News, (2001), Christine Nixon is Vic’s new Chief Commissioner , Highbeam Research,http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-42749946.html, (viewed01/05/08)





Accenture, (2006), The Anatomy of the Glass Ceiling, Accenture,http://www.accenture.com/NR/rdonlyres/9A504280-5296-43E5-B197-AE1FC48866F3/0/glass_ceiling.pdf, (viewed 07/05/08)

Bem, S. L., (1993), The Lenses of Gender: Transforming the debate

on sexual inequality , New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

BtGC.com, (2008), History: Break the Glass Ceiling, Break the GlassCeiling Foundation,http://www.breaktheglassceiling.com/history.htm, (viewed 10/05/08)

Clark, H., (2006), Are Women Happy Under the Glass Ceiling? ,Forbes Online, http://www.forbes.com/2006/03/07/glass-ceiling-opportunities--cx_hc_0308glass.html, (viewed 13/05/08)

CNN.com, (2008), Female veterans report more sexual & mentaltrauma, CNN.com Mobile,http://m.cnn.com/cnn/lt_ne/lt_ne/detail/88038;jsessionid=481B2850EF9854F859ED647930F54444, viewed (13/05/08)

Cullen, L. T., (2008), Show Us Our Money, Work In Progress, Timemagazine, page 101, May 12th Asia/Pacific Edition

Eowa, (2008), Overview of the act, Australian Government Website,http://www.eowa.gov.au/About_EOWA/Overview_of_the_Act.asp,(viewed 10/05/08)

Glass Ceiling Stats, (2008), What is the Glass Ceiling,http://www.glassceiling.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=23&Itemid=2, (viewed07/05/08)

Grunig, L. A., Toth, E. L., & Hon, L. C., (1999), Feminist values in public relations, International Communication Association, PublicRelations Division, San Francisco

Hewett, J., (2008), Why top jobs elude women, Business Sense,News.com.au,http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,23636,23393070-5012426,00.html, (viewed 06/05/08)

Hoffman, L., (2006), Smash the glass ceiling, The WeekendAustralian, Careerone, http://www.careerone.com.au/jobs/job-search/job-market-insider/smash-the-glass-ceiling, (viewed12/05/08)

Houston Business Journal, (2003), Study: Women’s businesses more

productive,





http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2003/08/25/daily38.html, (viewed 11/05/08)

HWR, (2008), Legislative Restrictions on Women’s Employment ,Human Rights Watch,

http://www.hrw.org/about/projects/womrep/General-173.htm,(viewed 02/05/08)

LaTrobe, (2007), Equal Opportunity for Women at Work, Equity & Access Unit , LaTrobe University,http://www.latrobe.edu.au/equity/eoww.html, (viewed 15/05/08)

Lewis, J. J., (2008), Radical Feminism, About.com: Women’s History,About.com,http://womenshistory.about.com/od/feminism/g/radicalfeminism.htm

, (viewed 11/05/08)

Madden, R., (2000), Shattering the glass ceiling, SpinTech,http://home.earthlink.net/~rdmadden/webdocs/Shattering_the_Glass _Ceili.html, (viewed 12/05/08)

McKay, D. R., (2008), Glass Ceiling, About.com: Career Planning,http://careerplanning.about.com/library/glossary/bldef-glassceiling.htm, (viewed 10/05/08)

Nelson, B., (2007), Are women better people managers? , The

Business Review,http://houston.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2007/12/24/smallb3.html?q=women%20are%20more%20productive, (viewed 11/05/08)

Policelife Magazine, (2007), Pioneering Policewomen, Policelife, June2007 Edition, page 22

Robertson, A. (2008), Male Bosses Snub Glass Ceiling Report:Woolworths Director , ABC News,http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/03/18/2192342.htm,(viewed 12/05/08)

Royall, I., (2008), Christine Nixon barred from blokes’ club,Heraldsun.com.au,http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23129677-2862,00.html, (viewed 01/05/08)

Sachs, A., (2008), A Review of the Latest in Glass-Ceiling Lit , TimeMagazine, May 5th Asia/Pacific Edition

Souder, D., (2007), Women to Crack the ‘Glass Ceiling’ , Statesman

Staff Reporter,





http://www.fortefoundation.org/site/DocServer/Women_to_Crack_the _glass_ceiling.pdf?docID=5023, (viewed 12/05/08)

Szoke, H., (2008), Thin Blue Ceiling, Herald Sun 17/03/08 Edition,page 28

Time Magazine, (2008), Government: Gender Politics, TimeMagazine, pages 3-4, May 5th Asia/Pacific Edition

Walt, V., (2008), Women’s Work, 10 Ideas That Are Changing TheWorld , Time Magazine, page 46, March 24th Asia/Pacific Edition

Wrigley, B. J., (2002), 'Glass Ceiling? What Glass Ceiling?, AQualitative Study of How Women View the Glass Ceiling in PublicRelations and Communications Management ', Journal of Public

Relations Research, 14:1, 27-55


glass ceiling (andreas athanasiou 2008)

Documents