Report on Contemporary issues in management

Topic-: Glass Ceiling

Submitted to-: Submitted by-:

Miss. Silky Sehdev Varun Kumar

Roll no.

S1804B47

Aknowledgement

I take this opportunity to express my deep sense of gratitude to our respected sir, Miss Silky Sehdev, who is always a source of inspiration for us. She motivated me & provided me with his able guidance.

I spent lot of time collecting & analyzing information about given topic. I had fruitful discussions with my friends that have helped me a lot in giving the final shape to this report.

I am extremely grateful to my parents who have contributed in numerous ways in development of this report.

Preface

This situation is referred to as a "ceiling" as there is a limitation blocking upward advancement, and "glass" (transparent) because the limitation is not immediately apparent and is normally an unwritten and unofficial policy. This invisible barrier continues to exist, even though there are no

explicit obstacles keeping minorities from acquiring advanced job positions – there are no advertisements that specifically say “no minorities hired at this establishment”, nor are there any formal orders that say “minorities are not qualified” (largely due to the fact that equal employment opportunity laws forbid this kind of discrimination, and open admittance of it is career suicide) – but they do lie beneath the surface.The "glass ceiling" is distinguished from formal barriers to advancement, such as education or experience requirements. Mainly this invisible barrier seems to exist in more of the developing countries, in whose businesses this effect is highly "visible".

Contents

1. Title page2. Acknowlegement3. Preface4. Need and Scope5. Objectives6. Introduction7. Review of literature8. Research and Methodology9. Recommendation10.Refrences

Need and Scope

Glass ceiling" is the term used to describe barriers that prevent women and minorities from advancing to management positions in corporations and organizations. The phrase was first used about 1985 or 1986. Statistics provided by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) indicated that only 2 percent of top level management jobs and 5 percent of corporate board positions were held by women as of 1987. The failure of more women and minorities to crack the upper levels of corporate management is due to the glass ceiling. The Civil Rights Act of 1991 created a Glass Ceiling Commission to address these inequities, just as the Glass Ceiling Initiative, created in 1989 by the DOL under the leadership of Secretary Lynn Martin, had done.

OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH

Over the past 25 years, the percentage of women and minorities participating in the work force has increased. However, this increase has been confined to entry level positions, while the middle and senior level management positions still reflect a shortfall of women.

So, the objectives in our research are:-

To identify the status of women in the society as well as in the workplace.

To find out the measures to overcome with the problem of “GLASS CEILING”

INTRODUCTION

Invisible but real barrier through which the next stage or level of advancement can be seen, but cannot be reached by a section of qualified and deserving employees. Such barriers exist due to implicit prejudice on the basis of age, ethnicity, political or religious affiliation, and/or sex.

The term Glass ceiling refers to gender discrimination that limits a woman as inferior and is harassed by the society. This has a subtle effect that blocks her peace of mind. It is the accepted domination practiced by stereotypical society that makes a woman weaker not only physically or mentally as well.

In general life if we will see then we will find countless studies and reports which have shown huge discrepancies in salary in favor of man even for similar positions in similar organizations. For e.g. in 2002 the median total compensation of male CEOs in non-profit organizations was $ 147,085 approximately 50% higher than the median total of female CEOs ($ 98,108) in similar settings.

The Glass ceiling exist when opportunities for promotions often favor men due to development prospects, such as mentoring and networks. Women may not have full access to informal networks men use to develop work relationship in the company, and the network often tend to exclude women due to the nature of there activities or the perception that these are “male activities”(e.g. golf), thus contributing to gender barriers in the work place.

REVIEW OF LITREATURE:-

Over the past 25 years, the percentage of women participating in the work force has increased. However, this increase has been confined to entry level positions, while the middle and senior level management positions still reflect a shortfall of women.

According to Linda Writh, “BREAKING Glass Ceiling through the Women in management Update 2004, INTERNATIONAL LABOUR OFFICE, GENEVA, she told that “the overall employment situation of women has not evolved significantly since 2001. The ILO’s Global Employment Trends (2003) reported that women continue to have lower labour market participation rates, higher unemployment rates and significant pay differences compared to men. Women represent over40 per cent of the global labourforce, approximately 70 per cent of women in developed countries and 60 per cent in developing countries. There has also been little change in their share of professional jobs in the last few years. Women occupy around 30 to 60 per cent of professional jobs in the sample of countries from which new data were available.

This represents an increase of0.7 per cent between 1996-99 and 2000-02. However, considerable variations remain between women’s share in different types of professional jobs. Cultural and social attitudes towards what constitutes “male” or “female” jobs result in occupational segregation1, although the extent of the problem varies from country to country, and from job to job. Women are mainly concentrated in the “feminized” professions such as nursing and teaching (horizontal occupational segregation), where at the same time they remain in lower job categories than men (vertical occupational segregation). However, women continue to make small inroads into non-traditional fields such as law, information and communication technology (ICT) and computer science, and engineering and there is evidence that employers are beginning to promote women more systematically and to introduce family-friendly policies in order to retain them. However, women who choose non-traditional jobs can face special constraints in the workplace, not least of which are isolation, limited access to mentoring and female role models, and sexual harassment.

In this publication, the ILO updates information on women in management with data available between 2001 and 2003. The overall employment situation of women has not evolved significantly since 2001. Despite small roads in non-traditional fields, women continue to be mainly concentrated in the “feminized professions”. As far as women’s share of managerial positions is concerned, the rate of progress is slow and uneven. Women are not given as many opportunities as men to do the more demanding responsible jobs, which would advance their careers.

According to Jan Tucker, in the article “The GLASS CEILING- does it still exits” The causes of the glass ceiling are varied. Some suggest that the glass ceiling is self-imposed by some women. For example, women may choose to work fewer hours than men in order to spend more time with their families. Women also measure success in the workplace differently than men. Men tend to measure success by high salaries and important job titles whereas women place a higher value on their relationships with colleagues and community service. Others suggest that ingrained stereotypes and socialization cause the glass ceiling. In some organizations, the good old boy network is still pervasive. When deciding who to promote in these organizations, women are often not even considered.

Some companies recognize that employees have a life outside of the office. These family-friendly organizations offer options such as flex-time, onsite child care, employee-assistance programs, and telecommuting options for their employees which allows their workers to have a better chance of balancing their home and work lives. The problem lies in the fact that not all employees want to work in a family-friendly organization. Some employees who do not have family obligations may resent their company offering services that do not apply to them. One of the first steps in determining what employees want in the work place is to determine how people define career success. Women and men tend to use different types of measures when determining what makes a career successful. Men tend to focus on earnings, promotional opportunities and success while women focus on positive interpersonal relationships and feelings (Powell & Graves, 2003).

Extensive travel is another issue that women must face when considering executive jobs within an organization. Women comprise almost half of the business travel to the Asia Pacific region. Women must still find a way to balance family and work life and deal with doing business in countries that might not be as receptive to women in top positions as the United States. Video and teleconferencing has given companies the ability to offer alternatives to extensive travel but they will not replace face to face meetings for relationship building and contract negotiations. Smaller companies are more likely to adapt to alternative methods as a cost saving measure.

Women have made great strides in knocking on the glass ceiling but have not quite broken through it yet. This is particularly true in high technology companies where women hold less than 10% of executive positions. This is not surprising since women represent almost half of the workforce but comprise less than a third of the technology sector workforce. It is easy to jump to the conclusion that this is due to discriminatory hiring practices when it fact it may be due to a historically low interest among girls in math and science. As women continue to push the corporate boundaries and engage in non-traditional work related activities, companies will be forced to recognize the value in securing a diverse work force. The glass ceiling may not be shattered for some time, but the there are more holes in it than ever before.

According to “Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling Without Breaking a Nail: Women Executives in Fortune Magazine's "Power 50" List” by Sherianne Shuler, Hewlett-Packard CEO, Carly Fiorina, recently declared that "there is not a glass ceiling" in today's organizations.  Seemingly supporting this declaration, Fortune magazine recently started publishing "The Fifty Most Powerful Women in American Business," with Fiorina at the top of the list each year.  While the increasing number of women executives perhaps demonstrates progress, the magazine coverage perpetuates familiar stereotypes of women in organizations. By positing that popular business magazines are part of the broader discourse in which organizations are situated, this paper examines Fortune's "Power 50" lists, arguing that they help to construct the glass ceiling.

CEOs of Fortune 500 companies in 1962, by 2002 there were 6.  And while 15.7 percent of all corporate officer positions are now held by women, when the numbers are broken down by race it becomes clear that recent gains have primarily advantaged white women, as women of color hold only 1.6 percent of corporate officer positions.

"Not an iron maiden!"  Kanter (1977) notes that one stereotype that working women commonly contend with is the "iron maiden," or the woman who acts too masculine.  Serious businesswomen are caught in a double-bind.  Since our standard for what it means to be "professional" is a masculine standard, women who try to adhere to it risk being disciplined for going against gender norms.

According to Vinita Bhatia, in the article “Breaking the Glass Ceiling”, she said that While corporate India Inc is increasing looking at having diversity in their workforce by placing women

employees at key decision making positions, the channel community has a lot of catching up to do.

Som Mittal, President, Nasscom, is of the belief that gender inclusivity is a must for the long term success of the IT industry. “India will play a key role in future transformation,” he claimed. “Women are a key and vital part of our workforce, and the industry will continue to work towards creating a conducive environment and attract more women employees and leaders,” he added.

Neelam Dhawan first heading the country's biggest software company, Microsoft and then moving on to be at the helm of affairs at Hewlett Packard. Dhawan is just one of the many women who have become synonymous with the companies they work for. But sadly the same can't be said of the Indian IT channel companies in the country. Barring a few there are hardly any women who are in the key decision making positions in most big channel companies. In an industry that has been largely male dominated, women have been able to make a mark, but not at the same speed as is seen in the rest of corporate India.

The fact is borne by some numbers as well. In India, only about 25 percent of the business leadership comprises women. In China, on the other hand, women comprise nearly 60 percent of the business leadership. Women get so accustomed to their existing job role, which prevents them from reaching the top level. Moreover the organization also has a feeling that it is not worth investing in because, they would get married, have a baby and quit.

The challenges might continue to exist, but there is no doubt that a greater representation of women at the workplace is vital today. At its third annual IT Women Leadership Summit in Bengaluru in November, 2008 'Transforming Enterprises and Societies' Nasscom representatives stressed on the fact that “workplace diversity in industry gives it a leading edge in the marketplace, and is therefore of even greater importance in these times of economic recession and slowdown. Gender inclusivity is no longer corporate social responsibility but a business imperative.”

According to the article, “What Glass Ceiling? – gender based employment discrimination by Michael Lynch that as the debate over affirmative action heats up, a concerted effort will be made to convince women that they are victims of job discrimination. Currently, a constitutional

initiative in California, headed for the November 1996 ballot, threatens to abolish public-sector preference programs, and, indeed, opponents of the initiative are appealing to women to oppose it. The National Organization for Women (NOW), for example, has made defeating the California Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI) its number one priority for 1996, and such formerly non-political groups as the YWCA have joined the charge to defeat it.

The findings which are consistent in this article are:

(1) The wage gap has been closing in recent years, and that, when the data are controlled for relevant variables, it virtually disappears; and

(2) The so-called glass ceiling is more a product of relative ages and qualifications of men and women than of explicit discrimination. In general, we found that women's current economic position relative to men is more a product of individual choices than of third-party discrimination.

RESEARCH ANDMETHODOLGY

In the research which i have done on GLASS CEILING, I have taken secondry data.

SECONDARY DATA

In the secondary research we had consider few articles which have describe the problem of the glass ceiling, and the problems to overcome with the same.

We have taken total 6-7 articles for our secondary research from the various websites:

www.wikipedia.com

www.nytimes.com

www.hr.com

www.bing.com

www.stopharass.com

www.forbes.com

www.suit101.com

www.independent.co.uk

The articles which we had taken from the above websites are as follows:

1) Breaking through the Glass Ceiling without breaking through the nail: women executives from the Fortune magazine’s” power 50” list.

2) The Glass ceiling: does it still exist?3) What Glass ceiling? Gender based employment discrimination.4) Breaking the Glass Ceiling.5) Shattering the glass ceiling: A strategy for survival.6) Are women happy under the Glass ceiling.7) Crack the Glass Ceiling: A new course is helping women overcome barriers

to.

With the help of above secondary details hub we have taken the concept of glass ceiling and the solutions to overcome with the problems of glass ceiling.

Therefore with the help of both the data primary as well as secondary, we had proceeded with our research.

RECOMMENDATION

As per the research we have done, we had come out with many solutions to break the glass ceiling in the organization.

We are living in the modern world but then also we may found that many of the organizations are following the concept of glass ceiling. Many women those who are good in their capabilities and skills are sealed in the glass, that they will not be allowed to progress further.

It has become a prejudice against the women that they are not equivalent to the men. Men are categorized in the section of good capabilities and skills which are better then the women working in the organization. The reason behind this problem can be a stereo type which was created traditionally in the mind of the people, that the particular section of women cannot be develop. And the result is that they are lacking behind in comparison with male society.

Traditionally it is being said that women are born for the welfare of the family, to look after the children and their in-laws. But the current situation is being changed. They are becoming the competitors of men.

As per our research we had found that the area for women is also developing but not as compared to the men, this we have already discussed in the findings.

In this research we had recommend that there is a long way to go for the development of the women society. For the improvement of the sector of women various researchers are working but as per our research we sort that there is also a need to look upon the following points that we are recommending:

1) Women have a right to come forward and take additional responsibility and prove themselves to be strong in every context along with the men.

2) There is need to be more dedicated towards their work, and maintain the balance between there professional life and personal life.

3) Management should support to the section of women in there development at the work place.

4) Government should also take few measures to overcome with this problem.

5) Government should start some awareness programs about the problem of glass ceiling.

6) Gender biasness should be eradicate and everyone should be aware about the consequences of the particular problem.

7) More education programs must be their along with the women empowerment.

8) By providing more opportunity to the female section (govt. had already taken the action regarding this, they have given some quota in different sectors like private and public as well)

REFRENCES:

ARTICLES:

“Breaking through the glass ceiling without breaking the nail: Women executives in fortune magazines “power 50”- From American communication journal, volume 6, issue 2, winter 2003, written by ‘Sherianne Shuler’.

“The Glass Ceiling: Does it still exist”- from www.suit101.com on August 19, 2007, written by ‘Jan trucker’.

“What Glass Ceiling? Gender- based employment discrimination” from Public Interest, summer 1996 By “Michael Lynch, Katherine” website: www.google.com

“Breaking the Glass ceiling” from www.dqchannels.com By Vinita Bhatia, on February 13, 2009.

“Shattering the glass ceiling: A strategy for survival” from www.stopharass.com By Mauricio Velasquez.

“Are women happy under the Glass ceiling” from www.forbes.com By Hannah Clerk.

“Crack the Glass Ceiling: A new course is helping women overcome barriers to” From www.independent.co.uk By Paul Gosling.