Glass Ceiling

1
Glass Ceiling

• Summer Busto
• Kate McKenna
• Scott Morgan
• Elizabeth Ross
• George Papageorgiou

2

What is it?

• (US Dept of Labor 1991) Artificial barriers
  based on attitudinal or organizational bias that
  prevent qualified individuals from advancing
  within their organization and reaching their full
  potential
• Can women and minorities reach the top?

3

Does it exist?
Women in the Nations 1000 Largest Corporations
(1993)

• Executive Positions
• Executive VPs 9
• Senior VPs 23
• Assistant VP or Higher 6.6
• Women who perceive an impediment to advancement
  58-93 (1994)

4

Does it exist?
Minorities in the Nations 1000 Largest
Corporations (1988)

• Number of CEOs 1
• Out of 1708 Senior Executives
• 3 Black
• 2 Asians
• 2 Hispanics
• Managers

5

Where does it exist?

• IT
• Banking/finance
• Health Industry
• Government
• Education
• Its everywhere!

6

Who makes it through?
Organizational characteristics

• Those in line not staff positions
• Line manufacturing, engineering, sales,
  production
• Staff HR, RD, public relations, finance
• Diverse organizations
• Organizations who promote from within
• Developed career paths
• Established mentorship programs

7

Who makes it through?
Individual characteristics

• Women who engage male social networks
• Those willing to self-promote
• Those who overcome their obstacles
• Those who consistently perform well

8

Mommy Track

• Management Women and the New Facts of Life by
  Felice Schwartz
• implied that women who want to be mothers should
  be placed on a Mommy Track and choose whether
  their family or career comes first
• Some women choose this track
• It becomes a problem when it is imposed upon
  women without their consent

9

Other explanations

• Cohort effects
• Cultural pressures
• manifest in the decision not to seek higher
  positions
• Individual differences / preferences
• not all employees want to seek higher positions
• not all employees are qualified for higher
  positions

10

Glass Escalators

• Males in female dominated industries who get
  rapidly promoted
• Opposite assumption of Mommy Track
• Anecdotal evidence