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INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………..
WOMEN AT WORKPLACE………………………………………….
WOMEN IN HIERARCHY……………………………………………
WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP………………………………………….
WOMEN IN INDIA………………………………………………….
RECOMMENDATIONS…………………………………………….
CONCLUSION………………………………………………………
NOTES………………………………………………………………
APPENDIX…………………………………………………………….
INTRODUTION
History
The concept "Glass Ceiling" originally was first used in 1986, when 2
Wall Street Journal reporters coined the phrase to describe the invisible and
artificial barriers that impeded women from advancing to senior leadership
positions in organizations. Since then, the metaphor of the glass ceiling has
also come to be applied to the advancement of minorities, deaf, blind,
disabled, and sexual minorities. It is unmistakable that ceilings and walls
exist throughout most workplaces for minorities and women. These barriers
limit the development and mobility opportunities of men and women of
diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds.
The “glass ceiling” refers to the barriers that often confront ethnic
minorities and women in trying to reach the upper echelons of the corporate
hierarchy. The fact remains that while the world has come a long way in
achieving equal opportunities in employment, and things have definitely
improved what they were a decade ago, discrimination on the basis of
gender and race endures.
The case deals with the concept of 'glass ceiling,' which prevents
women from reaching top management positions in the corporate world. It
explains the concept in detail and examines the various reasons that prevent
women from reaching the top management.
Why the Glass Ceiling Persists
Major barrier
• stereotypes
• lacking the characteristics most needed to succeed and, consequently,
were often judged to be lessqualified than men.
• characteristics of successful middle mangers were more similar to
descriptions of men than women.
• Lack of recruitment and opportunities for advancement
• Lack of good faith efforts.
• channeled, tracked and trapped in staff jobs that do not lead to the
executive suite.
• women are in public relations, human resources, and investor relations
rather than in line positions that more typically lead to top executive
jobs.
• Sexual harassment.
WOMEN AT WORKPLACE
India has come a long way from Sati to the workplace. In 2005, the
ratio of women to men in Indian IT companies is 24:76 expected to be 35:65
by 2007. BPO-ITES industry has 69:31 as the ratio [1]. There is definitely a
drastic rise in the number of working women in the Indian economy with
qualification and performance taking precedence over gender, but the
abovementioned cultural issues are still at play. It is more difficult for
women to balance work and home. It is common to see many working ladies
in Mumbai doing some daily household chores in the local train in which
they travel back home. Moving from the broader cultural and social issues to
the situation at the workplace, there seems to be a difference in the
perception of similar activities of women vis-à-vis men. Some of the
common ones would be as follows:
• Minor symbols like a family photo on the desk of a man can mean his
being a well rounded gentleman but on a woman’s desk may mean
that her life’s focal point is her home and not career.
Many women and men “want it all”: a successful career and a happy
family life. However, finding a balance between paid work and family life is
difficult, especially for women. Women still perform a large share of
household tasks in addition to childrearing. Therefore, they often have to
choose between paid work and family, or they have to prioritize one over
another at some stage during their lives. Men their female partners seem to
be able to “have it all” more easily, but traditionally their participation in
household tasks is far less than that of their female partners.
WOMEN IN HIERARCHY
Lack of pay parity along with the omnipresent glass ceiling continues
to impede the career advancement and success of women in business.
But, women have their own special strengths and abilities that can,
with a little planning and strategising, help them come out on top even in
fields that are typically seen as male bastions. Here are a few strategies
women should consider to garner maximum leverage from their career
paths:
Education and training
Education is, by far, women's most powerful secret weapon. The best
hope to crash through that glass ceiling is to get the finest possible
foundation for a successful career in the form of education and training.
Consider informal ways of educating yourself through, for example, joining
professional organisations, attending conferences and keeping up with trade
publications in your field.
When seeking a job too, look for companies that offer training
programmes and professional development opportunities. At the time of
interview, make it a point to ask what kind of training is available. Your goal
should be to develop a set of transferable skills that can be applied to various
career fields.
Find a mentor
Practice Self-promotion
Women are generally team players and often fight shy of self-
promotion. Modesty has traditionally been seen as a virtue and it is not easy
to unlearn what was drilled into them at an early age and change their roles
at work. As a result, women are relatively less aggressive at workplace about
promoting themselves.
That women have made it right to the topmost level in the corporate
world is evident from the fact that right from 1998 Fortune magazine has
been coming out with its annual surveys on the power pack of 50 women in
business. This shows that even while existing perennially for most women,
the glass ceiling is being battered now and then by at least some of them.
Titled Sexism and the City - Women fight back in London's financial hub,
the article details the amazing stories of brave and determined women who
are hitting back at their employers by suing the firms that have denied them
promotions or adequate salaries and bonus, compared to their male
colleagues.
The magazine quoted Patricia Hewitt, the British Trade and Industry
Secretary, saying, "Although a lot has changed, women can still face
discrimination in the City. I have concerns about the lack of transparency
and objectivity surrounding some employers' decisions on bonuses. We
know that this can sometimes lead to men and women being rewarded
unequally."
But in this coveted world women are as yet newcomers. Those who
have made it are still trying to feel their way around and one doubts that
there are too many brave souls out there who would want to jeopardise their
careers by challenging their bosses on grounds of discrimination in pay or
promotions, or downright sexual harassment.
All this was only the tip of the iceberg and since then the "Boom
Boom Room" case has become a kind of catchword for sexual harassment
on Wall Street. According to a report dated December 20, 2003, on
arkansasnews.com, currently there are at least a dozen class action claims
concerning gender discrimination on Wall Street, "involving such venerable
names as Goldman Sachs, ING Barings, J.P. Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch,
Morgan Stanley and Salomon Smith Barney."
But despite the discrimination they faced, the women said they would
not quit, and rightly so. Sixty-one per cent of the women surveyed said
departing Wall Street would be a financial blunder for them.
Research has found that women who consistently break the glass
ceiling in their organisations face a trickier task - find themselves on a `glass
cliff', a risky and precarious position. In other words, they are given more
onerous tasks than their male counterparts. A recent `Times' report states
that companies, which had consistently performed badly, often appointed
women at senior positions. This, because managements think that if there is
a crisis in the organisation, woman leaders are more likely to bail them out
and deal with the situation more effectively. The idea being that women are
more adept at dealing with crises. However, ironically, with every financial
downturn, these woman leaders were in danger of being held responsible for
the negative outcomes. Their abilities were questioned and their leadership
skills came under much fire and criticism. This when the factors, which
adversely affected the company, had been set in motion long before the
manager had assumed her post. In contrast, once the performance picked up,
women were less likely to be hired at senior levels. This is the glass cliff,
which women are finding themselves on -- more dangerous and subtly
sexist.
Ingrained beliefs
There are a few resources that women do have at their disposal, which
can help prevent and also overcome bias of this kind at the workplace:
The first important step — choose your employer well. Study your
employer at the interview stage itself while they are sizing you up. Find out,
if you can, as to how many women are working with the organisation.
Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. Select mentors who
understand how the system works. If things start to get bad, maintain notes
in a journal with dates and events mentioned and also the person/s involved
so that you have recorded proof.
Talk to your peers. If you encounter gender bias in the workplace, you
may be able to get some wise counselling from someone who has dealt with
a similar situation before.
For women striving for the top job is not necessarily a question of
power; the woman's personal standards play a major role in her
achievements— the ability to assert herself and her capability of making
strategic decisions. However, despite attempts by organisations to increase
the number of women working at senior level, the rate of change and the
pace of progress have remained at best erratic. And it should not come as a
surprise that a majority of men and women believe that it's advantageous to
be a man than a woman!
So, is the `superwoman' who wants to be the world's best mom, best wife and best
boss, dead? Like the battle of the sexes, this battle continues too!
FROM GLASS CEILING TO PAY GAP
The problem in India, they say, is nearly 95 per cent of the women
bringing a case refuse to make a formal complaint to anyone at work
because there was no one they felt they could complain to. They were too
embarrassed, they feared that they would not be believed or they thought
they could handle it for the sake of their careers.
Women employees in India are still fighting an uphill battle for level
pegging, in areas such as equal pay for equal work.
The world will surely gain by using the best minds of its entire
population – than only a part of it.
WHY THERE ARE SO FEW WOMEN MANAGERS IN INDIA
He quotes a BBC report late last year which said at the heart of the
matter is the Cinderella complex - where no matter how successful a woman
is, subconsciously she still expects that a prince is going to come along and
rescue her.
Many also deny that the problem for women is the glass ceiling or the
men's club. The business door is open but that women, looking for different
and more balanced lives, have not been interested in entering.
These stereotypes are the main reason why surveys have shown that
only four out of 10 CEOs in India considered the advancement of women to
be critical for their organisations. The increasing feeling is that a majority of
Indian companies still have a kind of institutional sexism that assumes
women are less able than men.
However, these are not the only reasons women earn lower wages
than men. Women are likely to have shorter careers than men of the same
age because they do not necessarily work full-time throughout their working
lives. Many tend either to leave their jobs or work part-time typically
between the ages of 25 and 35 to raise children and return to full-time
employment at a later stage. This leads to slower promotion and less pay. In
addition, managerial positions require longer working hours, a certain
amount of traveling, or even relocation. Many women tend to avoid such
jobs because of their family commitments.
Earning the same base rate of pay for doing the same job is only part
of the equation. Differences in fringe benefits and bonuses offered to men
and women also contribute to earnings gaps. The concept of equal
remuneration for equal work does not necessarily include the same “perks”
that are given to male managers such as access to company cars, mobile
telephones and expense accounts, as well as allowances for specific skills,
work-related travel, working in difficult conditions and compensation for
working in distant or unpopular locations. Also, payments based on
performance, bonuses, commissions, profit sharing, and negotiated
retirement benefits are not necessarily a standard part of women’s
remuneration package although they may well be part of the terms of an
overall package agreed by men during recruitment.
Why are there earnings gaps?
Some reasons presented for the earnings gaps were that: women
continued to choose occupations and industries where there is more
flexibility in order to balance the needs of work and family, which results in
occupational segregation. Even when working as managers, the data showed
that they were in positions that required less education and were lower paid.
They tended to work in areas with fewer career development prospects.
They were 50 per cent less likely to have a college degree than their male
counterparts, particularly in the finance sector. Also, when they opted for
part-time work they lost healthcare, retirement and social security benefits
but continued paying for part-time child care.
One school of thought suggests that only a small proportion of the pay
gap can be blamed on discriminatory practices in education and recruitment.
According to recent studies in various countries, childbearing and child
rearing, which interrupt women’s careers and permanently slow down their
earning power, can now explain an increasingly large part of the gap. This
suggests a lack of policies in the workplace - and in society as a whole - to
support working mothers. Furthermore, mothers tend to earn less than other
women. According to recent research67 in several industrialized countries,
one child could lead to a “penalty” of 6 to 7 per cent of earnings, and two
children a penalty of 13 per cent.
ILO action
Over the years, there have been serious efforts at national and
international levels to address the issue of gender equality in the world of
work. However, much more still has to be done. Sex-based discrimination
violates fundamental principles and rights at work, human rights and social
justice. It weakens economic growth and the optimal functioning of
enterprise and labour markets. This has been recognized by the international
community, which is calling for gender equality to be integrated into
development and poverty reduction initiatives. The ILO has an incontestable
contribution to make in the attainment of these objectives.
ILO’s programme of work for 2004-2005 addresses a number of high-
priority gender issues under four strategic objectives covering rights at work,
employment, social protection and social dialogue. Gender analysis and
strategies to address gender-based inequalities are essential in achieving
these objectives.
For the first time, gender equality has been adopted as one of several
key shared policy objectives of the ILO, which strengthens its integrated
approach to equality issues in the world of work. The policy objective on
gender equality is designed to build a solid knowledge base on gender issues
through systematic collection and analysis of data disaggregated by sex. The
objective states: “ILO constituents take positive action to increase gender
equality in the world of work”.
FACTS ON WOMEN AT WORK
Much of this is related to the fact that labour markets in all countries,
both in the formal and informal economies, remain highly segregated by sex.
This reflects different social roles assigned to women and men, with women
performing the lion’s share of unpaid care work. This is largely due to sex
stereotyping of both men and women from the day they are born. The latest
employment data according to ILO’s Global Employment Trends (2003)
show that women continue to have lower participation rates in the labour
market, higher unemployment rates, and significant pay differences in most
regions. In Latin America, Europe and North America there has been some
reduction of gender pay differences. In a number of transition countries and
some countries in Asia, unemployment rates for men are higher than for
women and in some developed regions men’s participation rates are
declining.
Participation rates for women in the labour market in East Asia are
lower than for men, and this gap is not closing. In South East Asia, women
still experience lower participation rates than men and where it is relatively
higher, gender gaps have grown since the Asian financial crisis in the late
1990’s in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
• The proportion of informal work over the last decade has increased
dramatically. In Latin America the proportion has risen from 29%
to 44%. Women have experienced a larger share of this, going
from 30% to 44% compared to men going from 27% to 35%. In
Europe, women are the heads-of-household in 9 out of 10 single-
parent families.
This work in most cases offers little or no social security, low wages
coupled with poor working conditions. The trend of contractualisation /
casualisation of work further paves the way for more exploitation, while
circumventing even the few legislative measures that exist for workers’
protection. There are others sectors like construction, trading and services,
which provide employment for women both in rural and urban areas. Most
of the work they undertake within these sectors are categorised as unskilled,
are low paid as well as insecure.
Key Concepts:-
Six billion human beings live on the planet Earth, and more than half
of them are women and girls. They constitute two-thirds of the world’s 876
million illiterates and 70% of the poor. Women and girls perform twothirds
of the work in the world; they are paid one-tenth of all world income. In all
regions of the globe and in every segment of society, in both developed and
developing countries, women and girls are denied the opportunities to enjoy
their human rights, which in turn deprives all men, women and children –
societies as a whole – of valuable human resources.
task The is to analyse and deal effectively with the unspoken, implicit
hierarchies of ‘second’ and ‘first’ power roles, which often condemn women
to the rank of ‘second-class citizens’ and assign ‘domineering’ roles to men.
The challenge is to build societies where women and men can reach their
full human potential and participate, as equals, in the development of their
societies, sharing its wealth and benefits on the basis of parity.
RECOMMENDATIONS
• Family-friendly policies.
• There are still significant earnings gaps between women and men.
CONCLUSION
From the whole discussion of glass ceiling we can say this problem is very
hazardous for the society. In our Indian culture we are saying for women
Ardhangini (half body). So, why discriminate them. In the case of lower cast
we are depend on this class in tams of labour work so, why we ignore them.
Every person have a responsibilities minimize the gap between man and
women at work place.
NOTES
Rfreneces
www.businessline.com
www.thehindu.in
APPENDIX
Appendix - A
Why Indira Gandhi was called that she was the only man in her
cabinet? Does that mean that only man has the right to rule the world and the
executive ability is attached to a masculine personality?
At the basic form of group or organization, the family when formed
let’s see what are the outcomes. The woman’s thought maturity is improved
if compared to the male counterpart of the same age. The woman when gets
married she seeks a man with higher/equal level of thought/position/standard
than her. And as a cause/effect the man seeks the lower/equal level of
thought/status/standard than him. Leave the issue of exceptional love among
them but this is the trend followed around the world.
Now look at the job profiles which are mostly gender specific. The
secretaries are mostly women; the nurses/air hostess can’t not replaced by
male counter part. In crude politics they take part in less number (Mrs.
Clinton’s future seems an exception). In country like India the woman
reservation bill never got passed, I don’t think it need be passed and
reservation due to mercy will be again harmful and there is possibility that
the less qualified woman politicians will jump into passive politics after
anchoring some male counterpart. The advocacy of giving them a chance is
again the same thing. Of course leg pulling must not be done.
To each individual there are different levels of administrative abilities.
Simply judging them on the basis of sex will be unjust. The are example of
Shobhana Bhartiya, Kiran Majumdar Shaw, Parmeshwar Godrej and many
more in India and across globe as good managers. There are chances as well
as opportunities that the women will raise to the great height with her
capacities. But on reaching the top most height her each breath seems to be
under scrutiny without any productivity but to make her tense as well as the
business. The share prices jumped instantly after firing off Fiorina. But the
stereotyped society (which comprises male and female both) will take long
time to accept the glass ceiling and to solve the imbroglio over the top which
is a result of all the stuff sucked at root level.