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Overview and Summary
The first article that was examined for this project was “Chipping away at the Glass Ceiling: Gender Spillovers in Corporate Leadership” by David Matsa and Amalia Miller. The primary concept that is examined in this paper is the slow and steady progress that has been made in the corporations of the United States with regards to having more women in leadership positions. One of the elements that is explored throughout the work is the positive association between women who are in the positions of power and the prevalence of women who are working alongside them. The text examines the possibility that women who are breaking through the glass ceiling in their respective workplaces are “reaching down” to help other women achieve positions thereby securing greater parity for the female workers.
The second article that is examined throughout this project is titled “Women in the world of corporate business: Looking at the glass ceiling” and was written by Priscilla Berry and Tommy Franks. This article examines the progress that has been made throughout the corporate world as a whole with regards to women occupying positions of power. The article determined that even though there has been a tremendous amount of progress made, the fact remains that women are still being inadequately represented in the board room as a result of poor policies as well as environments that are not conducive to women working in them. The article ultimately contends that progress for women in business positions has been continually and purposely stalled, and that there are several changes that can be implemented to increase the beneficial outcomes for women.
Implied/Factual Impact of the Main Issues on Organizations
There are several impacts that need to be discussed as a result of the implications that have emerged in the glass ceiling. According to the first article “Chipping away at the Glass Ceiling: Gender Spillovers in Corporate Leadership” the primarily implications that emerge during this time is that women’s progress into the highest positions in the modern boardrooms is slowed due to the lack of women who are present in the positions. This stems from the fact that there is a causal relationship between individuals in the management positions and those in the boardroom. According to Matsa & Miller (2011) a twelve-year study found that the companies that had the most women in the boardroom were also the companies that had the highest number of women who were promoted into management positions (p. 635). Thus, it appears as though the primary means that women are able to break through the glass ceiling is by having women who break through the glass ceiling before them. Women tend to give other women more of a beneficial examination than men give women when it comes to obtaining positions of power in a company. From an individual perspective, it is clear that women have a better chance at obtaining success if the company or entity already has a history of promoting women. From an organizational standpoint, it is abundantly clear that companies need to promote women into positions of power in order for more women to be hired and promoted into positions of power. Having qualified women tends to lead to the hiring and consideration of more qualified women, so the implication that needs to be applied to this case is that one way that companies can contribute to the breaking of the glass ceiling is by making more positions open to women than previously. [“Write my essay for me?” Get help here.]
The next article, “Women in the world of corporate business: Looking at the glass ceiling” also provides valuable insight into the state of the modern glass ceiling and the need to engage in innovation in order to remove the obstacles that have been put into place for women. The article first examines the concept that women have been leaving the corporate world as a whole for several different reasons over time. For example, women are often waylaid by their gender and the increasing pressures to juggle family and work. Many women who are otherwise qualified to be a part of the corporate workforce and especially the upper echelons of business choose to engage with less involved jobs or feel as though they are not given the support which is needed to become a manager (Berry & Franks, 2010, p.1). While the article does contend that there is an overall lack of structural support that exists for women in the corporate world, there are several different factors that lead to the glass ceiling being an indomitable force. For example, one of the problems that is discussed with regards to an organizational standpoint is that corporate structure is inherently built against women. This article echoes the issues raised by Matsa & Miller (2011) in saying that one of the greatest problems that women face is that that organizations simply do not hire or promote women into positions of power with any sense of regularity. In addition, many organizations are simply not friendly for women to join as a result of the fact that there is still rampant sexism that prevents women from being assigned favorable duties (Berry & Franks, 2010, p.1). Another factor that emerges about the glass ceiling from an organizational standpoint is that too few women are offered proper mentoring programs which would enable them to be benefit from the experience of others who have been in a position of marginalization and have overcome it in that particular business. All of these elements have led to women being excluded from the upper management of businesses and have resulted in a glass ceiling. Aside from the glass ceiling, another element that is considered from the organizational level is the “sticky floor”. According to the authors, the sticky floor is a force that keeps women from launching into the process of climbing the corporate ladder, such as the knowledge of the glass ceiling that awaits and the various issues that come along with it (Berry & Franks, 2010, p. 4). In order to overcome these elements, both articles contend that women need additional support and better hiring practices in place to overcome barriers.
Text Compare and Contrast
There are several elements of the Greenhaus text that can be compared and contrasted with these two articles regarding the glass ceiling. For example, the research that is presented the book suggests that even when accounting for the amount of time that minorities have been in the corporate pipeline, white and male employees still remain the most likely to achieve the promotions within a company (Greenhaus, Callahan, & Godshalk, 2010, p. 323). This is a troubling aspect of the modern workforce that both the previous articles agree upon. Essentially, there is purposeful marginalization occurring in the workforce in the United States and elsewhere throughout the world. The result is that fewer women and minorities are able to achieve the high-level positions that are indicative of both equality and success. However, it is important to note that one of the major departures between the book and the articles is that women are the primary focus within the articles, but the book also focuses on the problems that face minorities as well.
Another means through which to compare and contrast the text with the articles that have been examined throughout this paper is by looking at the reasons for the glass ceiling. The text insists that one of the potential reasons for the glass ceiling is that women are not perceived to be working as hard as the men in the same positions (Greenhaus, Callahan, & Godshalk, 2010, p. 323). This concept of a lack of hard work is reflected in the job performance reviews of women and minorities, especially black individuals. However, the fact remains that the articles tended to focus on more general issues that exist for women in the workplace such as outright discrimination for putting women in positions of power. While the articles deviate from the text on the point of the reasoning behind the lack of promotions, they both hint at underlying causes that are both difficult to pin down and even more difficult to overcome. [Need an essay writing service? Find help here.]
The final element of these works that can be examined in terms of the concept of the glass ceiling is the idea that the companies who have been most supportive of breaking down the barriers for the glass ceiling will continue to have greater success with hiring and promoting women. The article “Chipping away at the glass ceiling: Gender spillovers in corporate leadership” implies that companies which hire and promote more women are also ones that are more likely to offer promotions to other women. This concept was supported by Berry & Franks (2010) as well when the article demonstrated that one of the elements that was needed for women to be successful in the corporate world was mentorships from other successful women. The text also referred to this concept by a formal title, the resource-acquisition argument. According to the authors, the organizations that have the best record of working in favor of the women and minorities that are typically discriminated against will be the same companies that attract more women and marginalized groups (Greenhaus, Callahan, & Godshalk, 2010, p. 321). This correlates with the information from the article, and still makes it clear that companies who engage in hiring women and giving them promotions will continue to further the breaking of the glass ceiling. [Click Essay Writer to order your essay]
The articles and the text each examined the topic of the glass ceiling. The inability of women to reach the highest positions of power in the business world is an ongoing problem. However, all three texts demonstrate that there are means through which to overcome this issue. Perhaps the most important element that companies need to keep in mind in terms of career management is the development of processes to consider women more frequently in their hiring and promotions
References
Berry, P., & Franks, T. J. (2010). Women in the world of corporate business: Looking at the glass ceiling. Contemporary Issues in Education Research,3(2), 1-9.
Greenhaus, J. H., Callanan, G. A., & Godshalk, V. M. (2010). (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Matsa, D. A., & Miller, A. R. (2011). Chipping away at the glass ceiling: Gender spillovers in corporate leadership. The American economic review,101(3), 635-639.
