Psychology - Developmental Glass Ceiling the Term

Psychology - Developmental Glass Ceiling The term glass ceiling is most frequently applied in business circumstances in which women feel, either correctly or not, that men are deeply established in the upper ranks of power, and women, try as they might, find it almost impossible to break through. While the phrase glass ceiling is figurative, a lot of women who find themselves bumping their heads on it find it very real indeed.

It is most frequently used to describe the sexist attitude a lot of women run into at the workplace. In a discussion of climbing the corporate ladder, the word ceiling implies that there is a limit to how far someone can go up. Along with this implied barrier is the idea that it is glass, meaning that, while it is very real, it is transparent and not noticeable to the observer (What is the Glass Ceiling, 2012).

Many years after the beginning of the glass ceiling metaphor, a lot of women say the glass ceiling is very much unbroken, pointing to data that show that women on average hold just 14 per cent of all executive officer positions at Fortune 500 companies. But others disagree, citing advances made by women in recent years. And some challenge that the glass ceiling should be substituted by a different metaphor.

No matter where one stands on the issue of a glass ceiling, there's no denying that women are underrepresented in the top ranks of corporate America, and they continue to earn less money than men every year (Yung, 2012). "Though women make up nearly half the workforce, they accounted for only 7.5 per cent of the top-earning executive officer positions at Fortune 500 companies last year, according to Catalyst, a New York-based research organization that seeks to expand business opportunities for women.

It also found that women held only 16 per cent of board seats at these large companies. And more than a quarter of the Fortune 500 had no female executive officers. Women also continue to lag behind men when it comes to pay. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, women in 2010 earned 81 per cent of the median weekly earnings of their male counterparts" (Yung, 2012). There is no doubt that occupational gender segregation still exists.

As a society there have been many laws passed in order to try and curb gender discrimination in the workplace along with sexual harassment. But there hasn't been much of a change seen in the workplace (Bjorklund, 2010). The Federal Glass Ceiling Commission of the United States Department of Labor has identified two major societal barriers that cause and reinforce the glass ceiling. The first is the supply barrier, which is related to chance and attainment.

The difference barrier manifests itself as mindful and unconscious stereotypes, chauvinism, and prejudice related to gender and ethnicity. The second is business-based barriers.

"The following business-based barriers have been identified as contributing to the glass ceiling: outreach and recruitment practices that fail to seek out or recruit women and minorities, prevailing culture of many businesses is a white male culture and such corporate climates alienate and isolate minorities and women, initial placement and clustering in staff jobs or in highly technical and professional jobs that are not on the career track to the top, lack of mentoring and management training, lack of opportunities for career development, tailored training, and rotational job assignments that are on the revenue-producing side of the business, little or no access.