Sure. The times, they are a-changing. Women are coming to the fore-front. They are surging ahead, taking their rightful places in the corporate world. But alas, that top position still remains a Utopia for many a woman. The glass still ain't weak enough to break through. Ever wondered why, 95-97% of senior managers, the world over are males? Thats due to the Glass ceiling, my friends. The 'Glass Ceiling’ is a barrier to prevent women rising to the highest positions in an organization as a result of informal exclusionary practices.These practices include sexual harassment, sexual discrimination and pregnancy discrimination.
While a lot of male readers would be squirming in their seats reading this, but its a glaring fact we simply choose to turn our back on.
Explanations for the ‘glass ceiling’ phenomena derive from the stereotype of womeninto traditional roles. Many men still carry the attitude despite living inthis modern day and age that women are not capable of higher managerial roles and thattheir place rightfully belongs at home along with the house-hold chores. There is also the point that many corporate firms think twice before employing women for the top position, in terms of their level of commitment, for it is inevitable that every woman will want to have a child at some point in their life. However maternity leave is viewed upon as an expense in terms of money and the valuable time that iswasted in order to fill the vacant position.
The organisational structure is another barrier that women have to contend with forit is evident that most firms are male dominated and huddle together when itcomesto after work social activities, thus leaving the woman to feel as an outcast.
Despite 30 years of professional expertise, equal to their male copunterparts, ladies still don't make it to the top positions. While there may be some women higher up in management it can be argued that these are just ‘token’ positions so that the corporate management cannot be accused of discrimination. Those few who are successful in making it are then dealt the blow of being paid substantially less then their male counterparts. This as a result shows just how wide spread theundervaluing of women’s work really is.
On the risk of sounding ultra-feminist, Women are warriors. They bleed. They cut. But they never ever cry out. And when they do. Its too little. Too late.
