The Glass Ceiling - Does It Still Exist? Essay -- Equality Work Minori

The Glass Ceiling - Does It Still Exist? There are many questions that come to mind when looking at the structure of any organizations. Within the social organization, employees face many challenges such as sexual harassment, violence, rape, depression, and discrimination. These issues in their respective organizations are a hindrance to their success and can cause their personal and career development to suffer. But the key factor that will be focused regarding discrimination is women's struggles advancing in their careers often called the glass ceiling effect. In this research, the term "glass ceiling " will be defined, answer the question "Who is affected by such barrier and why", what acts helped pave the way, and determine any recommendations to solve the problem. Glass ceiling is defined as the invisible barrier that keeps women from advancing to high level positions. In the Microsoft Encarta World Encyclopedia, the term glass ceiling is a "barrier to career advancement: an unofficial but real impediment to somebody's advancement into upper-level management positions because of dissemination based on the person's gender, age, race, ethnicity, or sexual preference." In other words, "Glass ceiling" is a negative barrier of attitudes and prejudices preventing women and minorities to move up in their corporate ladder. It holds many to stay at their lower level positions and not given a chance to show their abilities and improve themselves. Another definition given to this invisible barrier is it "describes cases in which women begin their careers on an equal footing with men, and either lose ground gradually over time, or continue to progress on par with their male counterpart until, at some point, their progress is bloc... ...uarterly. Vol. 46 (December 1997): 148-154 Gerber, Robin D. " Tech Rage Pierces the Glass Ceiling". Online Available: http://www.academy.umd.edu/AboutUs/news/articles/4-24-00.htm Hardy, Lawrence. "Why Teachers Leave." The American School Board Journal. Vol. 186 (June 1999): 12-17 Hernandez, Thomas J. and Morales, Nestor E. "Career, Culture, and Compromise: Career Development Experiences of Latinas Working in Higher Education." The Career Development Quarterly. Vol. 48 (September 1999): 45-58 Morgan, Laurie A. "Glass Ceiling Effect or Cohort Effect? A longitudinal Study of the Gender Earnings Gap for Engineers, 1982 to 1989." American Sociological Review. Vol 63 (August 1998): 479-493 Nelson, Anne V. " It's Lonely at the Top". Women.com Buzz: Equal Pay in the Fortune 500? Not yet. Online. Available. http://www.women.com/news/buzz/d1112wagegap.html