Glass Ceiling
The "glass ceiling" is an issue that basically arose from a movement by feminists groups to establish a 50/50 ratio of men to women that hold top executive positions in American firms. The claim was that is was "unfair" that white males dominated the top positions. Although at the time this was absolutely true and this continues to be the case today. However, the claims by these groups are nothing more than positions without logical facts, and purely anecdotal. On the surface this does seem to be an unfair issue for women and minorities but the "unfairness" has little to do with the appointing practices of American firms. For example, our text presents the issue in this manner by suggesting that, "The problems women and minorities have with winning promotions to senior management positions gave rise to the glass ceiling (Rue and Byars 9). The authors continue by stating the glass ceiling is "the invisible barrier that prevents women and minorities from moving up in the world of business" (Rue and Byars 9). In fact, the problem is not "an invisible barrier" that shrouds corporate America, but a completely separate problem in our society.
This clearly shows that the "glass ceiling" is represented incorrectly; the problem for minorities lies in the preparation prior to entering the workforce in terms of education, support, and personal opportunity. By analyzing the percentage of women graduating with an MBA or other advanced management degree from 1955 to the percentage of women on top management teams in 1980 one can see the glass ceiling position has no merit. When the math is calculated the "expectation was exceeded by a ratio of at least 2:1 and in some years as high as 4:1" Adler). Additionally, the 1999 median earnings by race and sex shows a significant pay gap between white males, women, and minorities, but is not compared to the percentage of different fields of work. The problem for women closely resembles that of minorities. The bottom line is the problem lies in the preparation of an individual prior to entering the corporate world. one can be naive enough to think some discrimination does not occur in the top hierarchy of American firms. However, it is not the single cause preventing women and minorities from reaching these positions. When an issue is proposed it is necessary to analyze beyond the numbers that can be popularly or politically significant. The "glass ceiling" is an obstacle that must be overcome long before entry into corporate America. "If the percentage of women in the executive suite in any year was less than the percentage graduating with an appropriate degree 25 years earlier, then a case could be made that some type of gender based discrimination may have occurred along the way" (Adler). For example, a bachelor's degree attained by a white male seems to pay more than that of a minority, but the detail of breaking down by type of degree and field is harder to find. The term "glass ceiling" does not apply to obtaining a certain position. First, the statistic should be extremely detailed and should be compared against other statistics. It can be said that minorities do not reach the top positions equally.
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Acceptance Essays
