In this week’s lesson, we learned about the glass ceiling. The glass ceiling can be described as an invisible barriers that prevents or make it difficult for women and minorities to reach the top positions in an organization. This resonated with me in that when I moved to the United States, I was encouraged by my family to change my name into an “American” name. They told me that if I don’t change my name, it will make it harder for me to get a job. I find the glass ceiling unjust and just wrong.
There are three barriers that contribute to the glass ceiling are: organizational barriers, interpersonal barriers, and personal barriers. Organizational barriers are organizational conditions and practices that make it harder for women and minorities to move up in ranks. Organizations expect women to perform better than men to overcome stereotypes. When it comes to promotion decisions, people tend to favor working with others who share similarities such as gender and race. Interpersonal barriers include prejudices, lack of networks, and lack of mentors. Personal barriers include lack of political savvy and work-home conflict. (Hamel, 2021).
The glass ceiling seems unbreakable, but the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) lists some ways to break the glass ceiling. When I looked up how to break the glass ceiling, many sources focused on the individual and what they should do to “stand out.” One point the authors make in this article is that breaking the glass ceiling is not an individual process. They argue that organizations should focus on inclusive recruitment strategies to bring in more women and minorities into the organization. They also can implement policies and practices that give minorities and women equal opportunities in the workplace (Sud & Amanesh, 2019).
An example of a practice that helps break the glass ceiling would be to consider the employee’s achievements and other attributes when making promotional decisions for leadership positions. The lesson highlighted some leader attributes that are universally considered an effective leader possesses. Some of these attributes are trustworthy, intelligent, dependable, dynamic, and honest (Hamel, 2021).
The glass ceiling has prevented many qualified women and minorities from moving up in the organization for many years. Although we are moving towards the right direction, more work should be done to completely eliminate this unfair and wrong barrier. The efforts should not be placed solely on the individuals, but rather on the organizations as well.
References:
Hamel, R. P. (2021). Lesson 13: Leadership and Diversity
Sud, S., & Amanesh, A. (2019, May 18). Breaking glass ceiling in leadership roles. https://www.shrm.org/shrm-india/pages/breaking-glass-ceiling-in-leadership-roles.aspx.
rpw5248 says
I agree with your idea that the glass ceiling has prevented many qualified women and minorities from being promoted in the organization. I think this issue needs everyone’s attention in order to to make the workplace truly fair. Not only women, minorities will also encounter various obstacles in the workplace, forming a glass ceiling on the process to promotion. In interpersonal barriers (Hamel, 2021), there is always gender prejudice in the working relationships. Companies should take the initiative to create a diverse environment and reduce gender prejudice in the work place. I think there is no obvious distinction between men and women in leadership, and there is no gender distinction in the characteristics and abilities, knowledge and experience required for a company or a position. With or nurturing these characteristics, both men and women can show excellent leadership. In reality, under the influence of various factors, men or women have different advantages. Therefore, to make the best use of both advantages, it is necessary to start with the corporate culture and create a fair and just in the company. The cultural atmosphere allows each employee to get to use their abilities. In this way, the appropriate people can move to the right leadership positions, and then they can exert their leadership better.
References
Hamel, R. (2021). Lesson 13: Leadership and Diversity
smh6849 says
Hi! I really enjoyed reading your blog about the glass ceiling because I also decided to blog about this same topic. I completely agree with you when you say that you think the glass ceiling is unjust. You explained the barriers thoroughly and did a great job giving examples of how we can work to fix this problem. Additionally, I thought that you including your own personal experience with your move to America was very touching. It shows that you can definitely relate to the matter at hand which I find courageous. Overall, I agree with just about every point you made in your blog and think you did a great job pointing out flaws in the system. Great post! 🙂