Chakra 1

Sarah Chakra
Professor Malcolm Campbell
UWRT 1103
September 28, 2015
Breaking through the Glass
Introduction/Overview
In this day and age, there is not one woman or minority is not affected by the so called
glass ceiling. The term glass ceiling is used to define the boundaries that hold women and
minorities back from moving up in the work place. The reasoning behind this term is that this
boundary is clear; when a new worker, female or minority, joins a business, they do not see
this already fixed boundary. So, naturally, one would wonder what purpose this boundary exactly
serves. Well, as time passes and these workers try to move up, this boundary does its job by
keeping them separate from the white male workers, deterring all attempts at reaching equality.
Sadly, this issue is still very prevalent in todays society where only 14 percent of women hold
executive positions and only 4 percent of all Fortune 500 companies have female CEOs.

Commented [HA1]: Maybe instead say keeping them

divided
Commented [HA2]: Where did you find this fact?

Through this paper, I hope to find out how much of a difference there would be made in
todays world ad economy if there was no such thing as a glass ceiling and all people, despite
gender or race, were given the same opportunities and chances to reach the top.
In many fields today, such as engineering and computer science, women are seen as less
competent than men and unable to produce work equal to or greater than their male counterparts.
According to Cheryl Rosner of Forbes Magazine, Women overwhelmingly drop out of STEM

Commented [HA3]: Such an interesting topic, but how

can you figure out a what if situation?

Chakra 2

education and careers in the tech industry due to culture. Because of constant belittling,
whether intentional or not, women in these career paths most likely will not have the same
amount of confidence as their male coworkers which allows for many things to go unnoticed,
such as project accomplishments, when the women feel as if they cannot speak out. Rosner also
touches on this by saying One of the challenges with bias today is that it tends to be subtle.
Rather than blatant sexism, many women experience a succession of micro-indignities that
make it difficult to know when to speak out. This problem can only be fixed if men and women
work together to end gender discrimination within their working environment and strive to build
up their female coworkers instead of tearing them down.
In order to find the information on my topic, I did a Google search and read multiple
articles that I found to be helpful in writing my proposal. I felt that this was the most helpful for
me because there are so many articles that deal with this topic that I had access to many different
kinds of positions and viewpoints on this topic.
Different people take different stances on this issue. There are many people that believe
there is a glass ceiling and many people who do not. There are people who blame todays society
and culture on the effects of the glass ceiling, while some people blame women for the glass
ceiling stating that it exists because of decisions women have made (flexible schedules, family
time) and that women obsess so much over the glass ceiling that it distracts them from what they
need to get done. Because of this, I feel that I will have many different topics within my chosen
topic to write my paper about and better understand what this issue is really about.
Initial Inquiry Questions
1. Is the wage gap a direct effect of the glass ceiling?

Commented [HA4]: Can you give an example?

Chakra 3

2. Who is to blame for the glass ceiling?

3. Are there career paths in which the glass ceiling is more prevalent?
4. What is being done in professional environments in order to remove the glass
ceiling?
5. Does the glass ceiling still exist, or is it an outdated metaphor that fails to

Commented [HA5]: I really like the questions you chose

to focus in on

acknowledge the progress women have made?

6. How can women (and minority groups) break through the glass ceiling?
My Interest in this Topic
I am interested in this topic because as a female, I believe both men and women (as well
as minorities) should receive equal job opportunities and equal pay. Gender debates and
controversies have always interested me so I felt that I it would be good to write my topic
proposal on a pretty big issue in todays society. I already know that in many male dominated

Commented [HA6]: Remove the I

fields, women are seen as inferior to men and in many cases, belittled. However, I would like to
find out more on what is being done to stop this, and would like to look into programs that are
made to empower women in male dominated fields such as the Women in Computing program
here are UNCC.
Next Steps
In order to obtain more information about this topic, I will visit the library and look
through the database to try to find more articles that deal with this topic. I will also try talk to a
librarian who can help me find things that I would not have been able to find on my own. Along
with that, I will try to find more scholarly sources to add to my paper so that I will be able to up

Commented [HA7]: Any particular ones that you think

will help?

Chakra 4

the level of credibility within my proposal. Lastly, I will try to find opposing views to this topic
so that I can provide more than one view on the glass ceiling.

Commented [HA8]: Thats a really good idea!