Cody Langlie

Professor Reed
RHET 1311
14 September 2015
Glass Ceiling
It seems as though women and minorities in the professional workplace suffer
from underrepresentation at the higher levels of management. This underrepresentation
is proposed to have stemmed from the glass ceiling effect. The glass ceiling effect
essentially means that there is an invisible, unbreakable barrier stopping women and
minorities from reaching the higher levels of management. White males, on the other
hand, seem to have no disadvantage when advancing in their career versus minorities
and women, so the metaphor says. Many scholars have completed studies to show the
inequalities between the groups. These inequalities are usually represented by pay,
authority, and managerial promotions in these higher levels.
Inequalities in pay between gender is still seen as very prevalent among all
races. Although, the pay gap between gender isnt as vast as it was decades ago, it is
viewed as problem in todays society. Many believe the cause from these inequality
comes from societys devaluation of women in the workplace. Some of these
devaluation comes from preconceived notions that women are less qualified due to their
physical and psychological attributes. So, historically speaking women were expected to
work less stressful jobs that didn't conflict with the gender roles and stereotypes of
culture such as : Secretaries, sales clerks, and other jobs that did not offer women the
same type of upward mobility as did "male" jobs of business owners, executives, and so

forth (Wienclaw, Gender And Economic Inequality). These old notions about the type
of fields women should work in could possibly be detrimental to their valuation.
Womens authority in the workplace usually varies by the gender or race in which
controls the work setting. One study found that inequality when employees work in
settings that require them to report to minority and female supervisors, all groups,
except black men, experience increasing wage inequality, relative to white men, with
movement up the authority hierarchy (Smith, "Money, Benefits, And Power: A Test Of
The Glass Ceiling And Glass Escalator Hypotheses.") White men seem to usually move
up the authoritative hierarchy much easier than minorities and females. Another study
uses the theory of leaky pipelines and the revolving-door theory to explain why less
women hold positions of authority. The leaky pipeline theory states that as women and
minorities face a disadvantage in succeeding to the upper rungs of management they
leak out. The revolving-door metaphor describes the dynamics of managerial
attainment more aptly than leaky pipelines because it recognizes that mobility is not
unidimensional but has many ups and downs (Zeng, "The Myth Of The Glass Ceiling:
Evidence From A Stock-Flow Analysis Of Authority Attainment."). So, this view of
authority states that the reason behind there being less women and minorities is
because they switch or leave that career before they can obtain it.
Underrepresentation at high levels of management by minorities and women
could be due to the glass ceiling effect or its that way because they're are less people in
that setting to be promoted. Everyone should have an equal chance at success. Susan
B. Anthony once said, It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet
we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union. So, shouldnt

people be successful based on their qualifications and skill rather than their gender or
skin color?

Works Cited
Smith, Ryan A. "Money, Benefits, And Power: A Test Of The Glass Ceiling And Glass
Escalator Hypotheses." Annals Of The American Academy Of Political And
Social Science 639.(2012): 149-172. EconLit. Web. 15 Sept. 2015.

Wienclaw, Ruth A. "Gender And Economic Inequality." Research Starters: Sociology

(Online Edition) (2015): Research Starters. Web. 16 Sept. 2015.
Yap, Margaret, and Alison M. Konrad. "Gender And Racial Differentials In Promotions:
Is There A Sticky Floor, A Mid-Level Bottleneck, Or A Glass Ceiling?."
Relations

Industrielles / Industrial Relations 64.4 (2009): 593-619. SocINDEX with

Full

Text. Web. 15 Sept. 2015.

Zeng, Zhen. "The Myth Of The Glass Ceiling: Evidence From A Stock-Flow Analysis Of
Authority Attainment." Social Science Research 40.1 (2011): 312-325. SocINDEX
with Full Text. Web. 15 Sept. 2015.