Beyond the Glass Ceiling

Abstract

The 20 th century has witnessed an increasing number of women in the workforce. Yet, at the turn of the millenium, women are still less visible in the upper echelons of the organization. Studies have shown a real discrimination on women which is frequently referred to as the being a barrier that cannot be seen. More formally, the glass ceiling is defined as those artificial barriers based on attitudinal or organizational bias that prevent women as a group from advancing upward in the organization. While many researchers have been done to analyze the impact of conscious or subtle forms of barriers to women managers' upward mobility and the ways in which women have coped, little is known about the negative impact of the ceiling to work organizations. This paper is divided into three parts. The first part reviews the literature in the field of Organization Behavior regarding the existence of the glass ceiling, the reasons why it occurs, and the different options taken by women in reaction to the glass ceiling phenomenon. Emphasis is given to the dissatisfaction in the development of researches pertaining to the real causes of the glass ceiling as well as to the efforts undertaken by business organizations to encourage greater representation of women in higher management. The first part ends by proposing a conceptual framework to deepen our understanding of women's role in managing organizations. The second part adopts a conceptual framework that expouses the complementarity of the competencies of men and women managers. Using this model, the following questions are tackled: What are the significant characteristics of women in management roles? What are their strengths and weaknesses? How are these strengths and weaknesses manifested by women in their management roles? How do women managers manifest their unique contribution to a corporate culture of peace and humanity? What consequences do these strengths and weaknesses have in the organizations themselves? The third part presents the results of an exploratory survey on companies which have experiences the glass ceiling symptoms. The interviewees are top managers who have experienced the resignation of women working under them. The paper concluded by recommending action plans for companies to take better advantage of the having women in top management roles.