The Glass Ceiling Discrimination

Never have I thought of myself as a feminist. After compiling information for this essay on inequality and discrimination against woman in the workplace, I still do not consider myself a feminist. There are compelling arguments substantiating women are treated differently, and unequally in the workplace. This is not a feminist view; this is an anti-discrimination view about not being treated equally in a profession. Despite the objects of a few groups, such as conservatives in the various branches of our government and their justifications for not providing women a constitutional right to equality, equal pay for equal work, and continuing to allow biases and subtle discrimination to continue are unfounded and have no relevant content to their

The glass ceiling has said to effect those females at the top of the ladder by creating barriers to women’s advancement (Cotter, 2001). In the article “The Glass Ceiling Effect” (2001), Cotter describes that the obstacles and discrimination that create the glass ceiling and that they are “unseen, yet unbreakable” (2001). This Glass Ceiling is inside of most Fortune 500 companies in the USA. It was until 1999 that Carleton Fiorina broke through and became the first CEO in a Fortune 500 company (Cotter, 2001). While some things have changed since 1999, there is still a shortage of women in leadership roles in business due to the prejudice is shown to women. In an article in CNN money, written by Matt Egan, he stated that “Only 14% of the top five leadership positions at the companies in the SP&500 are held by women” (2015). Also, within those 500 company’s women were only represented in 24 positions of top leadership (2015). Even with all the attention being placed on women’s issues in our nation today there is a deficiency of women in the senior leadership roles in businesses. Therefore, the need for protections and laws are necessary to restrict and relieve the biases against women in this

Discrimination on any level is immoral. Overt acts of discrimination are easy to detect; someone may use a derogatory term, perpetrate an act of violence or segregate an individual. These are visible signs of discrimination. Regrettably, there are other forms of discrimination that are not so recognizable. There are subtle ways in which women are discriminated against while employed in our nation. Deborah Brake wrote an article for Columbia Journal of Gender and Law in the fall of 2007, in this article stereotyping and subtle discrimination against women are discussed at length. What stood out the most was how much these actions stand out, but are a continuing practice in business. For instance, in stereotyping which is a subtle discriminatory action, women’s conduct is classified differently than a man’s conduct. If a man is aggressive and assertive; it is considered to be valuable, while if a woman behaves in the same fashion, it would be deemed to be abrasive (Brake, 2007). Similarly, women considering an employment opportunity, or an advancement and acting in a self-promoting fashion it is looked upon as a negative behavior (Heilman,2012). Where if a man were to act and behave in a self-promoting behavior the same way it would be considered a positive attribute. Women are having to adjust and adapt to the stereotypical discriminatory actions. For example, women should be modest and not promote themselves. Women in the workplace should not have to restrain themselves or