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Globalization Essay, Research Paper

Introduction

Women are becoming an unmistakable portion of the workforce. Woman now make up 43 percent of the managerial, administrative, and executive positions in the U.S. This may sound impressive, but unfortunately most of those jobs are only in lower level management. Women only make up three to seven percent of senior management (vice president and higher). There is still a great inequality in corporate America. Old fashioned views are the main thing holding women back. Many things come from those old fashioned views including viewing women as inferior, sexual harassment, and the “good old boys” problem. Women are fighting these problems however, and are gaining powerful positions as a result. This report will cover women in managerial and executive positions, what is holding women back, women helping women succeed, and women who have made it big.

Woman in Executive and Management Positions

Women’s Numbers in Executive Positions

In the past women were only allowed to stay at home and take care of the kids. It is not until recently that women were allowed to enter the workforce, and even more recently that they were allowed the chance to gain managerial or executive positions. Although according to U.S department of Labor, Bureau of Statistics women make up 43 percent of the managerial, administrative, and executive positions in the U.S. Most of that percentage however is made up of lower level management. Only three to five percent of executive positions belong to women. That means that 95 to 97 percent of all senior managers (vice president and higher) are men. Mostly white men to be precise. The numbers are even lower when you get to even bigger companies. A 1990 study of the top Fortune 500 companies by Mary Ann Von Glinow of the University of Southern California, showed that women were only 2.6% of the corporate officers (the vice presidential level up) of those companies. That is what is known as the glass ceiling. Women have an invisible barrier that attempts to prevent them from rising to an executive level.

Even more sadly, a good number of the executive women are only there because they started the company, and many more because it is a woman owned company. There is still a “good old boy” attitude that prevails at the higher levels of business. It is an attitude that is wide spread among corporate America, which is that white guys are the best candidates for high level jobs. There are many intelligent women who are overlooked, underpaid, and pushed aside for white men with less credentials. Women get underpaid even at the executive level, a May 1987 report by Nation’s Business showed that “women at the vice presidential levels and above earn 42 percent less than their male peers.” That is a huge difference in pay. An example could be that if a female made $300,000 a year, a male counterpart doing exactly the same job would make about $450,000.

Women on Corporate Boards

Corporate boards are sadly similar in their numbers. Only 4.5 percent of the Fortune 500 industrial directorships are held by women. On Fortune Service 500 companies, only 5.6 percent of corporate directors are women. Women are making more progress in this arena then in the executive officer arena however. Although very few companies have women as a board director, a 1991 study by the Glass Ceiling Commission shows that 60 percent of Fortune 500 companies had women on their board.

Women Owned Companies

Many women are starting their own companies. These aren’t baby companies either. Large economy shaking companies such are E-bay are founded by women. This is one of the biggest factors in changing the way women are perceived in the workforce. On average, women owned companies hire a much more proportionate number of women and minorities than do their male counterparts (see figure 1). While women tend to hire half males and half females, men tend to hire only a third women and the rest men. Men on average prefer a two to one ratio of men to women. As men’s companies go up in value, they hire a smaller and smaller percentage of women.

Figure 1

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What’s Holding Women Back

Old Fashioned Views Against Women

The main things holding women back are old fashioned views about women. Women have traditionally been housekeepers and mothers, staying at home and taking orders from men. Women are raised to be diminutive, submissive, and never aggressive. They are taught not to raise their voices, be too direct, too forward, or argue. They are especially taught not to act this way around males. This idea stays ingrained in the U.S. culture and makes it very difficult to combat discrimination. The court systems are still allowed to take into account how a women dresses in sexual discrimination cases, saying that if they dress or act in a certain way they are “asking” for lewd comments and the offending male was not out of line. With laws like that, it is no wonder it is so hard for women to get equal treatment.

The “Good Old Boys”

This all ties into the “good old boys” idea that holds women back. The “good old boys” are comprised of white male executives who want to keep upper executive America made up of only white males. They consider women who are strong to be “feminazis” or “bitches”. A strong man on the other hand is considered to be determined, persistant, and great upper management material. These men want to promote other males which they have buddied up with in after-work activities which women are often excluded from. Women executives are frequently excluded from social activities and often describe the “clubbiness” among the men that exists at the top. The corporate executive suites are “the ultimate boys’ clubs.”

Even on a more formal level, women report there are

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