Glass+Ceiling

Glass Ceiling

In 1986, the Wall Street Journal published a special edition article that detailed the inequality faced by women in their workplaces. To describe this concept of sexual discrimination in the Wall Street Journal used the terminology “glass ceiling” which is the invisible barriers in the business world that prevent women from advancing to top level or management positions in corporations. This “glass ceiling” affects women in general not just individuals, it keeps all females from reaching the jobs that they deserve and are capable of performing. This discrimination is seen in 1987 when it was shown that only two percent of top level jobs were held be female employees. There are said to be four major factors in society that contribute to the “glass ceiling”. First, women are generally excluded from the informal talks that happen in the business world. They also suffer from stereotypical views on their leadership abilities. Women additionally lack role models in these elevated business positions leaving little for them to aspire to. Finally, there are many contradicting expectations that are placed on women, they are expected to be tough but not macho like a man, they are expected to be responsible for their actions yet also be able to take orders and the most contradicting of all, women are expected to be ambitious yet at the same time not expect equal treatment in comparison to their coworkers.

The “glass ceiling” has mostly hampered the women’s movement. While it is now acceptable for women to hold jobs and have an income, they are restricted by the glass ceiling and prevented from working in a truly fair workplace environment. However, the concept of the restriction of women has been put into the words “glass ceiling” and this brings attention to the problem that is most obviously there. The issue is now addressed both in literature and legislation. Continuing on the introduction of the term in the Wall Street Journal many books and articles have been written highlighting progress and where changes still need to be made. The Civil Rights Act of 1991 was also a step in breaking the glass ceiling. This piece of legislation established the Glass Ceiling Commission whose stated objective was to combat the inequality that was face by women. However, this initiative does not seem to have had much effect on the proportion of women that are in the highest level management positions. A firm that tracks chief executives published data that showed .7% were women in 1998 and .7% were women in 2004. While they admitted there were small fluctuations it is clearly seen that while there have been valiant tries to break the “glass ceiling” it has not been shattered.

Fair Pay Act

The Fair Pay Act or FPA was passed in 2009 as President Obama’s first piece of legislation. The act started when Lilly Ledbetter complained that after 19 years that she was not paid as much as her male coworkers. The original version of the act was rejected by Congress in 2007, with John McCain opposed to it. Obama, before he became the President, supported it. The Fair Pay Act is an amendment to the Equal Pay Act which in turn was part of the Fair Labor Standard Act or FLSA. The FSLA of 1938 established minimum wages and overtime entitlement. The EPA of 1963 prohibited wage discrimination for gender and for same jobs. The FPA added onto these previous pieces of legislation by prohibiting any discrimination based on race, national origin, or sex for equal jobs. Additionally, companies cannot lower wages in order to meet the FPA’s requirements. Instead they must raise the women’s wages to accordingly match those of their male counterparts. There is a difference between //same// and //equal// jobs which distinguishes between the EPA and FPA. Equal jobs are defined in the FPA as when composite skill, effort, responsibility, and working condition are equal. The FPA tries to even the wage disparity between the female workers and grant them equality.

The Fair Pay Act and the legislation of which it is part of, has made progress in evening the playing field for women. In the 1960’s, women earned only sixty-five cents for every dollar that men earned. In 2007, women earned an average of only seventy-eight cents per dollar that men made which was an increase from previous years. However, this act will not change the discrimination against women drastically, nor increase the previous statistic significantly. This is because it suffers the weakness of being a complaint driven system. This means that the employee must file a complaint to attract attention to the discrimination being committed against them. Employees rarely have access to their coworker’s wage information making it difficult to distinguish if discrimination is taking place. While this act will not lead to significant changes, it represents a change in attitude towards wage fairness. As it was Obama’s first piece of legislation, the FPA gives the fight for equality in the workplace more support and more awareness. The FPA may not be able to produce significant results, but it is a step in the right direction towards equality.