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rewards of female labor surpass long-standing male dominance, the ladder of success will
remain a struggle for women inhibited by contained limitations.
GLASS CEILING: AN OVERVIEW
A special report printed in the Wall Street Journal in 1986 coined a phrase that has yet
to be understood and realized among the world of corporate women. The phrase “glass
ceiling” was introduced to exemplify a world where businesswomen in their attempt to reach
top positions were obstructed by corporate tradition and prejudice (Jackson, 2001).Glass
Ceiling can come in the form of common institutional restrictions or societal and cultural
perceptions due to which career oriented professional women encounter barriers that limit
their career progression. Sonnert and Holton (1996) stated that there are two most important
factors that creates glass ceiling. These factors are- structural obstacles and behavioral
differences. Structural obstacles include barriers defined by organizational practices and
policies. Behavioral differences are reflected in corporate culture and societal traditions.
They further proposed Deficit and Difference Models to explain the barrier forms.
The Deficit Model refers to the structural barriers that prevent women from advancing
beyond a certain level. The Difference Model emphasizes the behavioral and cultural beliefs
that reduce the female desires to achieve success. While women are increasing their numbers
in the labor force, it does not indicate that they successfully reach higher positions also. Their
ambition to advance is suppressed by inadequate exposure to career building blocks such as
professional leadership, training, and experience .These factors come under structural
components. Beneath these structural factors of the glass ceiling there are behavioral
impediments of the Difference Model which includes gender stereotypes and expectations.
Corporate culture nurtures the advancement of male careers by favoring the male workers
over women.
In 1991, in an effort to empower women and as part of the Civil Rights Act, a Glass
Ceiling Commission was appointed by the executive branch and chaired by the Secretary of
Labor. The commission included 21 members. The aim of the commission was to identify
blockages and broaden career possibilities and progression options for women and minorities.
The commission redefined the concept as “invisible, artificial barriers that prevent qualified
individuals from advancing within their organization and reaching full potential” (The Glass
Ceiling Commission, 2003).
EMPLOYMENT STATUS OF WOMEN AT HIGHER LEVELS: GLOBAL
OVERVIEW
According to a study conducted by executive search firm EMA Partners, the famous
global executive search firm, there are 11 out of 240 large companies in India has appointed
Women CEO. These companies included Indian owned as well as multinational, private as
well as state-owned firms. On the other side there are only 3 per cent of the Fortune 500
companies have women CEOs. The figures clearly state that women are under-represented on
the higher positions across the world. According to a rough estimate by James Douglas ,
Chairman , EMA International about 50 per cent of our population is female, about 50 per
cent of staff is female in the job market, but the gender is hugely unrepresented in boards and
at the CEO level. Out of 1,000 public companies in the USA, with at least $1 billion in
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annual revenue, there are only 30 female CEOs. In the UK's FTSE 100 list there were just
three female CEO. The number is really surprising and de motivating.
A study conducted by International Labour Organization(ILO) in December 1997 on
'Women's progress in workforce' stated that though women had made substantial progress in
closing the gender gap in managerial and professional jobs, still women are barred from the
top positions, in both the private and public sectors. In Fortune 500 survey it was found that
while women hold 40 per cent of all management positions in America, in Europe the figure
are between 20 and 30 per cent. American women held only 11 per cent of board seats in the
top 500 companies. In Britain, women held only 5 per cent of board seats in the top 200
companies. Further, it was observed that despite China's two decades of formal commitment
to sexual equality, there were no female business leaders of note. Similarly, in Japan the
rigidity of the corporate culture kept women out of the executive suite.
In a research survey conducted in Japan in July 1999 it was found that, the number of
female company presidents had crossed the 60,000 mark. But that was just 5 per cent of the
country's 1.14 million companies. It is disheartening to note that in countries like Japan
women face major hurdles while trying to move up the corporate ladder. Many companies
push women to quit when they marry or when they reach their mid-30s.Sari Baldauf , took
her first senior management position at Nokia and visited the company's German operations.
She experienced that workers could not accept her as the top management employee and
treated her as secretary of the company. These figures and incidents clearly show that women
all over the world are battling against such attitudes and emerging challenges. A data from
the ILO’s Yearbook of Labour Statistics (2003), from 63 countries in 1996-99 and 2000-02 in
which 48 were selected using ISCO-88 classification and 15 using ISCO-19682 showed that
women held 30 to 60 per cent of professional jobs in 45 out of 63 countries in 2000-02.
In 2000-02, women’s overall share of managerial jobs was between 20 and 40 per
cent in 48 out of the 63 countries it was clearly evident that the women were noticeably
under-represented in managerial jobs as compared to their overall share of employment. In 15
countries using the ICSO-1968 classification women’s share of managerial jobs also
increased by 1.0 to 5.0 per cent in 7 countries between 1996-99 and 2000-02. The United
States had the highest share of women administrative and managerial workers (45.9 per cent.
Similarly, Japan had (8.9 per cent), Pakistan (8.7), Bangladesh (8.5 per cent), and Saudi
Arabia (0.9 per cent) had the lowest. In Sri Lanka, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Bangladesh, the
share of women in managerial jobs was less than half of their share of total employment.
GLASS CEILING: INDIAN SCENARIO
Indian women have played an important role in cracking glass ceiling through their
talent, skills and dedication. Indira Nooyi joined Pepsi Co. in 1994 and turned the company
into a bold risk taker. Wall Street Journal included her name in their top 50 women in 2005.
Fortune magazine declared her 11th most powerful women in business. Alpana Morparia and
Lalita Gupte, Joint Managing Directors of ICICI Bank, the second largest bank of India
brought a turnaround in the company. Ms. Kalpana Morparia became Executive Director,
ICICI in 2001. In 1999, for her contribution in Finance and Banking sector in India, Indian
Merchants' Chamber awarded her for her performance. Vidya Manohar Chhabria, Chairman,
Jumbo Group.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw—Biocon became the first female master brewer and the
richest woman in India. Simone Tata—Managing Director (former) Lakme , Also known as
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Cosmetic Czarina of India with her visions, changed a small unknown cosmetics company,
one of the subsidiaries of Tata Oil Mills, into one of the leading cosmetic companies of India.
Lakme changed the face of Indian fashion and cosmetics forever. Indu Jain- Chairperson
(former), was the Chairman of the The Times Group, the biggest and the most powerful
media house in India. Priya Paul—Apeejay Surrendra Group,Sulajja Firodia Motwani—
Kinetic Motor, Joint Managing Director of Kinetic, and the Managing Director of Kinetic
Finance. Neelam Dhawan—Managing Director, Microsoft also brought pride and name to
Indian women.
However we have another side of the picture also. The sex‐ratio i.e number of women
per 1000 men was 933 in 2001 and is 944 in 2011. As per census 2001, the number of
workers in the urban areas was 92.28 million of which only 16.10 million were females. In
rural areas, out of 310 million workers, 111 million were females. 42.95 of the rural female
working population was engaged as agricultural Labour. Women constituted 90 per cent of
the total marginal workers of the country. As per NSS (National Sample Survey) 64th Round,
2007‐08, the workforce participation rate of females in rural sector was 28.9 on the other
hand for males it was 54.8. In Urban sector, this rate was 13.8 for females and 55.4 for males.
As per the findings of Quarterly Employment Review, Ministry of Labour, the total
employment of women in organized sector was 19.5percent in 2007.
In June 2009, out of 40 Cabinet Ministers it was surprising to see that there were only
three female Cabinet Minister and 4 female Ministers of State (MOS) out of 38 in 2009. As
on June 2009, there was no Female Judge out of 24 Judges in the Supreme Court. In the High
Courts, there were only 51 Female Judges among the total of 649 judges. However in 2011
the Supreme Court had two women judges. Once correctly identified and observed,
organizations can adopt strategies to eliminate the hurdle of success and can capitalize on the
strength and support. Further ,it is not only the CEO’s job to bring change instead women can
also help themselves to gain experience and career advancement. Building self-confidence,
self-motivation and setting role models for the success are some of the steps that women
employees can take. Some of the initiatives taken by Indian Government has put some effort
for removing hurdles to women growth . Some of them are- Women Labour Cell, Equal
Remuneration Act, 1976; Grants-in-aid Scheme ,Supreme Court Guidelines on Sexual
Harassment of Women Workers ,.Maternity Benefit Act,1961: ,National Commission for
Women: Reservation for Women in Local Self –Government ;National Policy for the
Empowerment of Women, 2001
CONCLUSION
Conventionally, women have been under-represented in organizations and the dispute
for equal opportunity employment has not given sufficient results in India. As organizations
struggle with a scarcity for talent, smarter companies are beginning to recognize the
opportunity in grooming and retaining women. The fact that legislation, labor policies, and
cultural perceptions are incrementally changing to reduce the gap between male and female
employment can’t be denied, but there is a lot of work to be done. The survival of women in
a kind of work cultures that are dominated by male ideology also depends on their
willingness to confront barriers. Hence, strong determination, motivation and continuous
learning on the part of women supplemented by initiatives by government and organizational
support can bring a significant change.
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