Womens Glass Ceiling Essay - 1703 Words

Women are ready and able to occupy top executive positions. This was the case in the inspiring story of Gert Boyle. When her husband died of a heart attack, he left her with a debt-ridden company and no knowledge on how to run it. In spite of that, thirty two years later, she has turned Columbia Sportswear Inc. into a successful outerwear company, competing with North Face and REI. She had to make difficult decisions along the way, including once she had to fire 55 employees as a strategy due to low margin profits. Nevertheless, Mrs. refocused on new ways to push the company forward by listening to her customers’ requests. Since 1984, sales have grown from $3 million to over $700 million (Ivanevich, 2002). Today more women are†¦show more content†¦Almost half, 46.3 percent of the companies have no female directors, and 30 percent have no female directors. Despite increasing number of women in corporate America, women are undeniably underrepresented in most powerfu l executive positions (Gile-Olivarez, 2009). Few lines about the work of author Hilary Cosell (1985) who wrote the next few words, in her Book titled Woman on a Seesaw: â€Å"I think we’re being terribly misled about how much success woman as a group have achieved and about how real that success actually is. I think there may bitter day of reckoning for many of us that’s not too far off. A day where women will say: I gave up my personal life, I destroyed my marriage, I did not have children, I gave up this and gave up that and what was it for? I still have not been able to achieve the way men do, in the same arena they do, the way I was told I could. Let’s face it: women are no longer disenfranchised, but we do not have anything like the power of the white male corporate establishment. I do not know if we will ever acquire that kind of power but if we do, it is not going to be anytime in the near future† (Morrison, 1992). The words of Hilary Cosell are indeed discouraging but she seems to hit â€Å"right on† some of the issues that women experience while placing themselves last. Subsequently, finding they are giving up, and /or balancing family and career. Clearly, Mrs. Cosell struggled with the jobShow MoreRelatedThe Glass Ceiling Effect: Women’s Career Advancement in Puerto Rico4525 Words   |  19 PagesThe Glass Ceiling Effect: Women’s Career Advancement in Puerto Rico à ngela Ramos Pà ©rez May 7, 2008 2 Index Chapter One .....................................................................................................................................3 Introduction..................................................................................................................................3 Purpose for the Study.......................................................................Read MoreWomen’s Income Inequality and The American Dream Essay1358 Words   |  6 Pagesunder what is known as the â€Å"Glass Ceiling†. Women do not get promoted in the work place and aren’t getting equal pay as men. This also leads to wag gap between the men and women. Both create income inequality for women and affect their American Dream. 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