Glass Ceiling Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Glass Ceiling - Research Paper Example This means that even though women are currently able to move up to higher positions, at a certain point they are stopped by an unseen barrier. This is experienced by those who are hindered from being promoted because of their ethnic affiliation and/or because they are women. Still, progress has been made in the last ten years. According to the CEO of Highfield Human Solutions, Sherilyn Shackell, â€Å"There is no doubt that women have progressed considerably among our global workforce, especially over the last few decades† (AMA, 2010, para 7). She further added, â€Å"Yet, despite reports that women are breaking through the ‘glass ceiling,’ it appears that the ceiling is just ‘slightly cracked’ rather than broken† (AMA, 2010, para 7). The International Institute for Management Development (IMD) research in 2010 reported several disturbing trends: a mere 20 per cent of all executives are women, with almost 50 per cent of respondents admitting the total absence of women within the executive committee group; and, roughly 10 per cent of executive members belong to minority groups (AMA, 2010, para 4-6). Still, in spite of all the protests against the glass ceiling, corporate America is in fact accomplishing much in terms of allowing women to occupy powerful corporate positions. In fact, as stated in the survey of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United States has the least discrepancy between the percentage of women occupying senior management posts and the percentage of male senior managers (Rampell, 2013). Since the 1960s’ social turmoil, the American government has been vigorously engaged in prohibiting gender discrimination in organizations. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the key statute addressing the issues of glass ceiling. The law firmly forbids all kinds of discrimination based on national origin, sex, religion, or race in the workplace (Palmer &