May 01, 2008
Discrimination
The "Workplace Communication" study also highlights the glass ceiling found in organizations in the professional environment. Women seem only able to reach a certain point until their advancement slows due to the perceptions found in the media and common beliefs of society. When women harshly criticize each other and feel that men are stronger leaders, it is very difficult to advance because of all of the negative feedback. This discrimination seems to bypass gender lines and point to women being discriminated against by everyone not just men, as most may believe. It is important that women realize the negative forces against them. The ability to lead effectively starts with the confidence to continue pursuing positions of higher authority, responsibility and leadership. When the attitude and the increased awareness of the groups expectations female leaders will be better equipped to meet both the expectations of the group and the organization.
2 comments:
I think this is definitely true...so many times i have seen women wanting to be secretaries and nurses...have more caretaker or supportive roles. There is noting wrong with these jobs at all, I think they are jobs that are definitely needed...but here are often not men pursuing these jobs
At the risk of sounding argumentative, has anyone even talked about the discrimination against men? I fully understand (and believe me I do because I am a woman) the difficulties and opposition that many, many women face in the workplace and career advancement. I would argue however, that men are also discriminated against at times and have opposition too. It may look very different and may not even be as frequent in nature but it does exist.
Furthermore (golly I'm feeling feisty tonight ;) with perhaps the exception of some, is it possible that perhaps a number of women simply like, or are naturally better at, roles that take on more of a supportive/caretaker and many men are interested in areas that allow them to work with their hands, be aggressive (even if it is in a business negotiation), etc.
For the sake of argument, I would like to state that this just possibly could be the case and as such, maybe we don't really need to push quite so hard for women to get their butts in gear and grab hold of the ladder that takes 'em all the way to the top! To that statement, I'd like to add the exception that for those women who are interested then it should be a little easier (and by that I mean equal to what it would be for men) for them to climb as high as they desire and are qualified to go.
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