THE GLASS CEILING: WOMEN AND MINORITIES ARE NOT RISING TO THE TOP POSITIONS
What is this glass ceiling? It is simply the imaginary line that minorities and women can’t seem to cross to get into the top positions at a company. While they may be just as qualified, they can’t seem to get promoted, or get the pay and recognition of their male white colleagues. Additionally, many get pushed into taking non-executive roles in administration or lateral moves that prevent a higher pay raise.
While more women and minorities are becoming better educated, and better represented in the workforce, they are still not rising to the top positions. According to a UC Davis study done in October of 2007, “[a]bout half of California businesses do not have female executives, only 3 percent have women CEOs, and business women's progress in the state has been "negligible". “The study examined 400 of the largest publicly traded companies with headquarters in California, with the smallest company pulling in $128 million a year.” With these kinds of statistics in the large companies in California, the problem is even more widespread when looking to smaller companies as well.
The problem isn’t limited to women alone though. Many of the men who advance to top positions are White-Anglo Saxons. “[M]inorities seeking success in the workplace regularly encounter a variety of roadblocks…” many of their successes are “attributed to affirmative action or luck, and not skill and talent as with their white peers. To overcome these obstacles, minorities often find they must perform above and beyond what is expected in order to get the same treatment of others that have lower levels of performance, and still many continue to earn significantly less than their white peers.”
Many times this glass ceiling affects the entire office where you work. If you and others at your California place of work are not being promoted due to your race, ethnicity, or gender, call the Law Offices of Greenberg & Rudman LLP at 1-800-252-9776 for a free consultation regarding your legal rights and how the law may be able to help you.
