In my previous post I mentioned a phenomenon known as the glass ceiling. This is an imaginary barrier that allows people, in my case specifically women, to see a higher position in their career, but not achieve it due to certain prejudices associate with their gender. The numbers are mind-blowing when you take a look at them; only 4.6% of Fortune 500 companies have a woman as their CEO. How can we fix this?
After looking into what is exactly causing this problem, I came up with a few ways it might be solved. The main issue seems to lie in societal norms. Since women are looked at as the caretakers, they are supposed to not have as much time for a job, and thus cannot commit to being a CEO. Times are changing and this isn’t the case anymore. Since more women are entering the workforce, and more women are making work a priority, the title of CEO should be more accessible to them. In order to do this some standards should be set. There should be policies instated requiring companies to at least consider women for higher-level positions. A certain percentage of potential employees should be women when companies are looking to hire, and not fulfilling this standard will result in some sort of fine. This will not only give more women a chance at showing what they can do, but it will open up the company’s eyes and show that women have the potential to do just as well as a man. Even if a woman is not hired for the first position applied for, the company may consider her for something else.
The other side to this issue is the insecurity in women about achieving these high-level positions. Since they believe these societal norms and are scared that they will never be considered for high-level positions, they don’t even take the chance to apply. In order to fix this an organization should be formed, one full of women with high success in these better positions. This organization’s task would be to essentially show-off women who have made it big, giving those who may not believe as much the confidence to try and get to the top. Counseling can be provided on stipulations that if success is achieved, the counselors receive some sort of compensation. Rallies and events will be formed to reach a mass amount of people, spreading confidence to go for high-level positions to many. The organization will be run of equal parts man and woman to show that everyone is equal and an organization with both genders can be successful.
In the end it comes down to changing mindsets. If the companies looking to hire would consider women, and women would consider applying to some of these high-level positions, the glass ceiling can be shattered bringing equality to another sector in our country. It is not an issue that can be tackled overnight, but with enough dedication on both sides of the issue, it is something that can be done.
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/report/2014/03/07/85457/fact-sheet-the-womens-leadership-gap/
