BUSINESS LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

Business Leadership and Management



Business Leadership and Management

Unfortunately, in 2007, women and minorities are still confronted with the idea of the “glass ceiling” or “glass cliff” in corporate America. The term glass ceiling refers to situations where the upward advancement of an individual in the workplace is limited; this is usually based on gender or race. This type of drawback is not immediately apparent and is an unwritten and unofficial “policy.”

It is apparent that this type of discriminatory management is in full swing at many companies. For example, a study commissioned by the Federal Glass Ceiling Commission found that 97% of the senior managers of the Fortune 1000 and Fortune 500 are white, and 95-97% are male. This is happening while 57% of the workforce is an ethnic minority, female, or both.

Statistics

Women on the Board of Directors*

• Women hold 11.1% of board member positions in the Fortune 500 companies.

86% of Fortune 500 companies have at least one or more women directors; 14% have no women on their boards.

• 188 companies in the Fortune 500 have 2 or more women directors; 34 companies have three or more women directors.

• Of Fortune 100 companies, 97% have at least 1 woman on their boards.

• Women represent 1.1% of inside directors on the boards of Fortune 500 companies. Out of 1,173 women, only 13 women are inside directors.

Women Executives*

• 11.2% of corporate officers are women

• 75% of Fortune 500 companies have at least 1 women officer

• Over half of Fortune 500 companies have more than 1 female corporate officer.

• 6% of corporate officers holding line jobs are women, while 94% are men

• Savings institutions are the industry with the most women at the top—32% of corporate officers are women. Other top industries include: diversified financials (30%), publishing/printing (26%), and transportation equipment (24%).

• 2 industry groups have no women corporate officers: trucking and textiles; others with low representation include electronics, semiconductors (2%), and waste management (3%)

• Women make up 2.7% of top earners - the 5 most highly paid officers at Fortune 500 companies, compared to men who make up 97.3% of top earners

Women of Color in Corporate Management*

• Women of color are much more likely than white women to cite lack of a mentor/sponsor as a barrier to advancement (47% vs. 29%)

• 50% of women of color attribute their career success to "access to high-visibility assignments."

• More than half (53%) of women of color believe that corporate diversity programs are less than effective in dealing with issues of subtle racism

• 17% of women of color say their managers are held accountable for advancement of women of their own racial/ethnic group

• Women of color represent just under 1 person of total board seats

There are several reasons why gender and racial discrimination still occur in corporate America. First, women executives are mainly in two types of jobs, staff jobs and support jobs, which offer little opportunity for getting to the top of the corporate ladder. A Wall Street Journal survey found that the highest ...