Women+in+the+Work+Force

__Women in the Workforce __

Glass Ceiling Women make up half of the workforce in the United States but only 3% in the largest service and industrial companies are able to break through what is called "the glass ceiling" in Corporate America. The glass ceiling is defined as a transparent barrier that keeps women from going above a certain level in coroporations and it only applies to women. The glass ceiling may exist at different levels in different places but most of the time it is below general management positions. Panes are part of the glass ceiling. Panes are certain areas where if pressure is applied women may be able to shatter the glass ceiling. There are six different panes.

Pane 1- Organization size. Most women that are on top management positions are not in very large companies. There annual salaries are on average 61,000 dollars. Some women leave Corporate America to create or join entrepreneurial or small businesses. Sometimes women find it easier to make there own glass ceiling. Starting a small or medium employer may be important if you want to continue having a career in today's work force.

Pane 2- Perceptions of women's equality at work. There are gender differences in attitudes towards men and women as equals in the matched sample of female and male top level executives. Here is an example of inequality and equality taken from Scandura, Terri. "Women can shatter job barriers." USA Today. "Women can handle job pressures as well as men" (indicating equality) and "Male managers are more valuable than female managers" (indicating inequality)." Overall, men usually get to a higher position in corporate america than women.

Pane 3- Career paths in the business. Women have held relatively high levels, holding positions equal in rank, budget, managerial authority and responsibility to the men in their company. Females that have attained high organization ranks, were employed in line, instead of staff positions. A line position is related to revenue generating functions of the business and contributes to the bottom line. Staff positions for example are nursing and processing. It is no secret that women are more often to not have access to the inside track to the top of the company!

Pane 4- Career relatated attitudes. Women are stereotyped to have a poor attitudes, don't take there career seriously and cant handle job pressure as well as men. But actually they are just as loyal, commited and have similar personalities in the work force as men. Women are still trying to figure out how to change this stereotype.

Pane 5- Women and men have a different perception of their own future in a company. These attitudes are important since women may impose psychological limitations on their own oppurtunities, thereby limiting their chances of going upward in their company.

Pane 6- Career family issues and family policy. It is reported that women who have children in there home that are under the age of 18 (dependent children) have had more thoughts of quitting, lower progress expectation and are usually more stressed out.

The glass ceiling is something women have been trying to shatter for years and still have not been able to hopefully in the next coming years the glass ceiling will have a few cracks and we will have more women in power.



**Stay at Home moms vs. Stay at Home dads** In the olden days the "American" family was a wife at home with the kids and a husband who had a job and came home to a nice warm dinner. There was not really a middle. Now a days women and men both can work and there is a new trend starting of stay at home dads. It has not been very widely accepted. There is a stereotype put on women that they are more nurturing while men are more emotionally "tough." That is not necessarily true, men are mostly as nurturing as women. It has been said that stay at home moms are more likely to be not as well educated or born in another country besides America. For example, the education level of nearly one in five mothers at home was less than a high school degree.  vs. Home