The Glass Ceiling
The Findings and Recommendations of the Federal Glass Ceiling Commission
"For people confronting these barriers, it's discrimination plain and simple."
René Redwood, Washington, D.C.
Published in In Motion Magazine, October 2, 1996

Women as managers

In 1990 the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the number of female managers -- defined by the federal government as executives, administrators, and managers -- was 6 million. The number of male managers was 9 million.

Private surveys conducted by Korn/Ferry and Catalyst, show that women represent from 3 percent to 5 percent of all senior managers -- vice president and above -- in the private sector. In 1991, then Secretary of Labor Lynn Martin released a Department of Labor Glass Ceiling report which showed that women held only 6.6 percent of executive level jobs in the 94 companies surveyed.

Popular stereotypes

The findings of a 1992 Korn/Ferry Survey of women in senior management positions in the Fortune 1000 industrial and 500 service companies refute many of the popular stereotypes about women that have been cited for why "they are not senior management material." For example,

• Women are not as committed to their careers as men, yet only a third of the women had ever taken a leave of absence. Almost two-thirds of these leaves were for less than six months and 82 percent of these leaves were for maternity or other family reasons. If maternity is controlled for, more men in the Korn/Ferry surveys took leaves of absence than did women.
  
• Women will not work long hours, yet the respondents in the Korn/Ferry survey worked an aver age of 56 hours a week in 1992. This is the same number of hours reported by their male counter parts in a similar 1989 Korn/Ferry survey.
  
• Women cannot or will not relocate, yet only 14.1 percent of the women in the 1992 survey refused relocation. Twenty percent of their male counterparts reported refusing relocation in the 1989 Korn/Ferry survey. It is interesting to note that Korn/Ferry found that women are not asked to relocate as frequently as men. The failure to provide this opportunity may prejudice their chances for advancement.
  
• Women lack quantitative skills, yet 23 percent of women and 27 percent of men have spent most of their corporate careers in finance. Sixteen percent of men and 26 percent of women are in the commercial banking or diversified financial sectors.
  
• Women are warmer and more nurturing than men, yet "concern for people" was cited as important by 33 percent of men and only 18 percent of women in the Korn/Ferry surveys.
  
  

• The Glass Ceiling
  The Findings and Recommendations of the Federal Glass Ceiling Commission
  "For people confronting these barriers, it's discrimination plain and simple."
  René Redwood, Washington, D.C.
  Published in In Motion Magazine, October 2, 1996
  
  
• Interview with René Redwood
  Affirmative Action and the Civil Rights Movement
  The positive impact of affirmative action
  is a fact in our daily lives
  Washington, D.C.
  Published in In Motion Magazine March 6, 1999