Female Participation in the Workforce and the Glass Ceiling Effect

Running head: ORGANISATION BEHAVIOUR
O R G A N I S A T I O N B E H A V I O U R

ORGANISATION BEHAVIOUR 2
INTRODUCTION
This essay presents the argument on the give statement ‘Female participation in the
workforce has risen sharply in the last two decades’. At the same time, the advancement of
females in organizations seems to be hindered by the ‘glass ceiling’.
FEMALE PARTICIPATION IN THE WORKFORCE HAS RISEN
SHARPLY IN THE LAST TWO DECADES. AT THE SAME TIME THE
ADVANCEMENT OF FEMALES IN ORGANISATIONS SEEMS TO BE
HINDERED BY THE ‘GLASS CEILING’
The glass ceiling effect is defined as the barrier that restricts the women from advancing to
the higher position at the workplace. It is a kind of gender discrimination. It is related to the
human resources, which is most significant resources to get the competitive benefits in the
workplace. At the same time, gender stereotyping, leadership stereotyping and generation
bias is the distinct paths to leadership amid men and women. It also contributed to fewer
women in a powerful position in leadership. It is stated that career advancement is a function
of both organizations as well as individual factors (Patwardhan, Mayya, and Joshi, 2017).
The glass ceiling and stereotyping are identified as the key organizational factors, which
contributes to the underrepresentation of women at senior ranks. There is also need to assess
their career aspiration and work on creating effective careers. It is assessed that there are
some women who do not plan their career and this deficiency is one of the key impairments
to the career advancement of women (Upadhyay, Singh, and Singh, 2016). There is not only
some woman fails to plan their career, but also most of the women still have not learned how
to plan and organize their career effectively.
It is argued that the women have lack of courage to plan their careers and their own fears of
doubts limit them. In addition, their careers mostly have been intended to take restraints into
account at the workplace. A woman who faces barriers in the workplace requires different

ORGANISATION BEHAVIOUR 3
career development strategy. It is stated that career development of women may not differ
fundamentally from men. The career development for women is significantly more complex
due to barriers forced by gendered social contexts. In support of this, some authors stated that
the difference in career development shows that men consistently position themselves with
the end objectives in the mind while women tend to highlight too much of their efforts on the
current phenomenon. It is evaluated that multitude of barriers are faced by women on their
way of leadership (Rhode, 2016). Women have a need to get navigate on their journey but, it
is indicated that the routes to the company do not suitable for them.
It is argued that there is a number of concern faced by the female managers at the workplace.
Furthermore, the career of women and personal life are linked hence women search for the
best fit amid successful professional and personal lives. But, it is identified that there are
several organizations, which faces 1950s framework. The organizational realities demand the
separation of life and careers, and families hence there are complexities for women to grow
their career. It is also addressed that company primarily reward upwardly mobile career paths
to women at the workplace (Turner, Bernstein, Taylor, Asangba, Bekelman, Cramer, and
Middleton, 2018).
In support to this, it is stated that experience of women in management has been increasing in
last two decades. The unique challenges faced by the female supervisor in male-oriented
company deserve further responsiveness. Moreover, gender stereotypes; bias, inflexible
working arrangements, sexual harassment, bias and strong trust on long working hours
creates challenges for women in the organization. It is also addressed that there are certain
complexities in implementing external control like health and safety regulations, employment
law, and managerial authority. It is also caused by those challenges. Along with this,
maintenance of the masculinization of the project, role incongruity barriers and the masculine