No doubt today those numbers have increased. Others have suggested that "Old Boy Networks" favor men simply because the networks are composed of men who have worked together for a long time (Hamm-Greenawalt, 2000)
What is the Glass Ceiling? Women define the glass ceiling as conditions at work where their contributions are not recognized or valued; nobody takes them seriously; they feel isolated as either the only woman or just one of a few; and they feel like a minority. Women complain that they are excluded from informal networks and socializing, such as going to lunch and playing golf -- and this is important because "The golf course is where strategic alliances can be formed -- relationships with co-workers, supervisors, and executives who can further your cause" (Jenkins, 2004, p
239). Later on, boys will enroll in advanced computer classes, but girls will be in word processing and other clerical support programs (Sadker, 2002)
That is no longer true, of course, and leaders agree that the glass ceiling is not as sturdy as it once was. Women have entered all areas of business and make up 50% of management positions (Solomon, 2000)
But statements of support from Republicans ensured that the bill known as the Employment Non-Discrimination Act could attract the necessary 60 votes to overcome any additional procedural hurdles." (Memoli) This is truly a remarkable victory experienced by gay individuals and their supporters in the U
There are many negative stereotypes that are fueling the so called "latest civil rights struggle," as Colbert had previously mentioned. Many studies, according to the Health Education Journal, have shown that "adults characterize obese people by negative attributes such as lazy, unattractive, unhappy, unpopular and sloppy" (Anesbury, & Tiggeman, 1999)
The concept of Weightism is, as Colbert states, a civil rights struggle for those who find themselves overweight, obese or morbidly obese. Weight discrimination, or "Weightism," "occurs in employment settings and daily interpersonal relationships virtually as often as race discrimination, and in some cases even more frequently than age or gender discrimination" and is based around one's weight (Dye, 2008)
A study has shown that the "paychecks of obese workers are, on average, about 2.5% less than the paychecks of their thinner counterparts in the same profession" (Jones, 2008)
But more importantly, the issue of weight controllability also falls into the broader category of the "fat stigma" that is infiltrating the workplace in modern day society. There is a large public health focus on the "You can Change" or "This is your fault" which is counterproductive to the overall effort to reduce weight discrimination (Parker-Pope, 2011)
The flaw with this idea, that the population at large does not realize that there are a myriad of factors that are not in an obese individual's control including genetic makeup which makes some individuals more susceptible to being obese, ethnicity, height, medical conditions, among other factors. In a study that used three separate experiments to draw conclusions, it seems that "providing information about the uncontrollable causes of obesity and supposed scientific prevalence of traits improved attitudes" (Pulh, Schwartz, & Brownell, 2004)
1% of the overall workforce, as compared to 3.6% in the previous ten years (Burnett, 2012)