As a society there have been many laws passed in order to try and curb gender discrimination in the workplace along with sexual harassment. But there hasn't been much of a change seen in the workplace (Bjorklund, 2010)
And some challenge that the glass ceiling should be substituted by a different metaphor. No matter where one stands on the issue of a glass ceiling, there's no denying that women are underrepresented in the top ranks of corporate America, and they continue to earn less money than men every year (Yung, 2012)
This sort of imbalance on the educational side would have two implications. The first is that the glass ceiling would be perpetuated, especially in conjunction with the realization that family obligations are keeping 22% of women with higher degrees out of the workforce at any given time (Hewlett, 2002)
Burns began her career at Xerox in 1980 as a mechanical engineering summer intern and worked in various product development teams until 2000 (Ursula Burns, 2014). Promoted to senior vice president of Xerox in 2000, Burns was subsequently promoted again a few months later to senior vice president of corporate strategic services (Alleyne, 2010)
6). In addition, Burns believes that it is necessary for her to be able to accurately forecast changes and identify new opportunities in the global business services sector and develop the corresponding strategies to help lead Xerox repurpose itself in the future (Brimhall, Greif & Buchsbaum, 2013)
99). Finally, Burns has inculcated a corporate culture that makes employees feel like members of a big family and promoted a better work-life balance for Xerox employees (Bryant, 2010)
A summary of the research and important findings concerning Burns' leadership and attributes are provided in the conclusion. Review and Analysis Background of Ursula Burns According to one biographer, "[Ursula Burns] was brought up by a single mother on a tough estate on Manhattan's Lower East Side" (Edwards, 2010, p
4). This change in Xerox's corporate culture was due in part to a seminal study conducted by Xerox and the Ford Foundation, "Rethinking Life and Work" which determined that "employers that don't consider how employees' family and work responsibilities affect each other hinder an organization's ability to be fully productive" (Lewison, 2006, p
The company has some resources and guidelines available for these purposes to help them stay ahead of the competition and achieve a competitive advantage. In this regard, one Xerox executive explains that, "Companies have to learn faster than anyone else, share the results of that learning across the enterprise, and constantly foster the development and sharing of new knowledge" (Typaldos, 2012, p
Create and implement leadership development programs for women, including international assignments, if applicable" (Lockwood, 2004). Diversity training is also recommended, as long as it includes feminist studies, and may also include sensitivity training, which is "designed to sensitize individuals to feelings provoked by discrimination" (Arai et al
, 1995). Another study, this one of "most admired companies," revealed that diversity initiatives, which would include initiatives regarding women, "productivity, competitiveness, and workplace harmony" (Ivancevich & Gilbert, 2000)
Preceding that, however, is the first encounter with the glass ceiling. "Because the boomers make up such a large cohort of workers, many have experience a plateauing early in their career" (Johnson & Indvik, 1997)
Finally, affirmative action plans in effect at many companies have not helped because, says Kelly (1993), the programs have not yet reached critical mass. His theory regarding this postulates that "If you have only 80 minority professionals out of 800 professionals, then you may not have critical mass for minorities at the professional level" (Kelly, 1993)
" They also enumerate a number of those factors, especially the educational factors. They note findings of a National Science Foundation report that says: Women still take fewer high-level math and science courses in high school Women earn fewer science and engineering bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degrees Women remain less likely than white males to be employed in science and engineering" (Lemons & Parzinger, 2001)
The report, about corporate women, "most frequently refers to barriers faced by women who attempt, or aspire, to attain senior positions (as well as higher salary levels) in corporations, government, education and nonprofit organizations. It can also refer to racial and ethnic minorities and men when they experience barriers to advancement" (Lockwood, 2004)
Some reported having encountered barriers such as biased attitudes and gender discrimination. However, age and salary data are evidence of general procedural fairness and compliance with equal employment opportunity policies, not of policy failures forming a glass ceiling (Mani, 1996)
For example, Wisconsin turned out to be one of fives states in which "women experienced all forms of sexual harassment more than men. Of high-level female public administrators in these five states, six to sixteen percent experienced unwelcome sexual advances; eleven to 24% experienced requests for sexual favors; fourteen to 36% experienced offensive physical contact and 33 to 60% experienced some offensive verbal behavior" (Marlow et al
Cotter, Hermsen, Ovadia, & Vanneman (2001) found "evidence of a glass ceiling for women, but racial inequalities among men do not follow a similar pattern." A "distinctively gender phenomenon," the glass ceiling does impact the barriers that women experience (Cotter et al
Tesch, Wood, Helwig, and Nattinger (1995) found that among medical school faculty, women physicians are promoted more slowly than men. "Gender differences in rank achieved are not explained by productivity or by differential attrition from academic medicine," (Tesch et al
Even though women hold managerial positions, few have made breakthroughs to top level positions.' (Adair, 1994)