Managing Workplace Relations Individual Assignment Andreas Athanasiou 5697018

Women and the glass ceiling in Australia: Myth or Reality? Discuss.

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on whether the glass ceiling exists in Australia today. It uses extracts from books, newspaper articles, magazine articles & online journals to explain all the main arguments from both sides of the debate. Comparison between Australia and the rest of the world using recent & old statistics from multiple sources give a conclusion that the glass ceiling in Australia doesnt exist anymore. This paper will give the reader a clear look at how the glass ceiling was shattered and why it appears that the majority of the rest of the worlds women still face discrimination in the workplace.

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Managing Workplace Relations Individual Assignment Andreas Athanasiou 5697018

Women and the glass ceiling in Australia: myth or reality? Discuss

INTRODUCTION The term glass ceiling refers to circumstances where the advancement of a person in an organisation is blocked at a lower lever because of some form of discrimination, and not because of lack of qualifications (BtGC.com, 2008). This term is most commonly used in sexism situations (which this report is focused on), but it can also refer to the restricted progression of the handicapped, aged & minorities. Glass ceiling is defined as an invisible (unwritten & unofficial) barrier that determines the level to which a person (in our case, a female) can rise in an organisation (McKay, 2008). It uses extracts from books, newspaper articles, magazine articles & online journals to explain all the main arguments from both sides of the debate. However, most journals & articles were very one-sided and delivered different statistics. This paper will show us how women fare in politics, in the police force, in major ASX 200 companies etc & the law behind it all. We also see the way managers, companies, employers and women and men themselves see the glass ceiling. Radical feminism is also discussed and how it views discrimination against women. It is a philosophy that highlights the patriarchal roots of unfairness between men and women. Radical feminism views patriarchy as separating rights, privileges and authority primarily by the gender of the individual and as a result oppressing women and privileging men (Lewis, 2008). GENDER POLITICS A 2008 study conducted by TIME Magazine reported that the average of all the worlds government cabinets showed that only 14.5% of them are occupied by women (Time Magazine, 2008) & only 3 countries had a majority of female ministers (Finland, Norway & Spain). When comparing all the different regions, North & South America had an average of 22.9% combined, followed by Europe (22.4%), Africa (18.3%), Asia/Pacific (9.1%) & the Middle East (with just 7.1%). It should be noted that the western region of Europe had the highest average in the world & 13 countries had not even one female cabinet minister.

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Managing Workplace Relations Individual Assignment Andreas Athanasiou 5697018

Figure 1.1 Gender Politics Chart (Time Magazine, 2008) In contrast to the rest of the world, Australias average of female cabinet ministers is around 29.7%, a percentage significantly higher than the 14.5% world average (Time Magazine, 2008). If we were to only use these statistics as an argument for this topic, the conclusion would be that since Australia has one of the highest percentages of women in politics (and possibly double the amount of the U.S. 23.8%), 2 times the world-wide average & 3 times its region average, there is no such thing as a glass ceiling in Australia. WOMEN IN THE POLICE FORCE The Victorian Police was a 100% male dominated organisation up until 1917, when it took small steps toward including women in policing. It followed the example of the New South Wales & Adelaide police forces which had employed policewomen just 2 years earlier (Policelife Magazine, 2007). 26 years later, the first female senior constable was introduced and in 2001, the first female chief commissioner in Australia, Christine Nixon (AAP, 2001). This was a huge step towards completely breaking the glass ceiling in Australia, at least when it came to the police force, and today almost a quarter of police in Victoria are female (Szoke, 2008).
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Managing Workplace Relations Individual Assignment Andreas Athanasiou 5697018

However, in 2007, the glass ceiling debate again became a huge story in the media when Christine Nixon was knocked back from joining the all-male Athenaeum Club (Royall, 2008). The Chief Commissioner would have been the first female to break 140 years of tradition for the all-male club. The prestige club fell under criticism because it excluded 51% of the population from their eligibility criteria and they were crusty and outdated for this modern era (Royall, 2008). The establishment of a female Chief Commissioner was a victory for women, considering not that long ago there wasnt even a sergeant in the Police force. However, the failed application by Christine Nixon gained more press and possibly undid everything that was gained in 2001 by introducing her as a Chief Commissioner. WOMEN ARE MORE PRODUCTIVE TRUE OR FALSE? Economists have long believed that the least productive societies are those in which women are denied opportunities to join the workforce (Walt, 2008). In underdeveloped countries, women normally go without the most basic tools needed to earn a living (such as education, training & access to capital), yet there is abundant evidence linking economic progress with empowered women. Figure 1.1 shows that some of the most underdeveloped countries in the world are also the ones with the lowest percentage of women in politics (North Africa, Southeast America, Asia & Eastern Europe). A recent study by the London School of Economics showed that states in India where women are better educated were also those with higher economic growth rates (Walt, 2008). A study by MassMutual Financial Group in 2002 revealed that exclusively women-owned businesses do more with less. Although women-owned businesses were smaller in size, they generated the same amount of sales with fewer employees compared to maleowned firms (26 employees compared to 50) and therefore were 1.7 times more productive (Houston Business Journal, 2003). In Australia, women perform an average of 20% more work than men, or an additional 98 minutes per day (Glass Ceiling Stats, 2008). So why were women-owned businesses more productive? When men are in charge of managing others, they typically view their jobs as needing to focus primarily on the business side of things; and relationships are secondary to the business task at hand. Men seem to say Do a good job, be competent, and Ill like you (Nelson, 2007). On the other hand, for women its often the reverse; they need to first feel good about those they are working with and the business part is secondary (Nelson, 2007). Women understand that employees get more motivated if they work with their managers on a more personal level.
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Managing Workplace Relations Individual Assignment Andreas Athanasiou 5697018

DO THE TOP JOBS ELUDE WOMEN? We saw that when it comes to politics, there is no glass ceiling in Australia when comparing the statistics with the rest of the world. However, in the everyday corporate jobs, there are very few women at senior levels in Australia. Women who are equally as well educated as men represent only 12% of ASX 200 executive managers & only 5 ASX 200 companies have had female CEOs since 2004 (Hewett, 2008). But it doesnt end with corporate jobs. Even though Victoria Police has made significant gains and has demonstrated commitment to offering equal opportunity to women, they have a very long way to go. While females represent 22.2% of the force today & 42% of those are constables, by the time they reach sergeant level and above, only 8% are women (Szoke, 2008). The same goes with the labor force; In Australia, females represent 45% of the labor force, which is on par with the average of 43% across rest of the world. However, for the same companies, just 10% are executive managers in Australia which is significantly lower than expected, yet higher than the average of 7% across the world (Accenture, 2006). But what do women (and men alike) from these companies think about the glass ceiling debate? We will have a further look in the next section. VIEWS FROM WOMEN & MEN EXECUTIVES A 2006 study by Accenture/Forbes magazine, 1,200 executives (including many from Australia) added fuel to the glass ceiling debate. Predictably, 70% of women and 57% of men believe that there is an invisible barrier that prevents women from getting ahead in business (Clark, 2006). Many claims in that survey were surprising. Were women unhappy that, on average, they were making 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man (Sachs, 2008)? No. Globally, the same percentage of men and women (58%) felt that they were compensated fairly. On top of that, women were as satisfied as men with the professional levels they had achieved (Clark, 2006). Additional figures showed how females in the sales, medical, technology & construction professions earned 64 cents, 72 cents, 85 cents & 86 cents per dollar males made, respectively (Cullen, 2008). But were women complaining? Surprisingly, the majority werent, as we will see now why. Another study by Catalyst found that men were much more ambitious than women, and desired the top jobs more often than women. Women were happy once they reached their initial goal
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Managing Workplace Relations Individual Assignment Andreas Athanasiou 5697018

when it came to business; men however, are never satisfied. The glass ceiling doesnt affect job satisfaction, because women make sacrifices at work in exchange for greater happiness in their lives as a whole (Clark, 2006). Do women choose less stressful jobs so they can enjoy life more? Thats probably correct with the above study findings, according to the author, Hannah Clark. Her claim is backed in a study by CNN which found that female war veterans from Iraq & Afghanistan reported more mental trauma than males (CNN.com, 2008). Women that have been back home from the war for over 2 years are still dealing with depression, nightmares, sleeplessness and anger from serving. For the first time ever, women are assigned to combat support roles and are seeing violence firsthand in an unconventional war. The study also found that 22% of women that served suffered from military sexual trauma compared to just 1% of men (CNN.com, 2008). Maybe females cannot handle the pressure the way males can? If yes, it shows a sign of weakness from women. Or maybe males dont want to report any mental trauma they may have experienced because the army has always been viewed as a mans job. VIEWS FROM EMPLOYERS & MANAGEMENT From the perspective of employers, there are mixed opinions. While most agree that women are more productive, they still prefer to hire men. The employers refusal to hire women has to do with the longterm costs involved (HWR, 2008). Although they agree women are well-qualified, they accept that their unemployment is not due to them being uneducated or unqualified, but to discrimination (HWR, 2008). Especially women with children, they receive maternity leave, special benefits for children, child care leave etc, making it more efficient to hire men. Without a doubt, we are facing a situation where womens privileges are working against them. Employers (not just in Australia, but around the world) explicitly refuse to hire or retain women employees when men are not entitled to parental benefits, since they view all women as potential mothers they will not be able to afford in an increasingly competitive economy (HWR, 2008). LAW EQUAL OPPORTUNITY FOR WOMEN EOWW (Affirmative Action - Equal Opportunity for Women - Act 1986 Cth) was introduced in 1986 in Australia aimed at gaining equality for women (LaTrobe, 2007). EOWW exists to ensure that all staff has equal access, on the bases of their merit, to employment, promotion, training etc. In 1999 the Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act was introduced, an amended version of the 1986 act
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Managing Workplace Relations Individual Assignment Andreas Athanasiou 5697018

(Eowa, 2008). The updated version aimed to promote merit in employment, promote equal employment opportunity and further eliminate discrimination & encourage consultation between employers and employees on these issues. It also required that all private sector companies, community organisations, nongovernment schools, unions etc to establish a workplace program to remove the barriers to women entering and advancing in their organisation (Eowa, 2008). The re-introduction of this Act was a victory for women Australia-wide, since the government had accepted that there was still discrimination in the workplace, or else it wouldnt have brought this Act forward. RADICAL FEMINISM ANALYSIS Radical feminism is a philosophy that highlights the patriarchal roots of unfairness between men and women (or more specifically, the social dominance of women by men). Radical feminism views patriarchy as separating rights, privileges and authority primarily by the gender of the individual and as a result oppressing women and privileging men (Lewis, 2008). The following is the radical feminist perspective on the glass ceiling and view of society's structures and limitations. There were five factors that were examined (Wrigley, 2002) on how radical feminism views this debate: Factor 1: Denial Acknowledging the glass ceiling means having to deal with it in some way. The initial denial of a glass ceiling is the result of a rather complicated process in our culture that works to maintain the way things have always been, and therefore denies that discrimination against females is present in the workplace or anywhere else in our culture. So, women face the glass ceiling at work, they may devise strategies to either justify its existence or minimize its perceived impact on their careers, and future overall. According to the study, many successful women believed that there is no glass ceiling for them because of their ambition, hard work & ability, even when perhaps luck played a role, and they would rather attribute their success to merit rather than luck (Wrigley, 2002). Denial as viewed from a radical feminist perspective acknowledges that women refuse to confront & blame the structure for their inability to be treated fairly in the male-dominated workplace, and instead, black is turned back on the woman herself, on the lack of experience she may have, not working hard enough etc. They prefer to question themselves rather than "challenge the status quo" (Wrigley, 2002). Factor 2: Gender Role Socialization & Factor 3: Historical Precedence:
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Managing Workplace Relations Individual Assignment Andreas Athanasiou 5697018

Many believe that the way females "have been built" and with their perceived feminine traits they are better in such things as cooperation, consensus building & conflict resolution (Grunig, Toth & Hon, 1999). Women who disagree with the fact that men and women are perceived differently will always be up against a losing battle. As Prof. S.L. Bem of Yale University sees it, we are all products of our own gendered upbringing and we enter a highly gendered world where people see things through a gender lens (Bem, 1993). Radical Feminists believe that men are responsible for writing the rules, they feel they are in power, and will always have self-interest of keeping everything the way it is now (Wrigley, 2002). Factor 4: Women Turning Against Other Women Women didnt get the support they perceived they would get from other women and disliked it. It gets confusing for everyone involved, since instead of challenging the structure of the larger culture, they channel their resentment at other women, and are even led to believe that the glass ceiling is even partially caused by these women. Some women believe the "try being one of the boys" strategy would be a smart idea, but at the end of the day this strategy fails because being manlike, hard, harsh & cold is not desirable in women (Wrigley, 2002).

Factor 5: Corporate Culture A male having a job title and a female having the same title seems like its the same, yet its very different. Its a different environment with different rules and structures in place. Women know this, yet they will follow the career they want to according to their goals, objectives & values and take advantage of the knowledge that corporate cultures can be more limiting for women who want to advance (Wrigley, 2002). In summary, radical feminists believe that the above 5 factors contribute to the glass ceiling, with the structure being the chief culprit behind these factors when viewed through a radical feminist lens (Wrigley, 2002). Radical feminist perspectives question whether things will ever change and whether women will even acknowledge that the structure must be changed. It is clear that it will be extremely hard for this to happen, because of the way some women approach this (denial, attempting to be "one of the boys", blaming other women, accepting "traditional gender roles" etc), and its a radical feminist perspective that women are fooling themselves if they believe things will get better for them in the workplace if they dont acknowledge that the structure needs to dismantled (Wrigley, 2002).
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Managing Workplace Relations Individual Assignment Andreas Athanasiou 5697018

FURTHER ANALYSIS, OPINION & RECOMMENDATIONS Women and the glass ceiling in Australia: myth or reality? There is no doubt that around the world there is a glass ceiling. Worldwide just 14.5% of politicians are women; 13 countries have no women in politics; a majority of men & women worldwide agree that there is a glass ceiling. Employers secretly admit that they prefer to hire men over women, yet overlook reports about complaints regarding the prevention of women reaching key management positions (Robertson, 2008). However, when contrasting the statistics with the rest of the world, there is reason to believe that Australia has cracked the glass ceiling. By analysing women in politics and the police force, where the focus was on the most in this paper, its hard to argue otherwise. Females represent double the world average when it comes to politicians and also represent almost a quarter of police officers; both figures substantially higher than the average of rest of the world. Even in the study by Accenture/Forbes, women were happy with their situation in pay & personal achievements. But one could argue that they are simply in denial, which is a core factor when exploring radical feminism. Maybe women continue in their current jobs and accept the discrimination enough to at least fit in and carry on with their duties. One clear finding in this research is that, worldwide, hard work & competence are not enough to guarantee promotion in the male-dominated structure which is present in a majority of corporations. As long as the media allocates stories on women that have made it, the public will ignore the fact that most women have not. The researcher of this paper agrees that to become a CEO, president, or even a member of the board of directors of a company, you must look at all aspects of that persons career. Such a big level of responsibility requires enormous dedication to supervising both the short-term & long-term needs of the business, which will certainly result in loss of time on hand to spend with family. More men than women are willing to commit themselves to the course of action demanded by such a rigorous goal (Madden, 2000). Do these facts get weighed in on the glass ceiling debate? Just because 51% of the Australian population are women, does it mean that women should hold 51% of top jobs? There is no doubt that there still is minor discrimination across all sectors, but in Australia, the glass ceiling was shattered years ago. Earlier we analysed how in Australia, females represent 45% of the labor force yet only 10% are executives in the same companies. The researcher believes that the reason is because women arent willing to commit themselves to the enormous responsibility that comes along with the top end of
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Managing Workplace Relations Individual Assignment Andreas Athanasiou 5697018

business. Men need to be in charge and be the boss, and they are willing to work the ridiculous hours in order to get what they want, whereas women want something different (Souder, 2007). Is there a solution to this so-called glass ceiling problem? Are there any recommendations on how to break the so-called glass ceiling? We have seen how much women in the workplace rights have evolved over the past few decades, so who knows if this will stop. The market changes & times change rapidly (along with the law) and everyone needs to be able to move along with it; you have got to constantly keep updating, because people get bored (Hoffman, 2006). There are few recommendations & solutions that women have used that may or may not have helped them lead a path beyond the glass ceiling and into a successful career (BtGC.com, 2008). They include: - Building a track record in given functional areas to establish credibility: It could be harder for women than men, but both sexes start from zero in a new company. - Developing leadership skills: Show how they can step up and take over during difficult times, and not break down under pressure like it is assumed females would do. - Taking risks: Be different and dont go by the book. Try and find a different angle to complete a task that proves to be more effective and more efficient. - Delivering performances with exceptional results: Try to go better than everyone else, however, without alienating yourself. - Trying to consistently exceed performance expectations: Dont just be another worker who just does their job. Try to always leave a good impression not just to the employer(s), but to the workmates as well. - Seeking out difficult or highly visible job assignments: Instead of going for the easiest assignments that just about anyone can do, go for the ones that will earn you respect from others. CONCLUSION The glass ceiling debate will always be going on until there is an even number of females and males in top job positions across all areas. The writer of this paper however, analysed the statistics that were presented to show why, in his opinion, there is no such thing as a glass ceiling anymore in Australia. There is no doubt that in many countries around the world there is discrimination against women working in top jobs and getting paid fairly for their work. However, Australia has shattered the glass ceiling because even though women agree that it may exist, they dont believe it has slowed them down because they are as satisfied as men with the professional levels they have achieved (Clark, 2006). The belief alone is what creates the glass ceiling. Those who complain about
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glass ceilings must keep in mind that glass can be shattered if one strikes it hard enough and long enough (Madden, 2000).

REFERENCES AAP General News, (2001), Christine Nixon is Vics new Chief Commissioner, Highbeam Research, http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-42749946.html, (viewed 01/05/08)

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Managing Workplace Relations Individual Assignment Andreas Athanasiou 5697018

Accenture, (2006), The Anatomy of the Glass Ceiling, Accenture, http://www.accenture.com/NR/rdonlyres/9A504280-5296-43E5B197-AE1FC48866F3/0/glass_ceiling.pdf, (viewed 07/05/08) Bem, S. L., (1993), The Lenses of Gender: Transforming the debate on sexual inequality, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. BtGC.com, (2008), History: Break the Glass Ceiling, Break the Glass Ceiling Foundation, http://www.breaktheglassceiling.com/history.htm, (viewed 10/05/08) Clark, H., (2006), Are Women Happy Under the Glass Ceiling? , Forbes Online, http://www.forbes.com/2006/03/07/glass-ceilingopportunities--cx_hc_0308glass.html, (viewed 13/05/08) CNN.com, (2008), Female veterans report more sexual & mental trauma, CNN.com Mobile, http://m.cnn.com/cnn/lt_ne/lt_ne/detail/88038;jsessionid= 481B2850EF9854F859ED647930F54444, viewed (13/05/08) Cullen, L. T., (2008), Show Us Our Money, Work In Progress, Time magazine, page 101, May 12th Asia/Pacific Edition Eowa, (2008), Overview of the act, Australian Government Website, http://www.eowa.gov.au/About_EOWA/Overview_of_the_Act.asp, (viewed 10/05/08) Glass Ceiling Stats, (2008), What is the Glass Ceiling, http://www.glassceiling.info/index.php? option=com_content&task=view&id=23&Itemid=2, (viewed 07/05/08) Grunig, L. A., Toth, E. L., & Hon, L. C., (1999), Feminist values in public relations, International Communication Association, Public Relations Division, San Francisco Hewett, J., (2008), Why top jobs elude women, Business Sense, News.com.au, http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,23636,233930705012426,00.html, (viewed 06/05/08) Hoffman, L., (2006), Smash the glass ceiling, The Weekend Australian, Careerone, http://www.careerone.com.au/jobs/jobsearch/job-market-insider/smash-the-glass-ceiling, (viewed 12/05/08) Houston Business Journal, (2003), Study: Womens businesses more productive,
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Managing Workplace Relations Individual Assignment Andreas Athanasiou 5697018

http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2003/08/25/daily38.h tml, (viewed 11/05/08) HWR, (2008), Legislative Restrictions on Womens Employment, Human Rights Watch, http://www.hrw.org/about/projects/womrep/General-173.htm, (viewed 02/05/08) LaTrobe, (2007), Equal Opportunity for Women at Work, Equity & Access Unit, LaTrobe University, http://www.latrobe.edu.au/equity/eoww.html, (viewed 15/05/08) Lewis, J. J., (2008), Radical Feminism, About.com: Womens History, About.com, http://womenshistory.about.com/od/feminism/g/radicalfeminism.htm , (viewed 11/05/08) Madden, R., (2000), Shattering the glass ceiling, SpinTech, http://home.earthlink.net/~rdmadden/webdocs/Shattering_the_Glass _Ceili.html, (viewed 12/05/08) McKay, D. R., (2008), Glass Ceiling, About.com: Career Planning, http://careerplanning.about.com/library/glossary/bldefglassceiling.htm, (viewed 10/05/08) Nelson, B., (2007), Are women better people managers? , The Business Review, http://houston.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2007/12/24/smallb3.ht ml?q=women%20are%20more%20productive, (viewed 11/05/08) Policelife Magazine, (2007), Pioneering Policewomen, Policelife, June 2007 Edition, page 22 Robertson, A. (2008), Male Bosses Snub Glass Ceiling Report: Woolworths Director, ABC News, http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/03/18/2192342.htm, (viewed 12/05/08) Royall, I., (2008), Christine Nixon barred from blokes club, Heraldsun.com.au, http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,231296772862,00.html, (viewed 01/05/08) Sachs, A., (2008), A Review of the Latest in Glass-Ceiling Lit, Time Magazine, May 5th Asia/Pacific Edition Souder, D., (2007), Women to Crack the Glass Ceiling, Statesman Staff Reporter,
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http://www.fortefoundation.org/site/DocServer/Women_to_Crack_the _glass_ceiling.pdf?docID=5023, (viewed 12/05/08) Szoke, H., (2008), Thin Blue Ceiling, Herald Sun 17/03/08 Edition, page 28 Time Magazine, (2008), Government: Gender Politics, Time Magazine, pages 3-4, May 5th Asia/Pacific Edition Walt, V., (2008), Womens Work, 10 Ideas That Are Changing The World, Time Magazine, page 46, March 24th Asia/Pacific Edition Wrigley, B. J., (2002), 'Glass Ceiling? What Glass Ceiling?, A Qualitative Study of How Women View the Glass Ceiling in Public Relations and Communications Management', Journal of Public Relations Research, 14:1, 27-55

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