Breaking Barriers: A Literature Review on Glass Ceiling Assignment Sample

Why Do Women In The Computer Science Industry Have Glass Ceiling Syndrome?

Factors Affecting Women's Careers

The term gender discrimination is defined as when someone is treated unfairly or unequally based on their gender distinctiveness. It has a significant impact at the workplace because it increases the mental health issues and develops a higher anxiety level in the employees. Glass ceiling syndrome is considered one of the significant factors of gender discrimination. This factor of gender discrimination prohibits the females from reaching the top-level positions in their companies. Apart from this, the literature review highlights the reasons behind women having glass ceiling syndrome within the computer science industry.

Literature Review

The glass ceiling is categorised as the third kind of gender discrimination along with evidence of sexual harassment and inequity. This disallows the females from accomplishing the top-level positions with the protuberant rank and income at their offices. As per the view of Manzi and Heilman (2021), due to this gender discrimination, women are facing several challenges at the workplace because of demographic inequity. It is regarded as a preliminary parameter to the professional growth and development that enables the elimination of the demonstration of females in senior positions in any segment. In the computer science industry, this gender discrimination is rapidly increasing, and women face several challenges that ultimately impact their growth and development as well as their careers. In addition, the glass ceiling has a significant impact on the careers of women because they receive less pay as compared to the men and are passed over for significant career opportunities and promotions. Hausknost (2020) assessed that the women who are eliminated from achieving the higher position within the company are feeling isolated, experiencing microaggression continuously, getting rejected from the job and being treated as incapable. The glass ceiling is directly affecting women's careers regardless of their level of experience, education and skills.

As critically said by Babic and Hansez (2021), there are several factors that have significant contributions to increasing the problem of the glass ceiling for women's. Risk aversion is one of the significant factors that have made a major contribution to the glass ceiling for women. It can be said that, the women are risk-averse and less competitive as compared to men. On the other hand, Blühdorn (2020) stated that culture, society's culture and organisational culture, gender roles, management demographics, etc., are the crucial factors that significantly contribute to the glass ceiling in women's gender equality within the computer science industry. As critically argued by van Veelen and Derks (2022), these elements create invisible obstacles that obstruct the promotion of women to the position of senior executives and adversely affect their careers. The occurrence of a glass ceiling is a method of vertical discrimination against women in the position of decision-making within the organisations. The glass ceiling is encouraged by the interpersonal and situational challenges as well as organisational gender culture. The insights of diverse treatment and the existence of a glass ceiling can lead to a conflict of work-to-family contracts and have significant implications for job satisfaction, job strain and job engagement (Aksoy, et al. 2019).

As critically said by Taparia and Lenka (2022), gender discrimination is regarded as one of the insistent challenges in the workplace that leads to several issues for women's. In the UK, the employment rate of women was less than men's. Between 2019 and 2020, the female employment rate was 72.3%, while the male employment rate was 79.0% (Buchanan, Pratt and Francis-Devin, 2023). As critically opposed by Manzi and Heilman (2021), due to the glass ceiling, the women of the computer science industry face several challenges. In the organisations, the majority of the top positions are held by men because the management teams think that women are unable to perform their duties and responsibilities in an effective way. However, nowadays the women are more capable of performing their duties within the business and holding higher positions as compared to men (Hausknost, 2020). Apart from this, the glass ceiling has a negative impact on the mental capabilities of the women at the workplace. From this, they face issues like stress, mood disorders, etc., which negatively impact their careers. As critically said by Babic and Hansez (2021), gender bias is regarded as one of the significant reasons to eliminate women from achieving higher positions within the computer science sector. In the business, this gender inequality tends to adversely affect the women immensely in compared to men's.

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In addition, sexual harassment is another vital reason for the occurrence of the glass ceiling at the workplace. In the UK, women constantly face sexual harassment in the workplace. 97% of the women who are between 18 and 24 are experiencing sexual harassment within the UK (Bose, 2021). As per the view of van Veelen and Derks (2022), in order to combat the glass ceiling, the HR of the computer science industry can focus on family-friendly policies and increase representation and diversity recruiting. In order to protect the rights of women and eliminate discrimination against them, the UK government introduced the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975 to promote inclusivity and equality within the workplace. As critically argued by Aksoy et al. (2019), in the UK still, the cases of gender discrimination have taken place with the women's that directly impact their growth and development as well as their careers.

Furthermore , to break the glass ceiling within the computer science industry, they can execute stereotype training and regular bias, offer company-wide transparency, set promotional goals and diversity hiring, and conduct blind applicant screening.

Conclusion

From the above literature review, it has been summarised that the glass ceiling disallows the females from accomplishing the top-level positions with the protuberant rank and income at their offices. The glass ceiling has a significant impact on the careers of women because they receive less pay compared to the men and are passed over for significant career opportunities and promotions. The glass ceiling has a negative impact on the mental capabilities of the women at the workplace. In order to protect the rights of women and eliminate them, the UK government introduced the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975 to promote inclusivity and equality within the workplace. Gender bias, additional unconscious bias and sexual harassment are the important factors that have a significant contribution towards the glass ceiling.

References

• Aksoy, C.G., Carpenter, C.S., Frank, J. and Huffman, M.L., 2019. Gay glass ceilings: Sexual orientation and workplace authority in the UK. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 159, pp.167-180.
• Babic, A. and Hansez, I., 2021. The glass ceiling for women managers: Antecedents and consequences for work-family interface and well-being at work. Frontiers in psychology, 12, p.677.
• Blühdorn, I., 2020. The legitimation crisis of democracy: emancipatory politics, the environmental state and the glass ceiling to socio-ecological transformation. Environmental Politics, 29(1), pp.38-57.
• Hausknost, D., 2020. The environmental state and the glass ceiling of transformation. Environmental Politics, 29(1), pp.17-37.
• Manzi, F. and Heilman, M.E., 2021. Breaking the glass ceiling: For one and all?. Journal of personality and social psychology, 120(2), p.257.
• Taparia, M. and Lenka, U., 2022. An integrated conceptual framework of the glass ceiling effect. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 9(3), pp.372-400.
• van Veelen, R. and Derks, B., 2022. Equal representation does not mean equal opportunity: women academics perceive a thicker glass ceiling in social and behavioral fields than in the natural sciences and economics. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, p.790211.

Online

• Bose, J., 2021. 97% of women aged 18-24 in UK faced sexual harassment, reveals survey.
• [Online]. Accessed through :< https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/97-of-women aged-18-24-in-uk-faced-sexual-harassment-reveals-survey-101615550870254.html >.[Accessed on: 22nd December, 2023].
• Buchanan, I., Pratt., A. and Francis-Devin, B., 2023. Women and the UK economy. Online. Accessed through :< https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN06838/SN06838.pdf >. [Accessed on: 22nd December, 2023].