At 21, sitting in the stands listening to the Virginia Governor speak at my 1998 Undergraduate College Graduation, I just knew that the sky was the limit for my new career! I've always been a pretty ambitious young lady so I figured it would be no sweat. Now as I sit here, 11 years later, I wonder just how much the "glass ceiling" has influenced the advancement of my career. Is this truly the reality of us lucky folks that fall in any "protected class" category? For those that aren't familiar, a protected class simply describes groups of people who are "protected" from discrimination and harassment by law. People are put in these classes based on things like race, ethnicity, religion, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation etc. etc.
So, a fellow Computer Science friend of mine works for a large well known company. Her organization has about 400 people. There are probably 75 manager level employees, including my friend. My friend is one of four black managers out of 50. The four black managers are ALL first level managers. Middle and Upper Management has 0% black/Latina, 3 Asian Managers, all the other middle/upper managers are Caucasian all the way up to the CEO.
Of those 325 non-management employees, about 90% are Asian (Mainly from India).The other 10% - about 10-15 Caucasian and there are 6 people of color (5 Black, 1 Latina)-again, this doesn't include the 4 black managers. So, am I the only one that sees something funny with this picture? Number 1, if 90% of your non-management employees are from East India, why are there only 2 Indians represented in upper/middle management? Also, I mean really, are the 4 black managers just incompetent or are they not allowed to go beyond a certain point? Lastly, isn't it strange that there are 10-15 Caucasian non-management employees and the rest of the Caucasians (65+) in the organization are ALL in upper/middle management? She complains that she has to be one of the "good old boys" to really make a move beyond where she is so far. Especially since 2 of the 4 black managers have 15+ years in the company. She's actually quite "accomplished" in that organization to have made it to first level management at such a young age.
So, after evaluating her situation and many of my own in my 11 years of working I MUST ask my readers if the Glass Ceiling is reality or fiction? Have you encountered the glass ceiling in your career? If you have, what methods have you used to help shatter it or at least crack it a bit? Any interesting stories to tell on work situations that made you scratch like you need head & shoulders similar to the scenario that I described above? Ever felt like you were put in a "box" although you had the credentials and smarts to do much more? Is this notion of a glass ceiling all in our minds and just a product of our predisposed ideals due to being a minority in America?
Talk to me people....
6 comments:
Oh, it's reality and I wish there was a hammer (like the Staples easy button) that one could use to crack that ceiling.
One suggestion: Your friend could always ask for an evaluation review and state what her goals are with the company and ask for "humble" advice on how to get there (we wouldn't want her coming off as a threat because then the alarms would start ringing!) That way over a period of time she could track if the company is doing their part in developing their employees.
It's a crap shoot but there's gotta be a way to temper that glass.
Girl, that was already done and NO PROGRESS! Everytime she gets a project that can give her a little "shine" her manager takes her off. I suggest moving to another organization within the company. Although the same crap will probably happen. So Sad So sad
Never had to deal with the issue of the glass ceiling considering I've always been at a place where there wasn't much room to grow in the first place...so eventually it was time to bounce, bounce, bounce.
And currently as a social worker somehow or another you always seem to feel like you always going to be at the dag on bottom due to agency antics and greadiness to use grants for inappropriate matters and not their staff.
But I can imagine the life of a African-American woman in corporate america is rough. But its rough for African-American women in all facets of life it seems like...and what do we do? We tend to take it! We don't fight the same fight white america fights. Hell she got one or two things to do. Legally fight it or be out! And I bet she would chose the latter because African Americans never want to go out looking like the angry black negro! We're conditioned even when we "make" it.
My mother works for a large corporation. She holds an executive position in the company and is excelling greatly. She admitted to me however, her advancement was centered around her being a BLACK WOMAN. The company covered two aspects of employment requirements in one person. Nevertheless, she told me it doesn't matter. She said sometimes being black is what it takes lol. She was advanced over people who have over 15 years in the company and are doctors. She reminded me of a time when they would have never hired her and if they did it was to empty trash cans in their office. She said she does her job, and she does it well. My how time changes...
DFitz, I'm glad to see that being a Black Woman is helping one of us out lol. I think that being an "older" black woman is a little different though. Being a early 30s/late 20 something black woman means you are fighting race, gender, and age discrimination all in one. Darn shame!
"a protected class simply describes groups of people who are “protected” from discrimination and harassment by law".
That's not the case, at least it's not how the law reads. "Protected class" refers to a classification, such as race, gender, nationality, etc, not any PARTICULAR race or gender, etc. Despite widespread confusion to the contrary, nobody is IN a protected class. Everyone is afforded equal protection under the law. So if I am discriminated against BECAUSE I am a white male and there is evidence, then that discrimination is illegal, because both race and gender are a protected class. I don't have to be African American or female or both to have equal protection under the law. I think people get confused because they think of "class" like "middle class" or "working class", but in this context (the legal one), regarding laws covering discrimination or bias-related (hate) crimes, class only refers to the classifications that are explicitly spelled out in the law. A law that protects only certain races or genders would not stand any constitutional test.
Often people who are opposed to anti-discrimination laws will claim that the laws themselves are discriminatory because they only apply to certain "classes" of people, but they are laboring under a misconception.
Sorry if it seems off-topic, but I think understanding of the term is important.
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