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Though trends increasingly show women to be breaking through the so-called glass ceilings, it is still very difficult for them to reach upper middle and senior management positions, according to Virginia Schein and Marilyn Davidson. They outline a recent research project on management sex typing among UK students.
In the United Kingdom, more women are working than ever before. Women now constitute 45 per cent of the workforce and this figure is forecast to rise to over 50 per cent within the next decade[1]. There have also been significant increases in the number of females going into higher education. In 1983, for example, women constituted 41 per cent of university undergraduates and 32 per cent of postgraduates, compared with 44 per cent and 37 per cent respectively in 1989.
Furthermore, there are increasing trends for women graduates to move into areas of managerial and professional employment, which were previously dominated by men. In 1973, only 10 per cent of students studying for social administration and business degrees were women, whereas today in the UK more than 45 per cent of these students are female[2].
However, while it appears relatively easy for women--particularly business graduates --to gain employment at the junior levels of organizations, it is still proving very difficult for them to reach upper middle and senior management positions. In other words, to shatter the glass ceiling[3].
Hirsh and Jackson[4] estimate there to be three million managers in Britain, with about one-fifth women. Of the million or so middle and senior managers, at most 4 per cent are women. Women are also much more likely to be managers in traditionally female occupations, such as retailing and catering, with few women in manufacturing. Women are also more likely to be found in certain managerial occupations, such as personnel, office administration and training, and in organizations where there are higher than average numbers of other women[5,6].
OUEST FOR PARITY
Clearly, with more women entering management, particularly at graduate level, it is incumbent on governments and organizations to introduce legislation and corporate policies to break down many of the barriers particularly pertinent to female managers. Such policies include positive action programmes, equal opportunity audits, flexible working arrangements, fair selection and promotion procedures, career planning, the balance of...