The glass ceiling is still firmly in place. Most women in the workplace
know this. Most men still don't.
And the problem “can't be blown off as something that will go
away by itself if you just give it more time,” says senior sociology major Jennifer
A. Brady.
Brady, who drew these conclusions in her senior thesis, also presented
her findings at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research this spring.
Brady analyzed factors keeping the glass ceiling in place in the
corporate world. “It's not education. It was clear to me early on that women
have the MBAs and other relevant credentials. So I realized something else must be causing
the problem.” She discovered that mentoring patterns, the persistence of “old
boys' networks,” and negative male stereotyping of women are working in
combination to maintain the status quo.
In her survey of Fortune 500 companies, Brady found that although male
executives don't believe they have had a role in perpetuating gender discrimination,
or even that the glass ceiling exists, when she asked specific questions, such as
“how many women were included in important meetings?” it became clear that the
walk didn't match the talk. What did respondents say they believe is the main reason
that so few women are in high places? The number-one answer: The process just needs more
time. “I used to believe that too,” says Brady, “but I found that at the
current rate of advancement, it would take 475 years for women to catch up.”
Brady has been interested in the glass ceiling phenomenon since middle
school days. “My dad was the one who first made me aware of the disparity. He works
for one of the Fortune 500 companies, and he would say to me, 'Do you know there are
no women CEOs this year?'”
Brady, who graduates in June, has begun her own job search,
“probably in marketing,” she says, hoping her research will come in handy to
help her navigate the road ahead.