Let’s Have Another Crack At The Glass Ceiling

Cranfield school of management’s recent survey shows that there is still no progress in the FTSE 100 companies at promoting women to board level. The full article is set out below by Adam Jones.

This simply doesn’t make sense. The demographics show that by 2010, less than 20% of the workforce will be white, able-bodied men under the age of 45 - a government statistic from the National Labour force survey. The statistics on academic achievment show that women outperform men at both GCSE, A Level and Degree levels gaining higher grades at all levels.

Surely the issue here is not one of “men v women” in the boardroom. The issue is one of the companies simply not choosing the cream on the workforce, be it a man or a woman, to enter their boardroom. Not only does it bring into question the issue of whether the company is being run by the most able employee but it also begs the question of how the company are going to motivate their talented women who won’t feel that they can reach the top of their careers. Left with the choice of always being left out of the board promotions, or moving on, many women will feel that they have no choice but to move on. Thus the company loses some of its best talent.

Why? What is the real issue here? Is it really that men still feel that they are somehow inherently better able to run companies? If there are as few directors as there clearly are, how do they know that the men are better able to run the companies as what is their comparison?

Female entreprenuers are increasing hugely, establishing their own businesses, some of which are growing hugely succesful. Why? Because they feel that they will always be hitting the glass ceiling and that they would be better off putting their energies into a venture which won’t discriminate against them. Who knows how these businesses will develop over the next decade? If the women are the top graduates, employing other top graduates, maybe we will start to see companies that truly tap into the best talent regardless of sex.

 The article in question, humourously written in my view, is as follows:

Published: October 11 2008 03:00 | Last updated: October 11 2008 03:00

Male chauvinists have breathed a sigh of relief after a structural survey of the glass ceiling in leading British boardrooms revealed that it was still in good condition in spite of recent worries about localised cracking.

Anxieties about the physical state of the ceiling had been aroused by anecdotal evidence that more women had been appointed to prominent directorships.

However, an annual structural survey undertaken by the Cranfield School of Management showed that women still held only 12 per cent of board seats at FTSE 100 companies and that the glass ceiling would continue to hold back women from obtaining equal representation for another four decades or so if the recent pace of deterioration didn’t change.

One male director said it was a relief that the glass ceiling was in no danger of imminent collapse.

“Business loves certainty and it is great news that corporate Britain might not be forced into fully engaging with vital issues such as equal pay and macho HR practices until the middle of this century, when the effects of global warming will probably give us plenty of new excuses to avoid taking action.”

Adam Jones is the FT’s online business education editor.

http://blogs.ft.com/management/

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