Beyond Glass Ceilings and Brick Walls - International Labour ...

in the workplace. This is one avenue through which power-in this instance,
consensus-building power or the power for conflict-can be exercised within
an organization. The lack of which also limits the power for dialogue within
an organization. Unlike men, who may have access to ‘old boys’ networks’
or receive unofficial mentoring, and thereby gain access to more opportunities
at the workplace, women workers were not part of such school networks
and were not offered such informal support systems. None of the women
interviewed could refer to a mentor or a woman achiever who has inspired/
supported them, or who posed as a role model. However, the case study of
Tharuni-a salesperson- indicates that she looks to the personnel manager at
her workplace as someone who has motivated her. Thus, it would seem that
these employees are reliant entirely on themselves (and sometimes their
families) for strength and inspiration, and support to work. The patriarchal
or androcentric organizational culture and the micropolitics within work
institutions serve to continually disadvantage women workers/managers in
relation to men. In this instance, women lack access to powers of
organizational consensus-building, pressuring and networking as well as a
forum for dialogue. Not only does this affect women at a personal level, but
it also does not provide for organizational change through common
understanding. There is then, a need for organizations to consciously adopt
institutional mentoring schemes and workplace networks for women that
can provide both individual and institutional support.
Women Managers
A number of issues emerged in the study when we examined the context in
which women managers worked. The numbers of women in senior management
positions, the career mobility experienced by them, the work environment and
support systems, and the social and institutional rewards are some important
issues examined. Women in senior management positions are far less than their
male counterparts. This is a contradiction when compared to the proportion of
women following different tertiary and professional educational/training programs.
At recruitment stages as well as in subsequent career mobility tracks, women
tend to fall behind. This is indicative of what is referred to as the ‘glass ceiling’-
a complex of factors that prevents women rising up the career ladder.
Management both as an applied science and a body of knowledge has grown;
and is applied to improve organizationed effectiveness and efficiency. While
the initial emphasis was on identifying the factors associated with greater
productivity, focus has now shifted to a more holistic approach of examining
organizations in order to find out how they function. A combination of quantitative
as well as qualitative approaches are adopted. The main aspects examined are
organizational efficiency, strategic management and human relations in
organizations. These broad theoretical aspects are examined in order to identify
the main constraints that women managers face in their work settings.
With increasing numbers of women joining the workforce and obtaining access
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