A glass ceiling relates to vertical mobility—and its absence—for women in organizations. The “glass cage” deals with the horizontal segregation of women (and other minorities; Gabriel, Korczynski, and Rieder 2015; Kalev 2009). The idea here is that men and women doing the same or similar jobs operate in separate and segregated parts of the organization. As in the case of the glass ceiling, women can see what is going on in other cages, but, compared with men, they find it more difficult to move between the cages. Although the cage is made of glass, the skills and abilities of women tend to be less visible, and, as a result, stereotypes about them abound. In addition, women have less communication with those outside the cage, are less likely to learn about jobs available there, are not as likely to get high-profile assignments, and are less likely to get needed training. The situation confronting women would improve if there were more collaboration across the boundaries of the glass cage. Of course, the ultimate solution involves the elimination of the glass cage, as well as the glass ceiling.
The concept of the “glass cliff” describes what can happen to women who experience upward mobility when the organization is going through hard times (Peterson 2016; Ryan and Haslam 2005). The implication is that women who rise to high levels at such times end up in highly precarious positions. Of course, the same would be true of men, but Ryan and Haslam found that women are more likely than men to move into positions on boards of directors in organizations that have been performing badly. This means they are more likely than males to find themselves at the edge of that organizational cliff. A disproportionate number of those women (and minorities) are likely to be demoted or fall off that cliff (i.e., lose their jobs) and be replaced by males (Cook and Glass 2014).
Figure 5.2 Glass Ceiling Index
Source: “The glass-ceiling index,” 15 February, 2018, The Economist. https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2018/02/15/the-glass-ceiling-index.
Other Problems
Beyond the problems associated with gendered organizations, the ideal-typical bureaucracy makes no provision for an array of other problems in the organization or for problematic organizations. However, in the real world there is no shortage of either. The most heinous example of a problematic (to put it mildly) organization is the Nazi bureaucracy responsible for the murder of 6 million Jews, and others, during the Holocaust (Bauman 1989). The Islamic State, al-Qaeda, the Mafia, and Mexican drug cartels, among many others, would also be considered by most people to be problematic organizations. In addition, many less developed countries in the world regard global organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank as problematic because of the damaging austerity programs and other forms of “structural adjustment” they impose on recipient countries in exchange for monetary assistance and other help.
Problems also occur in organizations that in themselves are not seen as problematic. For example, until recently the National Football League downplayed the health risks associated with concussions. Players are expected to engage in physical contact and take hard hits as part of their jobs, even if it means risking long-term physical and mental health complications. One of the most troublesome complications suffered by NFL players is chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative nerve condition that results from repeated blows to the head. The NFL commissioned an extensive study of the 459 diagnosed concussions from the 2015 and 2016 seasons, finding that most concussions were the result of tackles that involved the side of the helmet. In 2017 the NFL committed $60 million to efforts to help understand and prevent head injuries. Unfortunately, awareness of repetitive head trauma did not help former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez. His autopsy report indicated that he suffered from a severe case of CTE. He was only 27 years old when he committed suicide in 2017 while serving a life sentence for homicide (Boren 2017).
Sexual harassment is also a common organizational problem. Sexual harassment consists of unwanted sexual attention, such as sexually oriented remarks and jokes, advances, and requests that take place in the workplace or other settings (see Chapter 9). In the United States, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 2018) was informed of 6,696 charges of sexual harassment in the workplace in 2017. However, many women (and the vast majority of victims are women) are afraid to report to management that they have been subjected to sexual harassment. Even when they are reported to management, many claims of sexual harassment never find their way into the judicial or criminal justice system.
Cases of sexual harassment also rarely get publicity, but that has been changing. For example, in mid-2016 Roger Ailes, the powerful head of Fox News, was sued by a former news anchor, Gretchen Carlson, for sexual harassment (she was awarded $20 million). Other female newscasters at Fox were then emboldened to claim that they, too, had been subject to sexual harassment. Ailes was forced to resign as a result of the lawsuit and an internal investigation by Fox News of the other claims of sexual harassment by Ailes, as well as the enormous negative publicity that the case engendered (Koblin, Steel, and Rutenberg 2016). Even more strikingly, similar claims led to the firing of the star of Fox News, Bill O’Reilly, in 2017 (Leonhardt 2017). Since then, the list of men accused of sexual harassment—and worse—has lengthened considerably to include, among many others, Bill Cosby (who was convicted and sentenced to 3 to 10 years in jail for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman; he was accused of similar crimes by many other women), Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, TV news anchor Matt Lauer, movie star Kevin Spacey, comedian Louis C.K., and President Donald Trump.
While there is a tendency to ignore it, sexual harassment is widely practiced not only in the United States but globally, and a great many women are harmed by it. According to a 2014 study conducted by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, 75 percent of professional women, including those in top management, and 61 percent of women employed in the service sector reported being sexually harassed at work. This study was based on interviews with over 42,000 women across 28 European Union member states (European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights 2014).
To be considered illegal in the United States, sexual harassment must recur and/or be severe and result in a hostile workplace environment, or even the firing of the harassed employee. The stereotype of high-ranking men (e.g., Roger Ailes and Bill O’Reilly) demanding sexual favors from subordinates (usually women) is generally accurate, although both men and women can perpetrate and be subject to all forms of sexual harassment. Nearly 17 percent of 2017 charges of sexual harassment reported to the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission were filed by men (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 2018).
In the U.S. armed forces, however, sexual harassment does seem to follow the stereotypical pattern of males harassing females. There have been many allegations of sexual harassment (and sexual assault) of female service members, and criticism of the armed services for failing to react adequately has been mounting. The U.S. Department of Defense reported that cases of sexual assault in the military increased almost 10 percent between fiscal year 2016 and fiscal year 2017 with 6,172 cases reported in 2016 compared to 6,769 in 2017 (Ferdinando 2018; see Figure 5.3). Military men and those at higher ranks perceived fewer barriers to reporting such assaults compared to military women and those at lower ranks (Department of Defense 2018).
One of the largest organizations in the world, the Catholic Church, has had to address a global organizational culture that enabled priests and other church officials to perpetuate a system of sexual assaults and abuses against children. This culture has been a huge problem not only because of the behavior of the priests and its impact on children but also because church officials have not done nearly enough to dismiss those responsible and make it more difficult for such assaults to occur in the future. Pope Francis declared “we abandoned them” after a 2018 grand jury in Pennsylvania found that the Church had covered up the