The glass ceiling is an invisible barrier preventing women and minorities from advancing into upper management (Bell 67). Despite extensive legislation and the widespread implementation of equal opportunity policies, there is still widespread structural inequality and job segregation in organizations throughout the United States. "The level of the `glass ceiling' varies among organizations and is reflected in different employment patterns, hiring practices, and promotion plans" (Adler 451). The purpose of this paper is to provide background as well as a more in-depth analysis of the glass ceiling phenomenon and apply a human-capitalistic theorist perspective to the issues.

Women are underrepresented in managerial (Adler 451) and executive level positions within organizations in the United States even today. Although females embody almost fifty percent of the workforce (Adler 451, they occupy only about thirty percent of all salaried positions, twenty percent of middle manager positions, and about five percent of executive level positions (Bell...