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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: (202) 219-7342.
A report that reveals persistent low presence of women and
minorities in America's top corporate ranks was released today by the Glass
Ceiling Commission.
The report, Good for Business: Making Full Use of the
Nation's Human Capital, shows that 97 percent of senior managers of Fortune
1000 industrial and Fortune 500 firms are white men. Only five percent of
Fortune 2000 industrial and service company managers are women, and virtually
all are white.
The term glass ceiling first entered American culture less
than a decade ago when The Wall Street Journal's "Corporate Woman" column
identified a puzzling phenomenon. There seemed to be invisible but impenetrable
barriers between women and the executive suite.
The Glass Ceiling Commission was subsequently established
in 1991 as part of the Civil Rights Act. The 21-member, bipartisan commission
was chaired first by then-Secretary of Labor Elizabeth Dole and later by
Secretary Lynn Martin. The commission's mission was to conduct a study and
prepare recommendations on eliminating artificial barriers to the advancement
of women and minorities to management and decision-making positions in
business. The commission's final recommendation report is due by November, when
the commission's charter expires.
"This report tells us that the world at the top of the
corporate hierarchy still does not look anything like America," said Labor
Secretary Robert B. Reich. "Two-thirds of our population and 57 percent of the
working population is female or minorities or both." As labor secretary, Reich
chairs the Glass Ceiling Commission.
"To succeed in this increasingly competitive environment,
corporations need to attract and retain the best, most flexible workers and
leaders available for all levels of their organizations," Reich said.
"Narrowing the pool of talent from which they draw is -- among other things --
a blunder in competitive tactics."
A 1993 study of Standard and Poor 500 firms showed that
those successful in shattering their own glass ceilings racked up stock-market
records nearly two-and-a-half times better than otherwise comparable companies.
The fact-finding report also shows that women and
minorities who have achieved high ranks are paid less than men: African
American men with professional degrees earn 79 percent of that earned by white
males in the same job categories and holding the same degrees. More than 10
years after graduating from Stanford, men were eight times more likely to be
CEO's than women.
Research done for the report charted few women or
minorities in positions most likely to lead to the top. Critical career paths
for senior management are those most directly tied to the corporate bottom line
such as marketing, sales and production. Most women and minorities at high
corporate levels, however, were in human resources, research or administration.
Copies of this report and/or the executive summary are
available by calling the Glass Ceiling Commission at (202) 219- 7342 or writing
the commission, room C2313, U.S. Labor Department, 200 Constitution Ave. N.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20210.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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