A Study on the Barriers of Women in IT and Banking in the UK, And Their Perceptions on Glass Ceiling

The following is an exploratory research based on the issue of women facing barriers to promotion and growth in the information technology and the banking sectors of the UK economy. The research highlights the various issues faced by women managers and employees in these segments and how the concept of discrimination still exist despite anti discriminatory laws for the workplace.Moreover the concept of the glass ceiling is also observed, as to how it limits the growth of women in the information technology, banking and financial sectors in the region of United Kingdom. While the research is comprehensive in nature, it is limited in terms of its results only to the United Kingdom.Literature Review â€Å"While, statistically, figures show an increase in women's representation in the Science, Engineering and Technology domain, academic research is yet to explore in greater depth both the reasons for women's continuing under-representation at senior levels and their work experiences.â⠂¬  (Wilson-Kovacs, Ryan & Haslam, 2006) Equality between women and men in the workplace is a hot topic all around the world.However UK has been facing issues operating to glass ceiling and women’s barriers in the workplace more than their counterparts in America. Glass ceiling is the term used to describe a scenario where equally qualified and participating men are seen to be promoted and receiving a higher salary and benefits than their female counter parts at the same position.The glass ceiling is based on the attitude bias of the community and the people employed in the workplace that creates barriers for women and minority groups to achieve positions of leadership.â€Å"In August 2006 Forbes reported that 70% of women and 57% of men believe an invisible barrier — a glass ceiling — prevents women from getting ahead in business, according to a study of 1,200 executives in eight countries, including the U.S., Australia, Austria and the Philippines were the f indings of a study conducted by Accenture.† (‘Women Still Face Glass Ceiling’, 2008)With the changing times and melding cultures, women of all ethnicities and diverse regions that are present in the UK are seeking positions of employment in professional services. This combined with the fact that they have gained extensive education in specializing fields has enabled them to enter the labor market as highly skilled professionals.However despite the investment in their careers the women are not able to achieve positions that their counterparts are achieving in a specific time frame along with the same qualifications and experience. Specific to the legal, financial and baking related firms, the transition of a female employee into a partner is sex biases, undertaken mostly under pressure or durance on part of the board.The females as a result are also plagued by problems pertaining to maintaining a falsified image and living up to expectation of the men. â€Å"the p resence of a self-managed career advancement process necessitating a proactive approach to demonstrating individual contribution; and the need to ‘fit’ a prevailing model of success within the firm which is a masculine model and is more problematic for women.† (Kumra, & Vinnicombe, 2008)Aside from this the discrepancies for jobs and the barriers into employment in the UK are more prominent for ethnic women as compared to the white women. This is mostly because of the fact that the employers have a higher degree of discrimination for the way the ethnic women dress in the workplace.Moreover while asking an applicant about their plans for establishing a life, getting married and having children are considered discriminatory by the British Law, these questions are still persistently an repeatedly been asked off black, and Asian women seeking employment in the UK.â€Å"Research by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) has revealed that Pakistani and Bangladeshi wom en aged under 35 are between three and four times more likely to be unemployed than their white counterparts, while black Caribbean females are twice as likely to be out of work.† (‘Ethnic minority women face employment barriers’, 2005)