CASE 15.1 The \"Glass Ceiling Lisa Weber never doubted that she would be a partn

Question

CASE 15.1 The "Glass Ceiling Lisa Weber never doubted that she would be a partner in her Wall Street firm. A graduate of a prestigious business school with a doctorate in economics, she had taught briefly at a major university. She was the first woman hired as a market analyst in her well-regarded firm. Within two years, she has become one of four senior portfolio managers reporting directly to a senior partner. Her dlients give her the highest commenda- tions for her outstanding performance; over the past two years, she has brought in the largest number of new accounts to the firm. Despite the admiration of her colleagues and their seeming acceptance of her, there is a disturbing, if flattering, aspect to her job. Most of her peers and some of the partners visit her office during the day to discuss in private her opinions on market performance and financial projections. She enjoys these private sessions but is dismayed that at the weekly staff meetings the CEO, Michael Breyer, usually says something like, "OK, let's get started and bring Lisa up to date on some of the trouble spots." None of her peers or the partners mention that Lisa knows as much as they do about what's going on in the firm. She never protests this slight to her competence and knowledge of firm business, nor does she mention the almost-daily private meetings where her advice is sought. As the only woman on the executive level, she prefers to be considered a team player and one of the boys. In the past year, one of her peers has been promoted to partner, although Lisa's performance clearly surpassed his, as measured by the success of her accounts and the amount of new business she brought to the firm. Having heard no mention of partnership for herself, she approached her boss, one of the partners, and asked about the path to a partnership. He replied, "You're doing great, Lisa, but professors do not partners make. What happens if you are a partner and you make a huge mistake? How would you take it? And what about our dients? There's never been a female partner in the 103 years of our firm. Shortly thereafter, another woman, Pamela Tobias, was hired as a mar- keting analyst. Once, when the CEO saw Lisa and Pamela together, he called out to the men, "Hey, guys, two women in one room. That's scary.

Explanation / Answer

1. What advancement barriers did Lisa encounter?

Lisa's gender and her previous experience as a professor acted as barriers in her advancement. In general, it is stereotyping by the higher management which acted as a barrier. The statement 'there has never been a female partner in the 103 years of our firm' is insensitive and irrational. Since the role of a partner is a professional one, gender ought not to have played any role. The statement 'professors do not make partners' shows another type of stereotyping where teaching experience is considered unsuitable for some job even though Lisa's actions and performance demonstrated otherwise.

2. What should the firm's top executives, including Michael, have done differently to retain Lisa?

They should have given her a rational explanation of why she could not be considered for the position of a partner at this point instead of vague statements about the firm's history. In fact, if there were any rational criteria for reaching the position of a partner, Michael and the top executives should have explained these criteria to Lisa and also should have guided her on how she could make herself more capable to become a partner.

3. What type of organisational policies and opportunities might have benefited Lisa and Pamela?

Policies emphasizing equal employment opportunities and policies penalizing sexist remarks at workplace might have benefited Lisa and Pamela

4. What could the organisation do to raise the gender consciousness of Michael and Lisa's male colleagues?

Brief points of the policies related to gender neutrality could have been circulated in internal company communications including the email lists. Monthly programmes involving members of all sexual identity could be conducted. Hypothetical stories like the case study above could have been circulated either as a part of newsletter or email to drive home some points which are more concrete and emotional.

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