Addison Smith | Opinions Editor
There are fewer women CEOs in America than there are CEOs named John according to a New York Times article published March 2. The glass ceiling that we were thought to be breaking? It must be bullet-proof with these statistics.
The article targeted four male names – James, Robert, John or William – and compared ratios of those men to women in total in different jobs. In terms of the government, the sectors were divided in Republican and Democratic to show more of a disparity in the Republican Party.
In the Senate, there are 2.17 men named James, Robert, John or William to every one woman in the Republican Party, while there are 1.36 men with those four names to every one woman for the Republican Party in the House of Representatives. This is compared to the .31 men named James, Robert, John or William and .29 men with those names in the House of Representatives and Senate respectively for the Democratic Party.
While that puts the Democratic Party in a good light, it still shows an overall disparity in Congress. Add in the importance of these positions and women are seemingly left out of the loop.
Those statistics are just with those four male names. Plus, there are as many men named John for the Republicans as there are female Republicans in the Senate. This glass ceiling has moved from bullet-proof glass to near indestructible metal that cannot be broken through.
But these disparities lie far beyond the legislature and CEO positions, there are 1.12 men named James, Robert, John or William who are professors of economics compared to every one woman. If Hillary Clinton were to run for and win president in 2016, there would have been 15 men named James, Robert, John or William (Hillary’s husband Bill Clinton included) to one female president of the United States.
It’s been 85 years since women were granted the right to vote, a huge milestone for women’s rights, but there are still obvious problems in the United States, not to mention the world. Women are still paid roughly 75 cents to every dollar that a man makes.
We have yet to have a female president, which could change in 2016, but competition and recent scandals are making Hillary Clinton’s not officially announced campaign harder.
However, there have been steps in the right direction. There are female CEOs, compared to when there were none. More women are pursuing higher education than men. There are three women serving on the Supreme Court. President Barack Obama’s cabinet has two women currently sitting on it.
But, these are just steps towards breaking the glass ceiling that seems indestructible. The day should come when women can be appointed to CEO positions without it becoming a national news story for the fact that the person being appointed is a female. Headlines should be about accomplishments of the woman accepting the job, not her genetic makeup.
When a woman can be lauded for her accomplishments and education when accepting a governmental office or high corporate position, that’s when things will be a little bit better. Genetic makeup does not make a CEO, or an elected or appointed governmental official.
It’s when it stops becoming a big deal that the world will be regulated. It’s when people stop being shocked over women receiving important jobs that this debate can quiet down for a little while.
It’s when women outnumber the Johns, Williams, Roberts and Jameses with equal pay that the issue will subside, at least for a little while.
So, here’s to women still beating and attempting to break the glass ceiling, it may be hard to bust through, but it needs to be done.