Does the glass ceiling exist? Is it breakable, or is it, as Martin Luther King III said last week, more like a cement ceiling? What can our nation, our state and our campus community do about it? As the second part of our Black History Month series, two columnists will give their views on the subject.
Market will break ceiling on own
by Scott Bushee
In 1999, Jesse Jackson tried to sue Cypress Semiconductors, an $800 million business from Silicon Valley, because blacks only represented four percent its workforce. The local population was eight percent black.
Jesse Jackson lost in a major way to T.J. Rogers, the head of Cypress.
Rogers's tactic was simple. He pointed out that while blacks only accounted for four percent of his workforce, 35 percent were minorities and 44 percent of top management were minorities.
Why did Rogers hire so many minorities? He explained in an article for the San Jose Mercury News. It was not due to affirmative action. It was because Rogers was greedy. He wanted to make money, and the best way to do that was to hire the best people.
There is a very important lesson to be learned from this case: the glass ceiling, be it for women or for racial minorities, will end without government intervention.
Why? Because businesses are greedy. Like Cypress, they realize that the only way to make money is to stay ahead of the competition. And the only way to stay ahead of the competition is to hire the best people.
The effect that this principle has on society is simple: when cases of pay inequity exist, companies will profit if they bid away those discrepancies.
Detractors say that the statistics say otherwise. They point out that women only make 75 cents per dollar that men make, and blacks only make about 80 cents per dollar that white males make.
Those statistics are misleading. They compare all women or blacks to all white men. As Larry Elder noted, "that's like comparing apples to trucks."
Women often willingly major in low-paying fields such as education and social work, take extended time off to start families and are twice as likely as men are to work part-time jobs.
Researchers Diana Furchtgott-Roth and Christine Stolba found that when individual life experiences are equalized, women make 95 to 98 cents per dollar men make. Studies that take into account life experience show similar statistics for blacks and other minorities.
These figures are not perfect, but it must be remembered that the market is made up of people. People, being imperfect, produce imperfect results. So, although wage inequality leads to potential profits, humans can miss that chance. But the clear answer for anyone concerned about equality is not to use government but rather to start their own business and make a profit by filling in the gaps.
Regardless of human error, both the theory and the facts lead us to a happy ending. Freedom works, for minorities and majorities alike.
Scott Bushee can be reached at
[email protected]
Concerted effort needed for fix
by Gordie Loewen
The glass ceiling does exist. To disagree would be foolish. Women make 72 cents to the dollar that men make. Women of color make less than half of what white males receive for the same work.
The most important thing to remember is that the glass ceiling binds, constricts and holds down all marginalized groups in this country and around the world. This is true for all women and all people of color. Stories about Hillary Clinton or Liddy Dole are of absolutely no use or relevance here. One or two high profile cases of people who "break through" are meaningless when untold millions cannot do so.
This point is particularly poignant for people of color. It is true that many people of color have done great things in our society, but the issue here is the extreme adversities that they generally must overcome to do so. Even when people of color do break through, the system exists in such a manner that many times they must abandon their identities and heritage to do so. The highest-ranking government official of color ever is Colin Powell. But what has Colin Powell ever done for the African-American community?
Additionally, the oppression of women in the workplace is a universal theme. It has been seen all throughout that world and at all times, including in the United States. During World War II, millions of women flooded the work force and managed to gain a sense of financial independence. But when the men returned from the war, a sociological battle was waged to forcibly return women to the home.
Most of the roadblocks faced by women and people of color in the workplace stem from the ideas of privilege ingrained in most white men from birth. Science, media, school, role models and religion all reinforce the stereotype of male dominance through language and the creation of an atmosphere of patriarchy. Look at the university itself. Women's sports receive about 48% of the funding that men's do. Title IX, calling for gender equity within university programs and sports, wouldn't need to exist if things were already equal.
Affirmative action programs and preferential admissions programs all over the country are not intended to exclude white males. They are intended to make a dent in the mountain of privileged treatment that white males have received throughout the entire history of our country.
The glass ceiling was created by an entire society and affects an entire society. And the glass ceiling can only be destroyed through the concerted efforts of an entire society. Only through the works of all members of society can America rise above this institutional prejudice, bigotry and misogyny.
Gordie Loewen can be reached at [email protected]
