Black Female Executives in Corporate America Essay Example for Free

B escape Female Executives in Corporate America Essay relentless egg-producing(prenominal) executives argon a symbol of what determination and hope stinkpot achieve that despite the odds and intelligences, pack can achieve anything they set themselves on regardless of their cultural brookgrounds. Reaching the sack up for these women has been a tour which dates back way before sla actu ally when women lived and followed the African traditional settings which governed every aspect of their lives. In this setting, the women were curb to their men and their duty was to look after their families. Evolution has since changed these perspectives after the civil war that liberated the scurrilous people much(prenominal) that they were able to own squargon-toedty and even travel in state organizations. In addition, the African people had the power to be educated. Over the years, African women save continually struggled to be the better(p) academically as well as professionally such(prenominal) that they puzzle even outshone their mate men. By 1994, thither were more inkiness women as comp ard to the fatal men who were employed specially in washcloth collar jobs in corporeal America (Tucker, 1994). Thanks to institutions like Equal Employment Opportunity accusation (EEOC), in that respect has been significant growth of discolors taking up pourboireership purposes in bodied America ( benzoin, 84). In the managerial positions, nigrify men be slightly more than the black women but still the turning of women in managerial positions between the years 1982-1992 had change magnitude by 64% (Tucker, 1994). This positive figure has encourage opposite black women to undertake leadership roles hence adding up to the change magnitude figure.Black women representation in the collective organizations can non be compared to the rise of albumen women in the net managerial positions whose numbers flip incr liberalisationd over the last decade. This is illustrated by 32% of uncontaminating women managers who were executive leaders as compared to 14% African American women in akin(predicate) positions who earned less than them in the year 2000 (Ely, 2003). This submits that as much as the black women are making it big there are several factors that hinder their rise to such positions.By the year 2001, African American women remained in the shadows and remained invisible hence they were ranked in the corporate stemmaes either according to sexual activity as well as race (Bell Nkomo, 2003). Reasons for lack of black females in executive positions Though there are a few known black women executives in the corporate world it does not necessarily sloshed that they are not learned enough or that the positions are limited. The major issues limiting the black womanhood from getting to the top of the corporate ladder are gender and race.Certain stereotypes which are mostly negative are likened to the black female. They are cons idered to be aggressive and very direct (Caver, 2002). Such characteristics make them unsuitable for leadership positions in big organizations hence limiting their chances of locomote their careers. Black women are not exposed to educational opportunities like their male counter bureaus as well as snow-clad people. This is because most of them come from poor backgrounds and then their education is limited up to a genuine level when the funds they put one over can allow.That is why they usually get casual jobs and work as subordinate staff in organizations. Another issue that has contributed to the lack of black females in executive positions is the perception that such positions are the strongholds of men hence organizations mostly employ male colleagues. These factors make it harder for the black women to be promoted to executive positions as they are not only judged by the way their race but excessively according to gender. Challenges the black women executives baptistry T he rise of the women in the corporate world does not really mean that it is all rosy at the top.Though the experience is rewarding some of them are frustrated. The few African American women in executive positions are faced with several challenges in the course of their work. They have to continually convince people and prove to their colleagues that they have what it takes to run organizations. To begin with their salaries are low as compared to those of their fellow black men in similar leadership positions. Most of the African American women in the top managerial positions are considered as vulnerable employees.They are given those positions that can be easily scrapped impinge on when the company restructures itself (Tucker, 1994). They do not indeed get the chance to play major roles in organizations especially in call of decision making as sometimes they do not have jobs to do. This makes them palpate inactive and observe as if they were just put in those positions to enha nce the good image of the companies they capitulum as being good an equal employer. Some companies just put the women up there so that they can show their corporate allies that they are not biased against any race or gender (Lamont Molnar, 2002). Lack of strategic relationships Relationships define how people will relate with each other in the organization. When the black women are not supported by their employers, then it becomes hard for them to relate with them in proper slipway and this affects their work relationship. The relationship between black and white women in the oeuvre is as well strained. This is because white women do not interact often with black women on organizational matters hence they have small knowledge on some of the racial perspectives the black women have to deal with.They feel white women do not care slightly black women issues and concerns (Caver, 2002). This has make the black women feel betrayed by them and no extol they do not relate with the m well (Bell Nkomo, 2003). This scenario has strained communication between the two groups and they never go in constructive activities. They have been reduced to clicks that support their own members and rarely will they support the progression of the opposite colleagues to such leadership positions.If the black women cannot relate well internally with their colleagues, it is therefore hard for them to earn corporate relationships with people from other organizations as well as their clients as they do not have people within the organization to link them to other business relations. Lack of mentoring and support African American women are never mentored and if, on a limited scale. This is because they are thought to have nothing in common with their white counterparts as well as black men (Caver, 2002). muchover, it is difficult for the black woman to fit in the white male-oriented positions which is limited by the negative, historical, sexual racism between black women and t he white men (Benjamin, 2005). For this reason, they do not get to improve on their leadership skills hence it is hard for them to be promoted to higher positions. In addition, when other people will start performing better than them, they are tell to be incompetent and therefore they risk losing their jobs. The society is excessively not showing support for the black women corporate leaders who have managed to beat all odds and be the best.This is more so seen in the African American community where people think that they use their high positions to intimidate them. No oddity it is hard for them to call up suitable husbands as the males feel threatened. Trust issues The few black women executives who are there are not trusted to make strategic and informed decisions by other colleagues in the body of work and that is why they have to struggle so much to build this trust which takes a long time. This is why some black women who can no longer cope with the pressure resign from their jobs. This has led to an increasing number of black women quitting their jobs.This is why the CEO as well as other colleagues in the workplace are left to wonder if race determines commonality or whether gender connects across racial lines and if the black women have their own leadership style that helps them navigate in the hierarchy (Bell Nkomo, 2003). Lack of access to business development opportunities Leaders need to continually sharpen their skills so that they are able to tackle problems that heighten in the business cycle. Black women are usually sidelined in major activities and this limits their chances of growth in name of acquiring skills and building strategic alliances.For example, a project may be designed which may necessitate people going for training but surprisingly, countable black women if any, will be short listed. This makes them feel like an extra burden to the organization. Balancing work and in-person life Just like all women, African American women have to place their families before everything else. They therefore have to ensure that they balance their personal lives as well as their works lest they fail in all of them. Sometimes it is not leisurely as in every place they are faced with issues and sometimes they do not have colleagues whom they can turn to for help.Impact on the black female work population The statistics might show that black women positions in leadership positions have increased but the experiences of African American women in such positions reveal another thing. Some women have said that they have watched their subordinate colleagues some who are not qualified be promoted to higher ranks while they, who have served the companies for longer periods, are stagnant in the same(p) positions. In addition, when they give ideas on anything, they are not taken seriously and this is adding up to their frustrations (Hesselgrave, 2009). Such scenarios have made them feel diminished, have low self esteem and not feel like part of the organization. This has made them emotionally as well as psychologically disturbed as they cannot come to terms as to why so much hatred and seclusion is still in the society. The lack of back women executives in corporate America is not doing much to encourage spring chicken black women professionals to take managerial careers. They see on a daily basis on how their fellow black women in the corporate world are swear outed and nothing much is done to solve the issues.Some black women have had to succumb to offering sexual favors and bribes if they really want the positions. Such negative factors make the young ladies not wanting to be in such vulnerable positions hence they will opt to choose careers that they find pleasure in. Another impact is that organizations have been divided along racial and gender lines when their own are not promoted to executive positions. This has inhibited progress in the organizations as decisions can not be made effectively bec ause employees are not communicating and they are not performing well at their work because their issues are not being addressed.This has also brought in unhealthy competition in the workplace as the different groupings of people have to find fault in each other so that they can use the raised issues as an excuse to make them appear better so that they can be favored (Ivancevich Gilbert, 2000). In some instances, it has led to the formulation of policies which the minority group in this case, the African American women, use to give them an edge over other colleagues. Recommendations Women of all races play a major role in corporate organizations and that is why they should be encouraged to take the top most leadership positions if they are qualified.Some of the factors that need to be considered in promoting African American women in leadership positions include ? supporting more black women to pursue leadership positions Educating and sensitizing the young black girls at a young age is important so that they take up leadership courses. This will make them more make minded at an early. The Federal State therefore should ensure that there is equitable distribution of resources such that black children can access proper schools like the rest of the children in major cities.African American women also need to be trained on political skills so that they are able to lead people in the proper manner thus become competent. ? Equal treatment Affirmative actions and the ecesis of women movements have played a vital role in rallying for equal treatment of women. More needs to be done so that the women can feel like they are part of the organizations they serve. The managers should therefore diversify employee groups and continually monitor to see how they are progressing and help then overcome the challenges they face.The top managers should also be able to identify black women who are skilled and help them grow within the organizations they promontory (Lamont Mol nar, 2002). The human resource heads should therefore ensure that they recruit they staff equitably and not based on any kind of biasness so that when it comes to making decisions or selecting the right candidate for a particular top office, all the people will be represented therefore the right candidate will be chosen regardless of their back grounds. ? Respect and trustRespect starts with an individual when they identify their needs and they treat others the way they would like to be treated in return. Respect is a very important rightfulness that should be in every code of conduct since it determines how people will be treated. Sometimes when white male superiors and black female subordinates as they are trying to amend their relationships they are faced with difficulties because of the lack of basis for identification which is mainly attributed to the fact that the motives behind them are not sincere (Thomas Gabarro298). Without respect, then there is no trust as individuals will not trust people who treat them badly. People therefore need to learn to respect black women because it is the only way that will help them salvage their relationships, ease communication and enhance understanding each other so that productivity of the company can improve. It is also advisable to find trust agents if the matters in the organizations are too complex for the members to solve. Having an independent party destiny employees and management to solve their problems will be good as they will not be biased.? Educating the other employees on the negative effects of discrimination is also a positive tonicity towards creating room for black female executives. Conclusion Operations in organizations are changing slowly by slowly to have cultural diversity and people are beginning to embrace the work done by the black women as well as other minority groups. Black women executives nowadays can be found in almost all departments in the workplace and have even gone a step fu rther to head multinational organizations.Even in the wake of civil rights and women movements which have helped bring about gender equality, black women executives still face many challenges. African American women need to work harder to face out racism especially in this ever changing diverse world (Burk NCWO). These women need to be supported in the work they do rather then being put down as they are also human and they deserve respect just like other individuals in similar positions in the society. Corporations therefore need to change their cultures and philosophies so that they attract more black women and retain them.Black women also need to show that they deserve the executive positions by being passionate about the jobs and ensuring that they are qualified for the positions.ReferencesBell, E. L. J. Nkomo S. M. (2003). Our Separate Ways Black and White Women and the Struggle for Professional Identity. Harvard Business Press, 5, 239, 5 Benjamin L. (2005). The Black elite st ill facing the color line in the twenty-first century second Ed. Rowman Littlefield, p. 70 Caver K. A. (2002). 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