Page 40 - Zenith 12호

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In the second year of the Showa era, two interns joined a company with a much higher percentage of women. In

2022, the men's position in the company has increased significantly, but the positions of the female employees
who joined the company at the same time have barely changed. The two of them indeed joined the company at
the same time, but their growth rates within the group were different.
This is because there are “glass escalators” for

men and “glass ceilings” for women. The concept
was described in a 1992 study by Christine L.
Williams. She explained the phenomenon in
which men are given preferential treatment rather

than discrimination when they enter a female-
dominated occupation. When Christine Williams
designed her research from the beginning, she
tried to figure out what discrimination men face

in women-centered workplaces. However, the
results of the research were the opposite. The
men received advantages in both employment
and promotion. In the in-depth interview, male

nurses confessed that managers love men very
much in hiring, and male librarians also presented
experiences in which they were assigned to
middle schools instead of elementary schools.

This male advantage stems from a very ironic
element. The men in the job category are labeled as losers who failed to enter male-dominated jobs by other
men. However, when they enter women-centered workplaces, they are equally accepted and rated equal to men
with "male" occupations. Consequently, an effect where men are evaluated more highly than existing female

co-workers is generated. Therefore, there is a glass escalator phenomenon in which they are more likely to the
important management positions than their women peers.

On the other hand, women are discriminated against and have to endure many restrictions unlike men in a group

where the male is dominant. This often occurs in Asian countries where Confucian ideas are strong.
South Korea is currently at the bottom of the "glass ceiling" index among 29 OECD countries. This means that
women's labor rights and equality are not guaranteed well in Korea compared to other developed countries