This thesis covers a few concepts; managers, change agents and the glass ceiling. The research is done in the context of Britain, mainly England, where the glass ceiling still exists; as this research indicates. The glass ceiling is a phenomenon impacting all minority demographics, not only based on gender or sex, in that it holds people back in their careers through a complex inequality regime (Cotter, Hermsen, Ovadia & Vanneman, 2001; Kelan, 2014; Acker, 2009;
Britton & Williams, 2000). This chapter splits the research into its motives, relevance, necessity and value, research problem and objectives, work structure and limitations.
1.1 Value of the research
My motives for the research were two main factors. The first being the UK, the research’s context, is where I plan to develop a career. The second is I am female, aware of the glass ceiling’s impact and am interested in feminism, which leads me to believe eliminating the glass ceiling is the right thing to do. Therefore, it is interesting personally and professionally to have more insight into this topic. While the research may be clouded by personal interests, the position from which I am conducting it and my beliefs are made known later on.
In the UK context, the research is relevant due to the increasing proportion of women in the workforce, from 57% in 1975 to 78% in 2017 (Roantree & Vira, 2018). However, further demographics are considered. For example, the UK is becoming increasingly multicultural and ethnically diverse (Race Disparity Unit, 2018), the labour pool is diversifying so companies should diversify accordingly, since diversity can improve financial performance and other firm characteristics like size (Hunt, Layton & Prince, 2015; Nolan, Moran & Kotschwar, 2016; Hunt, Yee, Prince & Dixon-Fyle, 2018). While the percentage of minorities in the workforce, e.g.
women and Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) persons, are increasing compared to the general population, they are underrepresented (Race Disparity Unit, 2018; Office for National Statistics, 2020; Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, 2017). This should be rectified as it is the law to allow fair opportunity, based on the Equality Act 2010 (Government Equalities Office, 2015) and is part of the government agenda (Government Equalities Office, 2010; Hampton-Alexander Review, 2019). It is desirable also, since having more diversified teams can bring value to companies (Hunt et al., 2015; Nolan et al., 2016; Hunt et al., 2018).
Managers are relevant since they influence organisations (Bloom, van Reenen & Brynjolfsson, 2017), and have a key role in change (Ionescu, Meruta & Dragomiroiu, 2014). Upon my preliminary research, it was clear managers can take the change agent role to execute the change required (Furnham, 2002; de Vries, 2015). How exactly managers can act as change agents and the practices and styles they should employ was of interest. Ultimately, one route is investigated here, for the sake of the research scope. This is due to it being exploratory research with limited time and resources, so focusing on one route is appropriate. However, the research results are not a cure-all and further routes should be investigated in future research.
Moving to theoretical value, investigations into the glass ceiling concept, and the change agents involved, are ongoing; with a study published just earlier this year on the glass ceiling within academic medicine and dentistry (Brown, Crampton, Finn & Morgan, 2020) and a study published last year on the gay glass ceiling (Aksoy, Carpenter, Frank & Huffman, 2019). The glass ceiling term was coined over 40 years ago and what it signifies, discrimination and inequality, is still an issue across the globe. Thus, any research that can generate suggestions as to how to eliminate it is valuable. This research takes a slightly different perspective to previous works, which hopefully gets us closer to knowing how to eliminate it.
The concept of intersectionality adds further theoretical value (Tariq & Sayed, 2017; Bagilhole, 2010). For many years the glass ceiling was only a gender or sex issue, however, when it comes to minorities in the workplace, all demographics should be championed. By taking an intersectional perspective, the theory can be broadened further than gender/sex. Additionally, by considering all minority demographics under the glass ceiling, a majority position is approached, compared to traditional majority demographics. This consideration adds value since if a majority is seen to be negatively impacted, there can be more motivation to change.
The practical value can be general or applied to the COVID-19 pandemic. Generally, having a more diversified team can generate more value (Hunt et al., 2015; Nolan et al., 2016; Hunt et al., 2018). So, eliminating the barrier to diversity should allow increased value. In terms of managers as change agents, it seems logical to utilise existing talent, who are familiar, have existing trust with the employees and can play a key role in change (Ionsecu et al., 2014).
Coming to the pandemic, it has impacted business in the UK drastically. On gender, between a mother and father working from home, the mother tends to have to take time from work for the children (Andrew, 2020; Georgieva, Fabrizio, Lim & Tavares, 2020). From an ethnicity perspective, the overrepresentation of BAME persons in low-paid, high-exposure jobs puts their health at greater risk (Byrne, Alexander, Khan, Nazroo & Shankley, 2020; Public Health England, 2020). With this as the reality for many, moving towards eliminating the glass ceiling can reduce the overrepresentation in lower-paid jobs and pay gap compared to the majority; so, minorities will hopefully not be put in these situations as much. Additionally, companies may realise working from home is feasible for many, leading to openness on working practices.
Thus, now could be the time to introduce changes, with companies in more flexible mindsets.
1.2 The research
The research problem is how managers can act as change agents to help eliminate the glass ceiling in the UK. This is the main research question; presented in chapter three. Due to the width of the research problem, some sub-research questions, exploratory questions and a contextual question were devised, covering managerial practices, change management and the research’s context; explained later in the paper. The research approach is explained in full in the methodology chapter, four, so a summary follows. Regarding the ontology, constructionism was selected, since I see glass ceiling as a social phenomenon created by social actors. This is based on Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill’s (2007) explanation and the glass ceiling being described as a phenomenon (Cotter et al., 2001). An inductive approach allows for a new
perspective on existing theory and an exploratory study type allows for proper topic understanding, without pressure for conclusive results. Ethnography fits the social phenomenon aspect, with the ethnographic principle of understanding and critical ethnography being appropriate based on the stance on inequality and positionality. Positionality, subjectivity and reflexivity are also considered in chapter four.
The research choice is qualitative, using multiple methods, including ethnographic interviews, since they provide rich data, especially considering the cross-sectional time horizon; as well as literature reviewing. On sampling, non-purposive, heterogeneous sampling allows for a wide variety of interviewees, furthering data richness. The data collection instrument and procedure for the secondary data is documentary and use of databases, respectively. For primary data the instrument is semi-structured interviews, providing in-depth data and the procedure is interviews carried out via video conferencing platforms, since in-person interviews were circumstantially not possible. For data analysis, the interviews are transcribed, coded thematically and a code network created to put everything into perspective and highlight key findings. The validity and ethical choice of deontology are also considered, as recommended by Saunders et al. (2007), with details found in chapter four.
The objective at the root of the approach is naturally a valuable contribution to the issue of the glass ceiling; offering insight into how its prevalence and impact can be reduced by managers.
What this means is concrete answers to the research questions, even if not totally conclusive, they provide some conclusion and are indicative of further research directions. The ultimate objective is to provide a means for managers to eliminate the glass ceiling in businesses across the UK, since it brings value to companies, the economy (Maceira, 2017; European Institute for Gender Equality, 2017), peoples’ wellbeing (Audette, Lam, O’Connor & Radcliff, 2018) and the fact equality is a fundamental human right (United Nations, 2020). I also acknowledge that the issue of the glass ceiling is systemic and far greater than a manager, company and this research. However, since there is a case for its elimination and organisations can drive social change (Stephan, Patterson, Kelly & Mair, 2016), I saw it as a good place to start as any and I see the conceptual model that resulted as a viable means. I judge this objective as achieved, through the development of the conceptual model covering managerial practices and a change management process, within the UK context.
As to how the research advances knowledge in this field, there are a few ways I hope it contributes. The intersectional perspective of the research can add to knowledge on who is impacted by the glass ceiling and further consideration of intersectionality in discrimination.
Another area of contribution is on managers as change agents. The traditional management role may not always cover change management or the driving changes, but the concept of managers as change agents is interesting. So, by illustrating how managers can be change agents in this specific instance, their propensity to act as change agents on other matters can be explored.
Finally, recommendations on eliminating the glass ceiling exist, including Meyerson and Fletcher’s (2000) Small Wins, Kilian, Huaki and McCarty’s (2005) Interventions, the United States Government Accountability Office’s (2005) Best Practices and Kelan and Wratil’s (2017) Interpretive Repertoire. However, this route has not been exhaustively explored, so with
this research problem, the knowledge on how to go about eliminating the glass ceiling, through managers acting as change agents should be expanded.
1.3 The structure
The paper is divided into seven chapters to keep the flow logical and arrive at a conclusion.
After the introduction, a literature review covers a range of theories, split into seven sections:
the glass ceiling and change agent concept definitions, the causes of the glass ceiling within British business, the case for change, managers as change agents, eliminating the glass ceiling and managers as change agents for the glass ceiling. These sections culminate in visualisations of some previous research results. The research questions are then explained; how they were developed and why they were included. The methodology details methodological choices, including ontological choice, approach, study type, strategy, choice, time horizon, techniques and procedures and finally, ethics; to clarify how the findings were reached. The findings are divided into the ten themes from the data analysis: defining glass ceiling defining change agent, British business, glass ceiling experience, eliminating the glass ceiling, managers, change management, best practices, timeline and worst practices; paving the way for the discussion.
The discussions chapter, six, analyses the findings and presents answers to the research questions. It is divided into five sections, the first covering the definitions of the glass ceiling and change agent, which while not directly tied to the research questions, are still important to cover. The contextual question is addressed, followed by the sub-questions and exploratory questions on managerial practices and then change management. A separate section answers the main research question and results in a conceptual model. When answering the research questions, the sections are ordered by first reviewing theory, the findings and then drawing a conclusion. To close the paper, the conclusion looks at the key research results, the conceptual model, further research recommendations and a reflection on the research. Additional chapters include a glossary, reference list and appendices.
1.4 Limitations
Starting with self-imposed difficulties, the scope or breadth of the research was purposeful, and I deemed it appropriate to investigate in the context of British business as a whole. However, this impacts the generalisability of the results and made reaching them an extensive process, with a lot to consider. The volume of aspects of the research to be considered created a lengthy discussion and an expansive conceptual model answering the main research question. The model hopefully provides an all-inclusive starting point for managers to act as change agents against the glass ceiling but could be overwhelming or too expansive. Despite this breadth, I believe the research problem was addressed and objectives reached.
On a more positive note regarding the volume of information, the amount of data indicates that despite the pandemic limitations, enough could still be collected. Travel restrictions at the time of data collection meant interviews had to be via video call rather than in person. Arranging the interviews was difficult since many candidates did not have the time due to dealing with the
pandemic. Ultimately, a sufficient number of interviews were carried out, over a longer period than planned for. The research overall took place over a longer period than planned, which may have been partially down to the data collection but also due to adjusting to having returned to the UK from Prague earlier than planned and resulting difficulty with time management. Having said that, the deadline extension meant this was not a problem and I could spend more time on the work. On one hand, the research was not as true an ethnographic strategy as desired, since personal contact required for things like participant observation was not possible at the time of research; but on the other, I had the chance to try the digital ethnography strategy of video interviews (Pink, 2016).
A final limitation, which I tried to mitigate by recognising it, was the fact that my position is one of privilege. Belonging to only one demographic that is discriminated against, in terms of gender, I will not have experienced much of the discrimination covered here. While I have certainly experienced gender discrimination both in subtle and obvious forms across my educational and personal life, it is likely that I lack perspective on the glass ceiling experience, particularly when it comes to intersectionality. Nevertheless, I tried to be mindful of this fact and considerate of my position throughout the research. Additionally, I would consider myself as openminded, in terms of accepting of our differences. However, based on where and how I grew up, it is inevitable that I harbour some biases, which I tried to flag with myself throughout the research and continue to work on personally. The research reflection in the conclusion chapter, seven, include recommendations on what could be done differently.