The Glass Ceiling is a Leftist Construct, and other things I picked up in business school
Chizoba Nnamaeka MBA'10
Issue date: 11/10/09 Section: Opinion
If you are reading this piece, you are most likely a businessperson, and/or an MBA. The rest of the non-business world not caring the least about what us MBAs think, has placed us in a den of sin which we cohabit with door-to-door salesmen, child molesters, and the kinds of guys whose road trip ruminations might begin, "So whatever happened to that chick? The one who said you raped her?" Now, if you have gotten this far and are already horrified, I urge you kindly to click on your browser's back button or to turn to the next page. Thank you.
I've considered myself a feminist and a liberal since I've been old enough and interested enough to define my identity. On top of that, my entire pre-university education - 12 years worth - took place in private French schools, which is about as close to a socialist, anti-free market madrasa as one can find this side of the G8. Therefore the story of how I ended up in graduate school, and not just graduate school, but business school is a convoluted and unromantic one. Nevertheless, I chose to come to MIT's Sloan School of Management - to the surprise of a few people - mainly because of its entrepreneurial focus, but partly because it seemed like the least evil and most humane of the business school fraternity. (Actually, maverick Yale's School of Management should take that honor.)
What has happened since being at business school is that I find myself asking - as a female MBA - how much of the glass ceiling is actually glass, and how much is actually plastic that looks like glass, because women haven't been ballsy enough to take a crack at it. I absolutely do not deny that sexist discrimination (among many other types) is legion. I would be a traitor to the feminist cause to dare underestimate the number and complexity of factors that conspire against women penetrating certain professions and attaining the highest ranks in others. But I would also be a traitor to absolve women of all responsibility and pretend that they too are not part of the problem.
I've considered myself a feminist and a liberal since I've been old enough and interested enough to define my identity. On top of that, my entire pre-university education - 12 years worth - took place in private French schools, which is about as close to a socialist, anti-free market madrasa as one can find this side of the G8. Therefore the story of how I ended up in graduate school, and not just graduate school, but business school is a convoluted and unromantic one. Nevertheless, I chose to come to MIT's Sloan School of Management - to the surprise of a few people - mainly because of its entrepreneurial focus, but partly because it seemed like the least evil and most humane of the business school fraternity. (Actually, maverick Yale's School of Management should take that honor.)
What has happened since being at business school is that I find myself asking - as a female MBA - how much of the glass ceiling is actually glass, and how much is actually plastic that looks like glass, because women haven't been ballsy enough to take a crack at it. I absolutely do not deny that sexist discrimination (among many other types) is legion. I would be a traitor to the feminist cause to dare underestimate the number and complexity of factors that conspire against women penetrating certain professions and attaining the highest ranks in others. But I would also be a traitor to absolve women of all responsibility and pretend that they too are not part of the problem.
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posted 11/25/09 @ 9:50 PM EST
It is very interesring article!
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