Nor does it indicate that women face insuperable barriers to achievement in today's marketplace. Unlike Lydick, she believes that women bring different characteristics to the workplace and that CEOs must recognize these strengths. And this is happening. In addition, these women plan to keep climbing the ladder. While only four out of 10 men surveyed expected to be part of their companies' senior management team in the year 2000, six out of 10 women surveyed expected to be exercising such power.
Women are an increasing presence in the corporate boardroom, as well.
Another weakness in the glass ceiling complaint is that it ignores smaller companies. Women certainly are making headway in corporate America, at all levels and in firms of all sizes. In fact, The Economist recently ran a feature story that rendered men all but obsolete in the Information Age, as their comparative advantage of aggressiveness and upper body strength greatly diminishes.