VOA慢速英语--女性面临的“玻璃天花板”依然存在

'Glass Ceiling' Still Exists for Women 女性面临的“玻璃天花板”依然存在

2016 is a big year for American women. Last month, Hillary Clinton became the first woman to receive a major party nomination¹ for president in the United States.

But does her nomination mean all restrictions² on woman and their careers are gone?

The term “glass ceiling” is often used to describe an unseen barrier that stops women and minorities from moving up in their careers.

American small business owners said in an opinion survey that the glass ceiling remains³ in place, even with Hillary Clinton running for president.

Bank of America contacted 1,001 business owners from across the country for their opinion on the issue. Seventy-seven percent of the women, and 56 percent of the men said they believe the barrier still exists for some women and members of minority groups.

Aquila Leon-Soon is chief executive officer of Advance Talent Solutions, a company that helps non-profit groups and government with finding workers. She told VOA the glass ceiling is very real.

"I think that glass ceiling does exist and I would like for people to even think more about how it impacts women entrepreneurs.”

Entrepreneurs launch businesses and are willing to risk money to make money.

The Bank of America survey found that 54 percent of women small business owners did not feel affected⁴ by the glass ceiling. But 46 percent said they had felt limited by it at some time in their careers.

Sharon Miller⁵ is head of small business at Bank of America. She told VOA the survey shows that more women small business owners are hopeful about their companies making money than men. And more women than men plan to grow their business over the next five years.

Miller said that "from 2015 to 2016, the number of men small-business owners expressing optimism about revenue and growth declined significantly, more than 15 percentage points.”

Most American companies are small businesses -- ones with less than 500 employees. The U.S. Small Business Administration says small businesses make up more than 99 percent of American companies.

Miller says the survey found that women want to operate their own businesses.

“When we asked why did you become an entrepreneur, why did you open your own small business, most of the women answered because I want to be my own boss, because I want to take control of my own destiny.”

She added they found that women were not opening businesses because they were unhappy in their old job.

“Those are running towards something, not away. So it wasn’t because I was unhappy in my previous role or didn’t like it, it’s that I wanted to build something for myself.”

A big part of getting a business started is finding the capital, or money, to finance it.

Some people may have to use credit cards, or borrow money from family or friends, or get traditional loans for their businesses. The survey found that more than one in four women still feel they do not have the same access to capital as men.

Leon-Soon knows about that. She says, the first time she went to a bank to get a loan to pay her employees, she was rejected. Now that her company is established, she does not have trouble getting money.

But she says people are still surprised to find women in top leadership.

“Often I am asked, and people are surprised, they’re like, well, can I talk to your boss? And I say, I am the boss. They’re like REALLY?!”

She says people are also surprised when they find out a successful company is led by a woman.

“And that shows that as a nation we have a lot more that we need to do to change the way people view entrepreneurs, and how successful women can be.”

And that most likely means there is a lot more work to be done to make that glass ceiling disappear.

Words in This Story

glass ceiling - n. an unfair system or attitudes that prevents some people from getting the most powerful jobs

survey – n. questions asked to gather data on a group

optimism – n. a feeling or belief that good things will happen in the future

decline - v. something that goes down in numbers

boss – n. the person in charge of employees

destiny – n. what will happen in the future

1 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

2 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。