The issue in this scenario for Carl is that he is used to a woman being at home and raising the children. This is evident through his comment that his wife Barbara always took care of the kids, or if Carl and Barbara went out together then Carl’s mother would watch the children. Through Carl’s gender schema, or perceived beliefs or ideas about the nature of men and women, he thinks it is more appropriate for Joyce to be at home with her family opposed to acquiring more working hours.  Carl’s gender schema most likely developed as a result of his upbringing and how women are perceived in his family, but he is not able to see past the idea that women can behave in a way other than how he perceives them.

Joyce’s issue in the scenario is that she feels fully qualified for a promotion, but feels like she has always been discriminated against because she is a woman. She believes that the company stereotypes, or groups her with inaccurate beliefs of mothers, with the need for women to be at home with children instead of in the work force. When she applied for promotions in the past, she has always been rejected while a male candidate took the position. In Joyce’s perspective, she has the ability to satisfy both her work requirements with the promotion, and her family requirements.

Ultimately, the large issue is gender equality in the workplace and one, or both, of Carl’s and Joyce’s differing perceptions need to be overcome in order to avoid potential “glass ceiling” discrimination litigation which could be time-consuming, costly, and reputation damaging to either party.  Not only are resources at stake, but there are farther reaching ramifications to solving this particular scenario of gender inequality.  For example, company morale could suffer with underperformance from female employees that may feel generally unappreciated as a result of believing Joyce was unfairly passed up for the promotion.  Also, good will and faith of clients and vendors that offered their professional recommendations for Joyce and deal with the company could be harmed if Joyce decides to leave the company. All parties need to believe the best candidate is hired for the right reasons in order for the company to continue operating effectively.      

Alternate ways to solve the glass ceiling scenario presented in the interview are:
      
Carl could hire another male applicant, deny any wrong-doing and hope Joyce does not pursue the issue in court.  Given Joyce’s documentation, this is not a very wise risk to take.

Carl could hire Joyce simply to avoid legal proceedings, and then intentionally make her job unbearably demanding to make his point and get her to quit.  This may be harder to prove in court, but he would still be at risk of a lawsuit.

Carl could hire Joyce simply to avoid legal proceedings, but not make any effort to change his attitude.  This would most likely result in continued unintentional discriminatory behavior toward her and low job satisfaction for both if they continually make no effort to understand where each is coming from.  It could create a hostile work environment for the two parties, as well as any employees working around Joyce and Carl’s situation and still leave the company at risk for a lawsuit.
