Wosb

Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Program

Introduction

Many have heard about the glass ceiling effect that Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) and Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business (EDWOSB) have experienced much of in the workplace. The glass ceiling article first appeared in the Wall Street Journal published in 1986. It was in this article that the term glass ceiling was first used to describe the invisible barriers that women faced in the workplace as they have attempted to climb the corporate ladder. According to (Delisle, 1998) despite evidence, there are still those today that think there is no glass ceiling and that small and economically disadvantaged businesses have the same advantages as male-owned businesses, but for decades statics has proven that the government has failed to reach their 5% goal of federal contracts awarded to Women-Owned Small Business and Economically Disadvantaged Women Owned Small Business (Delisle, 2013).

Recognizing this shortfall the Small Business Administration (SBA) decided to take actions to rectify this problem, so on October 7, 2010, the Small Business Administration issued a new final rule allowing for the implementation of the Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) and Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business (EDWOSB) Program. The program became effective on February 4, 2011 to help assist with leveling the playing field for those business with federal contracts, and became active in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) on April 1, 2011. Whether it is for intentional reasons or not, many women have been discriminated against in the many professions. This paper will prove that there was a glass ceiling that has prevented women from climbing the corporate ladder, and it has just recently been cracked with the help of the Small Business Administration implementing the Women-Owned Small Business and Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Program...