Pharmaceutical and Medical Packaging News Magazine
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Originally Published April 1998

INDUSTRY WATCH

Turning Glass to Shards

The upper reaches of the packaging industry have long been predominantly male. But women are breaking through the glass ceiling in growing numbers.

by Jim Wagner, Editor-at-Large

In 1995, then-secretary of labor Robert Reich chaired a special commission created by the Civil Rights Act of 1991. True to its name, the Glass Ceiling Commission probed discriminatory practices in the workforce against minorities and women. On the day it disbanded, the commission voted unanimously to recommend a 12-point plan to destroy the glass ceiling by increased enforcement of existing antidiscrimination laws, CEO commitment, affirmative action, and work/life and family-friendly policies.

All fine suggestions—all more or less futile. The glass ceiling still hangs over women, especially in technical fields. The Sara Lee Corp. sponsors the Catalyst Survey every year to test the strength of the glass ceiling by evaluating how many women sit on company boards and in what capacity. Even though the number of women on boards has risen dramatically in the last five years, engineering companies in particular still have very few women directors.

According to JoAnn Hines, executive director of Women in Packaging (an organization that provides a forum for networking and education for women in the packaging industry), women are making progress. Hines cites the fact that 40 to 50% of the students currently enrolled in U.S. packaging schools are women. "The pipeline is filling from the bottom up. It takes a long time," she says.

Francesca Fazzolari is one woman who has made it to the top. She cracked the glass ceiling the hard way—by starting her own company (James Alexander, Blairstown, NJ). She is now president of the firm, whose mainstay is a crushable glass ampule for first-aid kits.

Imagine what it took to get started in 1976 as a young woman entering a highly technical business dominated by men. Fazzolari and her partner began in a garage with three people and $5000 in capital. That's when she made an observation that changed her life and her business.

"I know it's tough for a woman starting out in the packaging business, but back then it was really difficult," she says. "I learned that when you step out in the business world, you need to take the male and female variables out of the equation. When I deal with someone, I don't see men and women, I see businesspeople."

When she was treated differently because she was a woman, she pulled the relationship back to an even keel. "I refuse to allow it to happen now," says Fazzolari. "My business was built on relationships, on keeping my word, and on treating everyone as a valued customer but also as an equal."

Fazzolari likes to help other women with their careers, but warns that if women want to be treated as equals, they have to reciprocate with men. "Business mentors are helpful, but don't seek out only women. You should consider anyone willing to help."

As far as James Alexander goes, Fazzolari has the company on a fast track. This year it will introduce a new ampule with a swab called plastiqué Amp made from low-density polyethylene. The company is also increasing sales with packages for a variety of solutions, diagnostic chemicals, swabs for IV starter kits, and a line for medical diagnostic products.

When Robert Reich announced the findings of his commission, he commented, "The glass ceiling is not only a setback that affects two-thirds of the population, but a serious economic problem that takes a huge financial toll on American business. Equity demands that we destroy the glass ceiling. Smart business demands it as well."

Politics may have underlain his first comment, but he was on target with his words about smart business. The glass ceiling is coming down because businesses are slowly becoming blind to the gender of their talent pool. It's also breaking because women like Fazzolari refuse to let it stop them.