Introduction
The term “glass cliff” refers to a situation where women are promoted to higher positions during times of crisis or duress, increasing their likelihood of failure. Coined by researchers at the University of Exeter, this concept illustrates how these promotions often serve as setups for failure, akin to standing on the edge of a cliff. If they fail, they are effectively pushed off.
Key Takeaways
- A Glass Cliff: Women are often promoted to leadership roles during times of significant turmoil in certain industries, setting them up for failure.
- Derivation: This term stems from the concept of the “glass ceiling,” which refers to an invisible barrier limiting how high women can rise in organizations.
- Blame Factor: Promoting women during crises provides companies an individual to blame if things go south.
- Perception of Progressiveness: Regardless of outcomes, promoting women allows companies to appear progressive.
- Freedom to Reappoint Males: If women fail, companies can easily reappoint males to their positions without significant backlash.
Exploring the Glass Cliff
The glass cliff is prevalent across various fields, including finance, politics, technology, and academia. It often results in underperformance due to the precarious nature of the conditions surrounding these promotions.
Several factors contribute to women being promoted into more unstable roles than men. The common belief in less valuable disposable talent adds to this disparity, leading to sacrifices of women and minorities during tough times.
In times of crisis, organizations often avoid risking their perceived most valuable talent — white men. Women and minorities are often deemed more expendable.
Promotions give organizations a dual-win attribute: they appear progressive but risk little if the appointed leader fails. Despite the challenges, many women find these leadership opportunities hard to decline due to their rarity.
Consistency in gender equality within top leadership realms is integral not just for inclusivity but also for harnessing the best talent available.
Special Considerations
Many struggles are compounded due to less guidance and exclusion from influential networks. Without these informal circuits, women miss connections critical for advancement.
Although it frequently concerns women, the glass cliff also extends to minorities and other marginalized groups in similar weak positions.
Historical Context of the Glass Cliff
In 2004, researchers at the University of Exeter studied FTSE 100 companies and found that appointments of women to board positions correlated with poor performance in preceding months. Follow-up studies confirmed women were often given the most problematic cases, epitomizing the glass cliff phenomenon.
Other Notable Research
Alison Cook and Christy Glass’s 2013 research highlighted that occupational minorities were more likely than white men to be appointed as CEOs of poorly performing companies, thereby placed on a glass cliff. This perpetuated a ‘savior effect’ favoring the reinstatement of white male leaders.
Businesses led by female CEOs also face greater scrutiny and activism, compounding their inherent challenges.
The Impact of a Glass Cliff
Women and other minorities make substantial efforts to overcome professional barriers. The glass cliff places these individuals on an even steeper gradient, aiming for their downfall.
“Organizations in crisis hand the mess to women, expecting them to clean it up,” stated Anna Beninger, drawing awareness to an unsustainable practice for everyone involved.
Continued failure reinforces stereotypes about women’s and minorities’ capabilities in leadership, doing long-term damage to diversity efforts and individual careers.
Strategies to Prevent a Glass Cliff
Identifying the problem is the first step. Promoted individuals must investigate companies’ health, ask critical questions during negotiations, and consider risks in their roles thoughtfully.
Questions during negotiations include evaluating role success metrics, understanding risk appetites, and discussing compensation aligned with role difficulties.
Negotiation skill enhancement can aid, significantly influencing offers related to exposure to high-risk positions. Women especially should master these competencies.
Saying ’no’ is also important once research indicates potential failures, guided by caution alongside ambition.
Visual Confrontation of the Glass Cliff vs. Glass Ceiling
Parallel but distinctly differing from the glass ceiling, the glass cliff surfaces mid-career when someone’s fall may dismantle their professionally-made standing.
Real-Life Examples of a Glass Cliff
Marissa Mayer
In 2012, Marissa Mayer became Yahoo’s CEO amidst continuous market share losses to Google. Despite efforts, her tenure ended after five years, blamable not on her performance but the environment’s improbability.
Jill Soltau
In 2018, Jill Soltau joined JCPenney, battling impending debts and digital shifts, resulting disastrously with COVID-19’s outbreak leading to bankruptcy. Her service under stressful conditions culminated in termination one-and-a-half years later.
When Do Women Encounter Glass Cliffs?
Females in professional and political realms generally face glass cliffs more than their male counterparts during crises and high-risk periods.
Motives and Expectations
Through manipulated castings, organizations keep reinforcing backward notions women and minorities presume weak in leadership instincts.
Critical empowerment initiatives yielding well-prepared grounds uplift equable giving deserving competence climatic harmonies to grow equally.
Women’s Guide Work Towards Glass Cliff Image-
Organizations carry obligations shaping cooperative feminist frameworks meticulously within executive groups expanding gender parity.
Future-prepped measures often such critical viable women-circulated mentorships revolutionize deeper exclusively amidst mindful institutional duties fruitfully.
Related Terms: glass ceiling, gender bias, leadership roles, equity and inclusion, organizational crisis.
References
- University of Exeter. “Concept of ‘Glass Cliff’ Resonates for Women”.
- Psychology Today. “Women and the Good Ole Boys Club”.
- Ryan, Michelle, S. Alexander Haslam. “The Glass Cliff: Evidence that Women are Over-Represented in Precarious Leadership Positions”. *The British Journal of Management,*vol. 16, no 2, February 2005, pp. 81–90.
- Ashby, Julie, Michelle K. Ryan, S. Alexander Haslam. “Legal Work and the Glass Cliff: Evidence that Women are Preferentially Selected to Lead Problematic Cases”. William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice, vol. 13, no 3, 2007.
- Cook, Alison, Christy Glass. “Above The Glass Ceiling: When Are Women and Racial/Ethnic Minorities Promoted to CEO?” Strategic Management Journal, vol. 35, no 7, pp. 1080–1089.
- Harvard Business Review. “Research: Activist Investors Are More Likely to Target Female CEOs”.
- Vox. “Why Struggling Companies Promote Women: The Glass Cliff, Explained”.
- U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. “EEOC Field Offices”.
- World Economic Forum. “Women Are Still Not Asking For Pay Rises. Here’s Why”.
- Korn Ferry. “New Research Shows Women Are Better at Using Soft Skills Crucial for Effective Leadership and Superior Business Performance, Finds Korn Ferry”.
- Loden Associates, Inc. “Revisiting the Glass Ceiling”.
- The Wall Street Journal. “The Phrase ‘Glass Ceiling’ Stretches Back Decades”.
- Time. “Read Hillary Clinton’s Concession Speech for the 2016 Presidential Election”.
- Forbes. “Marissa Mayer and the Glass Cliff”.
- CNN Business. “JCPenney’s CEO Is Out After Two Years of Failure”.
