The Glass Cliff, the sinister sister of the well-known Glass Ceiling – a metaphor for the unseen social barrier that keeps women from holding the highest positions of authority in business organizations, political, and academic settings, is the phenomenon wherein women are promoted to positions of power when things aren’t going well, whether the crisis is due to a natural disaster, an industrial accident, product failure, negative public perception, a management scandal, financial underperformance, or another cause.
(“Glass escalator” usually refers to white heterosexual men, who don’t experience the same limitations.)
Women tend to break the glass ceiling only to end up on the glass cliff– often falling off it. In short, when women finally do reach higher-ranking roles, they are often already set up for failure.
The term “Glass Cliff” was first coined by University of Exeter researchers Michelle Ryan and Alexander Haslam in 2005. In 2003, the United Kingdom newspaper The Times suggested that women leaders have a negative impact on company performance. Ryan and Haslam looked at the share price of FTSE 100 companies immediately before and after the appointment of a board member to figure out which came first: the women or the drop in share price, and found that the relationship actually seemed to run the other way: companies that appointed women to their boards were already performing poorly.
Women tend to break the glass ceiling only to end up on the glass cliff– often falling off it.
It’s not a phenomenon limited to women, it also affects minority groups and people of colour– in other words, anyone who isn’t a white man.
One of the reasons why women and minority groups agree to take up these precarious positions is because oftentimes it is their only shot at holding such positions of power.
In times of crisis, leaders — regardless of who they are — tend to be seen as ineffective and part of the problem. When the leader is an occupational minority, any failure or lack of improvement tends to be blamed on their personal failings.
Companies bring in women and people belonging to minority groups (someone who isn’t in their typical demographic) in times of crisis to prompt a fresh perspective and to help manoeuvre a change in the direction, using them as scapegoats if they fail to do so– making them bear the blame for an already declining situation.
“When an organization is in crisis, women are often seen as being able to come in and take care of a problem… they’re effectively handed the mess to clean up.”
– Anna Beninger
Anna Beninger, senior director of research and corporate engagement partner with Catalyst, a nonprofit that focuses on promoting women in business, said “When an organization is in crisis, women are often seen as being able to come in and take care of a problem… they’re effectively handed the mess to clean up.”
Another reason the glass cliff effect persists is the stereotypical notion that women possess certain soft skills that make them better equipped to tread these tricky terrains– women are seen as being more collegial, organized, resolute and loyal than men.
A study published by the Harvard Business Review, which asked college students to determine whether a man or woman should be chosen to head a hypothetical organic food company after a CEO retired revealed that when the company had been led by a man and was doing well, 62 per cent of students chose a candidate who was a man. When the man-led company was in crisis, 69 per cent said a female candidate would be a better choice.
Examples of the glass cliff effect in action are plenty. Anne Mulcahy, who served as CEO of Xerox from 2001 to 2009, was promoted at a time when the company was on the edge of bankruptcy, and was able to successfully orchestrate its turnaround. When Bed Bath & Beyond was crashing toward bankruptcy, it appointed Sue Gove as its first female chief executive. In 2012, Marissa Mayer was appointed as the CEO of Yahoo when the company was struggling to compete with other tech giants. Ginni Rometty became the CEO of IBM in 2012, a time when the company was struggling to adapt to the changing technology landscape.
Though companies deny consciously doing this, the grim reality is evident. As women continue to break barriers and reach new heights, the world continues to disappoint them. However, there is a silver lining to this cloud, as Beninger said, “If there is a bright spot, the bright spot is that the glass cliff phenomenon does not seem to apply to organizations when they have a history of female leaders.”
While things are changing, society has a long way to go before we reach occupational equality– and shatter the glass cliff.
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