There’s a second wave of corporate discrimination against women and visible minorities, and it’s called the glass cliff.
The first was the glass ceiling, when women typically weren’t promoted to the highest levels in business. The glass cliff is different, in that women are indeed elevated to the very top positions, but only when the organization is in crisis.
The glass cliff isn’t new, but it’s not going away. One of the most visible cases, in fact, just took place in May 2023. That’s when Linda Yaccarino was appointed by Elon Musk at X (formerly Twitter) as CEO. It’s a risky business: The company has lost two-thirds of its value since Musk acquired it less than a year ago.
Read more: How Misogyny Became Part of Our Culture & Workplaces
What is the glass cliff?
The glass cliff happens when a woman or other member of a visible minority group is given the top leadership job in a company that’s struggling. The fact that the organization is unstable makes the role extremely high-risk in terms of failure.
The term itself originated in a 2007 article by University of Exeter researchers Michelle K. Ryan and S. Alexander Haslam. In their article, “The Glass Cliff: Exploring the Dynamics Surrounding the Appointment of Women to Precarious Leadership Positions,” the authors call the glass cliff a “form of discrimination.”
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Wait—does the glass cliff really even exist?
Some refute the glass cliff, saying the phenomenon may not be real. Dr. Shane Goodwin, associate dean and finance professor at SMU Cox School of Business, says in his 2021 article that there's not enough empirical evidence to prove its existence. He notes too that the fact that more women are now part of corporate leadership skews the perception.
We asked Dr. Mara Einstein, professor of media studies at Queens College, CUNY, for her take.
Einstein explains: “People often confuse a theory with a hypothesis. A theory has already been proven; a hypothesis is something that is still being tested. The glass cliff is a hypothesis, and by bringing this idea to light, it enables us to examine it more fully. The case of Linda Yaccarino provides support for the hypothesis, assuming X (formerly Twitter) continues to decline.”
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Why do companies risk the glass cliff?
It’s not just struggling businesses that promote women and visible minorities to leadership positions; political parties use similar tactics as do academic institutions. And it’s not much of a risk to any of them.
The bottom-line is that promoting a woman or minority member to CEO, party leader or dean gives the organization props in terms of inclusivity, and also gives them a scapegoat if things go south.
In his recent MIT Sloan Management Review article, Dr. Keith D. Dorsey explains the ramifications:
"In times of crisis, leaders—no matter 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 rather than on the situation. In a phenomenon called the savior effect, the minority leader is then replaced by a more demographically typical leader who ‘saves the day.’ This both perpetuates leadership stereotypes in the organization and constricts diverse candidates’ future opportunities."
Read more: Why Aren’t More Women Chief Technology Officers? Everything You Need to Know About Becoming a CTO
Why would anyone accept a glass cliff position?
Why would anyone take a leadership position in a corporation that is experiencing crises as varied as plummeting stock prices to reputational crashes? Isn’t the risk of failure self-evident and just too high?
Well, yes.
But many see the promotion as their only chance to reach the top of a company.
Dr. Helen Ofosu, an industrial and organizational psychologist, tells InHerSight that “women accept these ‘tainted opportunities/promotions’ because they know they aren't usually considered for these roles. They take a calculated risk that they will accept the ‘promotion’ and do whatever is necessary to be successful. Many Black and other racialized women are accustomed to making a way out of no way or something from nothing. They are used to working twice or three times as hard, so they figure their work ethic will offset any challenges.”
Unfortunately, there’s more, says Ofosu: timing.
“Now that the third anniversary of George Floyd's murder has passed, we've gone through a period where there may have been more opportunities for Black and racialized people than usual. The odds are that a lot of Black and racialized people accepted promotions during this period while they lasted. There are some signals that the pendulum is swinging back in a direction against equity, diversity, and inclusion. This means there may be even more motivation for people to say yes, before the opportunities, even the tainted ones, dry up.”
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The lasting damage of the glass cliff effect
The major damage done by the glass cliff is that it reinforces stereotypes. When a woman (or member of a minority group) is deemed to have failed to save a distressed organization, the perception that they aren’t good at leadership is reinforced. At best, it can further entrench the idea that women are only suitable for a higher position to clean up a problem, but not to lead when the company is not in crisis mode.
Workplace diversity is negatively affected with this form of discrimination. When white men are overwhelmingly given leadership roles in stable companies, fewer women have the opportunity to learn how to become successful leaders.
The person holding the glass cliff position can experience other significant downsides too, such as:
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High levels of stress, which are added to an already stressful leadership role.
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Burnout, due to a declining corporate situation and the associated risks of failure, becomes more likely and more frequent.
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As stress levels rise and the company continues to flail, the chance of failure of that interim leader exponentially increases.
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Otherwise promising careers are derailed because no one wants to hire a CEO who has been seen to fail in a leadership role.
In her post about the glass cliff, Danielle Wiley, Sway Group founder and CEO, says when women do fail, “this can then be used as 'evidence' (GIANT AIR QUOTES) against the suitability of women for leadership roles in general."
Read more: Succession Planning: Building Diversity, Equity & Inclusion into Your Company’s Leadership Pipeline
How you can avoid the glass cliff
If you’re offered a leadership role in a company that seems to be struggling, and you really want to take it, some strategic planning can help you avoid the damage of toppling off the glass cliff.
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First, assess the risk before taking on the role. “You’re not just tackling a business need, you’re also being asked to tackle and transform culture,” says Kyra Kyles, CEO of YR Media, a national youth-led media nonprofit, referencing the need for diversity in corporate leadership. “You’re already coming in at somewhat of a deficit because you’re coming in at a tumultuous time for all organizations and media in particular, and on top of that, the expectations are often highly unrealistic.”
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Then, define success in the role—both in terms of your future career and in terms of what is expected by the company and its shareholders. If the expectations are indeed completely unrealistic, you may have to consider declining the position.
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If you wish to proceed, do you have the right support in place? “This means having teams that are large enough and composed of people who are solid performers with relevant skills and experience,” Ofosu tells InHerSight. That group of colleagues should include a mentor with personal experience of successfully navigating high stakes leadership roles.
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And finally, are you ready, willing and able to decline the job offer? If not, then increase your chances of success by renegotiating expectations and support.
Of course, before you get anywhere close to the glass cliff, you should get used to asking the right questions and looking for red flags that might indicate trouble ahead. Do a little digging when you’re thinking of joining a company instead of solely relying on glowing website statements about DEI and mentorship programs.
Read more: Gender Parity in the Workplace: What Is It & What Can We Do About It?
Amanda Shaw at 9to5 has a useful guide on how to analyze a company when you’re applying for a position. During a job interview, for instance, she says that “interviewing the company is just as important as them interviewing you. Think of the interview process as an opportunity for you to get to know the workplace and its culture, environment, and communication styles.”
Shaw lists questions you can ask, which include:
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How are workers supported in onboarding and beyond?
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How are mistakes handled?
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How is success measured?
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How does the company communicate and lead people from different backgrounds?
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What do they believe the role of a leader is?
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What are the avenues for growth in this role?
Read more: DEI Strategy: Building an Efficient, Effective & Supportive Mentorship Program
How your own company can avoid glass cliffs
Shelli Brunswick, formerly an officer in the U.S. Air Force, and now COO of Space Foundation, says there are three ways organizations can ensure the glass cliff does not occur in their company: offer mentorships, promote diversity and inclusion, and develop new types of leadership pipelines.
This means leadership and hiring managers need to pay attention to how and when women and people of color are promoted, and set goals to increase minorities in leadership positions. That further means providing organizational support, training and professional development, and being transparent about job challenges.
In order to accomplish any of this, senior leadership must give all prongs of this approach its full and visible support.
An easy-to-achieve example here is to ensure that hiring teams are diverse in every aspect. Think of how outdated an all-male, all-white hiring team is and how it contributes to bias during the hiring process.
It takes a new way of thinking, too. “Organizations have to shift their mindset from thinking that the promotion of women and/or POCs as a ‘risky endeavor,’” writes Kate Slater at Today. “Instead, they should focus on building the infrastructure to support a seamless leadership transition, as well as the long-term tenure of female/POC leaders.”
And, even after all these years, it’s still going to take some time. According to the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum Gender Balance Index 2023, which measures the number of men and women in senior leadership across the financial sector, “it will take 140 years to achieve gender parity in financial institutions.”
We can do better.
