Getting on top of the glass cliff: Reviewing a decade of evidence, explanations, and impact

Abstract

The glass cliff refers to the tendency for women to be more likely than men to be appointed to leadership positions that are risky and precarious. This paper reviews the first decade of research into the phenomenon and has three key aims: (a) to summarize and integrate evidence of the glass cliff, (b) to clarify the processes that have been shown to underlie the glass cliff, and (c) to explore the factors that may moderate the glass cliff phenomenon. We show that the glass cliff has had a significant impact on public discourse around women and leadership but is a complex, contextual, and multiply determined phenomenon.

The communality-bonus effect for male transformational leaders – leadership style, gender, and promotability

“…In future studies, it will be important to investigate under which circumstances evaluations of female leaders would be less biased, potentially, if the leadership position were framed in more communal or gender-neutral ways (Horvath & Sczesny, 2016) or when it were a precarious position (Ryan et al, 2016). It would also be valuable to investigate under which circumstances women are faced with negative evaluations for agentic behaviour, as well as under which circumstances men are faced with negative evaluations for communal behaviour.…”

Re‐examining the Glass Cliff Hypothesis using Survival Analysis: The Case of Female CEO Tenure

“…Ryan et al . () note that the glass cliff is a situation‐dependent phenomenon materializing at some times and in some places.…”

La cuestión de género en los órganos de gobierno de la banca cooperativa

“…Pathan y Faff (2013) justifican lo anterior en la existencia de problemas de homogeneidad, así como en el uso de muestras de empresas, sectores y períodos de tiempo diferentes; y añaden además que en períodos de crisis se reduce el efecto de la diversidad. Debe tenerse en cuenta también el fenómeno del Glass Cliff (Ryan y Haslam, 2005), por el cual durante las épocas de crisis la presencia femenina en posiciones de liderazo puede resultar más adecuada, siendo una posible explicación de por qué tras la crisis económico-financiera de 2007 se ha visto incrementado el porcentaje de mujeres que accede a posiciones de liderazgo (Ryan et al, 2016).…”