"The Glass Cliff"

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the notorious glass ceiling that women face, especially in the corporate world. This glass ceiling holds many women back from the positions that they rightly deserve. Companies are working on addressing this phenomenon, and, by being aware of it, we are already taking steps forward. However, I came across a term that I had never heard of before: the "glass cliff." The article that I read was written in 2018; two years later, and I am just learning of it now. It caught my attention, and I knew I had to cover it.

For the women who manage to break through the ceiling, the challenge is not yet over. The glass cliff looms. So what is it? We will start with some background. In a study done by the U.K. Times, analysts found that companies would be better off without women on the board, based on the performances of 100 companies on the London Stock Exchange. In response, more researchers wanted to see how the U.K. Times came to this conclusion. They noted that this "bad performance" by women was because many of them were appointed during, or close after, a stock-market decline, putting these women in an already difficult situation.

"In other words, women can rise to leadership, but when they’re brought in to turn things around during dire times, they have to bear the blame if things don’t go well." - Lydia Dishman

Furthermore, more research has shown that women often are promoted when the company or firm is doing poorly to create "a radical change." Not only is this unfair for these CEOs, but it also furthers gender stereotypes. Because women are viewed as more "democratic, participative, and consensus-seeking," they are associated with running a company through difficult, unpredictable times, while men run the company during stable periods. Additionally, many times these companies appoint women to connect with the employees, but they cannot do anything to make decisions to improve the company through actual policies. Particularly in politics, these stereotypes can be incredibly damaging because political parties purposely place women in races that they cannot win, thereby continuing the myth that white men are better leaders.

There are many instances in which companies have forced women into these situations and "pushed" them off the glass cliff. For example, Mary Barra, the first female CEO of General Motors, came under pressure because there were recalls of almost 5 million cars that sold before she even was in that position. It was not in any way her fault, yet she had to take the blame. A report in 2013 showed that 38% of female CEOs in comparison to 27% of male CEOs were forced out of office in the past 10 years.

Although the number of women leaders is growing, there is still a need to keep them there and prevent harmful stereotypes from spreading. With more female leaders, companies will start to see the success of women and hopefully stop placing women in no-win situations. There is a lot more work to be done, but, firstly, we must be aware.

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