What is the glass cliff?

The failure of women and minorities in leadership roles is often due to the glass cliff phenomenon. You might already be familiar with the idea of the glass ceiling – invisible barriers that certain groups encounter when going for a promotion. However, as over the past two decades, organisations have started to promote more women and underrepresented groups, researchers found that such individuals are more likely to be appointed to leadership positions during times of crisis or organisational turmoil when the risk of failure is higher.

What is the glass cliff?

Professor Andreea Gorbatai explains how the glass cliff phenomenon impacts the success or failure of women and minorities in leadership roles.

Two factors contribute to the glass cliff phenomenon. First, virtue signalling: organisations attempt to ‘wash their sins’ by publicly showing a willingness to promote marginalised talent. A second factor is, let’s say, the ‘usual suspects’’ reluctance to accept risky positions in situations of crisis or turmoil - which leaves room for women and minorities to be offered a seat at the table.

Vivid examples of the glass cliff phenomenon are Marissa Meyer taking over an already failing Yahoo! in 2012 – or then US vice-president Kamala Harris stepping in as a last-minute presidential candidate in the summer of 2024.