Raising Awareness of the Glass Cliff

ObjectiveWomen leaders continue to be in the minority as corporate CEOs. Despite efforts to highlight the benefits of leadership diversity, fewer than 10 percent of CEO positions within U.S. public corporations are held by women. This study draws on the theory of gendered organizations and token theory to explore challenges women CEOs face that may inhibit their leadership trajectories and contribute to the dearth of women CEOs. We build upon and extend recent research on the leadership trajectory of women CEOs post‐appointment.MethodsWe test whether women CEOs have shorter tenures and heightened vulnerability to dismissal relative to men CEOs, and whether women's risk of dismissal is exacerbated by the glass cliff. Our data draw from a large sample of firms in the Russell 3000 index from 2016 to 2022.ResultsWe find that compared to men CEOs, women enjoy shorter tenures and face a higher likelihood of being dismissed involuntarily. This gender gap in dismissal risk is further exacerbated when women are appointed during times of weak organizational performance (i.e., the “glass cliff”).ConclusionWe discuss the implications of our findings for theory and practice on gender inequality in organizations and research on the glass cliff.

As the representation of social contradictions, collective action in China typically involves mass incidents, which refer to the conflicts between certain civilians and local administration. A group member engages in collective action any time that he or she acts as a representative of a group and when the action is directed at improving the conditions for the entire group. This research focused on the motivation mechanism underlying collective action in different intergroup threat(i.e., realistic threat and identity threat) by using a survey(study 1) and an experiment(study 2). The main purpose of study 1 was to investigate the mediated effects of group efficacy(one pathway) and group-based anger(another pathway) on the relation between intergroup treat and collective action intention. Moreover, study 2 explored the moderated effect of group identity in the dual-pathway model. The results indicated that:First, both group efficacy and group-based anger were mediators of the relation between intergroup threat(realistic threat and identity threat) and collective action intention. Specifically, group efficacy mediated the relation between realistic threat and collective action intention; group efficacy also mediated the relation between identity threat and collective action intention; group-based anger mediated the relation between realistic threat and collective action intention; group-based anger also mediated the relation between identity threat and collective action intention. Moreover, the mediating effect of group efficacy on realistic threat-collective action intention relation was stronger than that on identity threat-collective action intention association; whereas the mediating effect of group-based anger on identity threat-collective action intention relation was stronger than that on realistic threat-collective action intention association. Second, group identity moderated the relation between intergroup threat and collective action intention. Specifically, group identity moderated the relation between realistic threat and collective action intention; whereas group identity moderated the relation between identity threat and collective action intention. In addition, group identity was a mediated moderator that group efficacy and group-based anger mediated the relation between the group identity- intergroup threat interaction and collective action intention. An important theoretical implication of this research is that it connects the dual-pathway model of collective action with the different types of intergroup threat at distinct levels of group identity. Furthermore, the current study provides a useful analytical paradigm for mediated moderating effects. Regarding the practical implications, this research examines the social psychological motivation mechanism underlying collective action in China to inform administrators and policy makers on how to monitor and reduce mass incidents in public administration.

Women and members of other underrepresented groups who break through the glass ceiling often find themselves in precarious leadership positions, a phenomenon that has been termed the glass cliff. The glass cliff has been investigated in a range of domains using various methodologies, but evidence is mixed. In 3 meta-analyses, we examined (a) archival field studies testing whether members of underrepresented groups, compared with members of majority groups, are more likely to be appointed to leadership positions in times of crisis; (b) experimental studies testing whether members of underrepresented groups, compared with members of majority groups, are evaluated as more suitable for, as well as (c) more likely to be selected for, leadership positions in times of crisis. All 3 analyses provided some evidence in line with the glass cliff for women. Specifically, the meta-analysis of archival studies revealed a small glass cliff effect that was dependent on organizational domain. The leadership suitability meta-analysis also showed a small glass cliff effect in between-participants studies, but not in within-participants studies. The analysis of leadership selection revealed that women are more likely to be selected over men in times of crisis, and that this effect is larger in countries with higher gender inequality. The glass cliff also extended to members of underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. We explore several moderating factors and report analyses shedding light on the underlying causes of the glass cliff. We discuss implications of our findings as well as open questions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

We suggest that self-construal and face concerns influence individuals’ collective action intentions against sexism. We examined female students from Germany ( N = 105), Japan ( N = 112), and Turkey, ( N = 111), exposed them to a benevolent and a hostile sexism scenario, and compared their collective action intentions and indirect conflict management styles (avoiding, outflanking) within countries. As predicted, German and Turkish female students’ collective action intentions against sexism surpassed their intentions for indirect conflict management styles, whereas the reverse was true for Japanese female students. However, Japanese female students had an unaccomplished desire for collective action, suggesting that they wish to act but decide against open confrontation to maintain ingroup harmony. The higher individuals’ independent self-concept and the less they value face, the higher their collective action intentions against hostile sexism in all three countries. We discuss culturally appropriate ways of collective action.

This paper explores how women leaders navigate and construct their identities under crisis. Analysing the narratives and lived experiences of women CEOs during the Greek crisis, we identify five dominant narratives: endurance, heroism, custodianship, sacrifice, and alienation, as central in women leaders’ identity work. Each narrative explains how women leaders resolve tensions triggered by the crisis through different microprocesses of identity work. Our findings illustrate nine microprocesses underlying the five narratives: gender affirmation and identity layering (endurance), masculinization (heroism), cross-domain identity spillover (custodianship), cross-domain identity conflict, exhaustion and loneliness (sacrifice), and gender identity neutralization and disembodiment (alienation). Role metaphors like superwoman, captain, loner/martyr, or antihero, vividly animate these microprocesses. We contribute to better understandings of the glass cliff, gendered leadership, and doing gender under crisis. Our findings indicate partial hopeful agency: women leaders decide how to walk on the glass cliff, moving away from gendered stereotypes and the gender binary.

For decades the rise of women to leadership positions in the workplace has been a conspicuous matter on a global spectrum. Women are challenging the prospects that were once emplaced upon them and continue to break the forefronts of opportunity that face them. This thesis brings life to Eleanor Roosevelt’s quote “A woman is like a tea bag: you never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water” by exploring the glass cliff phenomenon. Stating that women have a higher chance of rising into leadership positions during a time of poor company performance, the research conducted for this paper aims to look further into the background of the principles creating this subtle form of discrimination. To discover the root cause of the glass cliff phenomenon, this thesis aims to understand when, how and why these positions are conceived furthering on how to approach the changes coveted by modern society regarding female leadership. This composition takes into account an amalgamation of existing research and the individual empirical research conducted, explaining the causation behind the glass cliff through understanding the biases, stereotypes and societal dynamics that enable glass cliff positions in the workplace. Keywords: Glass cliff; women in leadership; discrimination; equality; management.

The current study builds upon and extends research on the glass cliff by analyzing the antecedents and repercussions of CEO dismissal. Recent research on the relationship between performance, gender, and CEO dismissal has led to contrary conclusions. We build on this nascent work by examining whether negative firm performance places women CEOs of US firms at a greater risk of involuntary dismissal relative to men CEOs. We further explore whether gender moderates market response to the dismissal announcement and replacement. Our analysis relies on data of all CEOs from the United States’ Russell 3000 index, which represents a spectrum of small to large companies, who departed their organizations between 2016 and 2022. We also rely on a novel measure of CEO dismissal, the push-out score, which overcomes previous limitations related to the nature of CEO departures. We find that women are more vulnerable than men to involuntary dismissal during periods of performance decline and that investors reward firms that replace dismissed women CEOs with white men. Our findings have implications for gender equity in the C-Suite.

Following increased flexibilization of labour market and related decline of traditional labour unionism over the last few decades, studying mobilization processes of precarious workers has become particularly timely. While localized forms of organization and unionization are gradually emerging, little is known about why workers intend to join these coordinated forms of collective action. Integrating social movement studies with social psychological literature on collective action, this study fills this gap by exploring collective action intentions in the current context of non-standard labour. To do so, we surveyed precarious workers enrolled by temporary hiring agencies in Italy (N = 379) and found two parallel psychological pathways explaining their collective action intentions. On the one hand, participants exhibited high collective action intentions when they were able to collectively identify with other precarious workers as part of the same social group. Collective identification with precarious workers increased group-based injustice that in turn predicted collective action intentions. On the other hand, participants also exhibited high collective action intentions when they were able to politically identify with unionized workers. Politicized identification with unionized workers increased collective efficacy that in turn predicted collective action intentions. By singling out the complementary role played by these two parallel pathways of collective action intentions among precarious workers, this study shed light on the socio-psychological determinants underlying the mobilization propensity of individuals still lacking any organizational affiliation, a topic that has been relatively ignored in scholarly literature. In doing so, we combine social movement studies and social psychological literature in innovative ways.

The reciprocity of social media engagement and collective actions: A longitudinal study on Ukrainian refugees

Focusing on corporate leadership, this paper will discuss four factors that often thwart nondiscriminatory ethical leadership: complacency, the ‘glass cliff’ effect, the role of power distance relationships, and globalization. Complacency, the most prevalent, is probably the most obvious factor. The concepts of the ‘glass cliff’ – how women in leadership positions are associated with a higher risk of failure () – and ‘power distance’ – the way power is perceived and distributed () – both offer relevant perspectives to ethical leadership in the transforming environment of the twenty-first century. We will argue that three of these phenomena (and there are others) contribute to the perpetuation of gender inequality in leadership positions, and thus unfair distributions of power and influence that are not reflective of populations in the workplace nor in the community. It will turn out, however, that globalization actually can have a positive effect on improving gender distribution of leadership, so long as one recognizes what is needed to be an effective and ethical global leader.

The road to the glass cliff: Differences in the perceived suitability of men and women for leadership positions in succeeding and failing organizations

Although awareness of gender inequality can motivate collective action, it does not always translate into a greater willingness to engage in collective action to promote gender equality. This study investigated how sociocultural contexts and individual awareness of gender inequality jointly shaped normative and non-normative collective action intentions. Drawing on cross-cultural data from 61 societies ( N = 31,393), we found that individual awareness of gender inequality was associated with stronger collective action intentions, both normative and non-normative, aimed at promoting gender equality. However, macrolevel sociocultural factors moderated this relationship. Specifically, higher levels of societal gender inequality and power distance weakened the translation of individual awareness into action intentions. In contrast, greater societal individualism strengthened this translation. These findings underscore that promoting gender equality globally requires a dual focus on addressing not only individual-level awareness but also the broader structural environments that affect collective action intentions.

The “glass cliff” is a term coined by Professor Michelle Ryan and Professor Alex Haslam in 2004. Their research demonstrates that once women (or other minority groups) break through the glass ceiling and take on positions of leadership, they often have different experiences from their male counterparts. Specifically, women are more likely to occupy positions that can be described as precarious and thus have a higher risk of failure, either because they are in organizational units that are in crisis, or because they are not given the resources and support needed to thrive. The success of the glass cliff, as a phenomenon, rests on three factors. First, it relies heavily on the quality and quantity of data available, as well as the reliability of the data. Second, it relies heavily on the acceptance, utilization, and application of its existence, for a lack of acknowledgment, acceptance, utilization, and application of any phenomenon, concept, and theory will result in extinction. Third, this phenomenon, in reality, is quite taboo in a male dominated society, regardless of culture. Nevertheless, the glass cliff, as a phenomenon, is quite neoteric, and is typically not spoken of, nor referred to when men communicate, in the same way that men do not usually refer to the glass ceiling, or the glass escalator. The purpose of this chapter is to delve into and explore the concept of the glass cliff faced by women in high-tech corporations, and how the glass cliff affects their career advancement and identity growth through empirical data. The chapter then provides three recommendations on resolving the glass cliff phenomenon, and concludes with whether the glass cliff as a phenomenon is convertible to become a theory.

Glass ceiling syndrome is the exposure of women to some inequalities while climbing the career ladders. It is an invisible barrier above the women that prevents them from being promoted. Women who achieve to break the glass ceiling get the leadership positions but it is possible for them to face to a new adventure called glass cliff. Glass cliff is the appointment of women to more risky, problematic or unstable leadership positions compared to men. These deliberate promotions, which can cause loss of prestige and an image of failure, are generally not rejected as they are still an opportunity for women. The aim of this study is to reveal the influencing factors of glass cliff. Within the framework of this purpose, a scoping review was carried out. In this review, papers on glass cliff indexed in Web of Science and Scopus databases between 2000-2021 are examined. The results of the study revealed that there are five factors that are commonly referred in reviewed articles. These factors are; stereotypes of leadership and gender, company performance, need for change, leadership ability and leadership suitability.

This research examines the anger and collective action intentions among different social classes in China. Based on social cognition theory with respect to social class, we proposed that the relationship between group-based anger and collective action intentions would be moderated by social class. To test this hypothesis, two studies were conducted. First, using data collected from a sample of 100 residents of Hubei Province, China, Study 1 found that the relationship between group-based anger and collective action intentions was moderated by social class: group-based anger can predict collective action intentions among the upper social class but not among the lower social class. Then, Study 2 employed a 2 × 2 completely randomised design. Its 118 participants were manipulated to experience a momentary change in their subjective social class and the level of their group-based anger before measuring their collective action intentions. The results were consistent with Study 1. Taken together, the findings suggest that social class does moderate the relationship between group-based anger and collective action intentions.