The ‘glass cliff’: Think crisis – think female

Women who make it to the top in the workplace are not perceived in the same way as male leaders, instead they tend to find themselves on a ‘glass cliff’, in that their positions of leadership are often associated with organisational failure or crisis.

This is the finding of research by Dr Michelle Ryan and colleagues from the University of Exeter, which is to be presented today, Tuesday 30 August 2005, at the British Psychological Society’s Social Psychology Section Conference which is being held at the University of Edinburgh.

In order to investigate the underlying causes of ‘glass cliff’ appointments, a series of four experimental studies were conducted, examining gender stereotypes and how they relate to perceptions of managers of successful companies and companies that are in crisis. It was found that when all was going well, people tend to think manager - think male, in that managers of successful companies are seen as more similar to perceptions of men that of women.

However, at a time of crisis, people think crisis - think female, with traditionally feminine traits such as sympathetic, understanding and intuitive being seen as important for managers of unsuccessful companies.

Such findings can be seen to partly explain why women are more likely to be appointed to ‘glass cliff’ leadership roles in times of crisis.

Dr Michelle Ryan said, "Metaphors such as the ‘glass elevator’ and the ‘glass ceiling’ are commonly understood when considering the barriers to women’s progression in the workplace. Research into the ‘glass cliff’ examines what happens once women begin to shatter the ‘glass ceiling’. Our research suggests that the positions women are attaining are not necessarily as attractive as those attained by their male counterparts."

Ref: PR832