The Glass Cliff: Evidence that Women are Over‐Represented in Precarious Leadership Positions

TLDR

Research indicates that women encounter a glass ceiling while men benefit from a glass escalator. The study investigates whether women who reach leadership positions are more likely to be placed in risky, precarious roles—a phenomenon termed the glass cliff. An archival analysis of FTSE 100 board appointments compared company performance before and after the addition of male versus female directors. During market downturns, firms that appointed women to their boards experienced poorer recent performance than those that appointed men, suggesting women are disproportionately placed on the glass cliff.

Abstract

Abstract There has been much research and conjecture concerning the barriers women face in trying to climb the corporate ladder, with evidence suggesting that they typically confront a ‘glass ceiling’ while men are more likely to benefit from a ‘glass escalator’. But what happens when women do achieve leadership roles? And what sorts of positions are they given? This paper argues that while women are now achieving more high profile positions, they are more likely than men to find themselves on a ‘glass cliff’, such that their positions are risky or precarious. This hypothesis was investigated in an archival study examining the performance of FTSE 100 companies before and after the appointment of a male or female board member. The study revealed that during a period of overall stock‐market decline those companies who appointed women to their boards were more likely to have experienced consistently bad performance in the preceding five months than those who appointed men. These results expose an additional, largely invisible, hurdle that women need to overcome in the workplace. Implications for the evaluation of women leaders are discussed and directions for future research are outlined.