Have You Heard Of The Glass Cliff Theory?

We’ve all heard of the ‘glass ceiling’, a term for the invisible social barriers that stop women and minorities from top jobs and leadership roles, but it doesn’t end there.

Even when women and minorities do manage to break through that glass ceiling, they will likely be faced with another challenge, the glass cliff.

What Is The Glass Cliff Theory?

The term ‘glass cliff theory’, coined by the University of Exeter professors Michelle K. Ryan and Alexander Haslam, describes the phenomenon where women and people of colour are more likely to be promoted to higher positions and leadership roles when their organisation is experiencing a crisis or poor performance. 

Essentially, the theory is that women and minorities are often only given high positions when there is a high chance of failure. According to Ryan, the term glass cliff captures “this idea of women teetering on the edge and that their fall, or their failure, might be imminent.”

Why Does This Happen?

There are many reasons why a woman or a person of colour might find themselves on the edge of the glass cliff. In the case of women, some people believe that it is because women are stereotypically perceived to be more cooperative, loyal, determined and diplomatic, therefore making them more capable of navigating their way through a company’s crises. A company or organisation in trouble may take on a woman as leader because they believe she will be able to ‘save’ them.

Although this might be true in some cases, these are only stereotypical traits and do not apply to every woman. It’s also a very simple way of looking at things. The other possible reasons aren’t as cheerful, but are unfortunately more likely.

It’s no secret that women and people of colour are given far fewer opportunities to climb the ranks than their white male counterparts. A 2023 McKinsey report showed that white women made up only 22% of workers in senior executive positions, and women of colour made up a mere 6%. 

Therefore, the usual recipients of these leadership roles, a.k.a white men, won’t feel as pressured to take on a role in a failing company, because they know there are way more options out there for them. Women and minorities, on the other hand, are much more likely to take on these positions, despite the risks, because opportunities in higher roles are so scarce.

Others believe that offering women and minorities leadership positions in times of crisis is a way of using them as a scapegoat. Despite the fact that a business or organisation could have been failing for months, it is unfortunately easier for a lot of people to chalk that failure up to the assumption that women and minorities aren’t fit for leadership roles.

This way, the glass cliff creates a vicious circle. Women and minorities are not given leadership opportunities because of stereotypes and false assumptions based on their association with failing businesses and organisations. 

It’s important to note that there is evidence to support this glass cliff theory. In 2013, Utah State University professors Christy Glass and Alison Cook published a study in the Strategic Management Journal called Above the Glass Ceiling, where they examined all CEO transitions in Fortune 500 companies across a 15 year time span.

They found that “Consistent with the theory of the glass cliff, we find that occupational minorities – defined as white women, and men and women of colour – are more likely than white men to be promoted to CEO of weakly performing firms.”

Real World Examples 

We’ve all seen the glass cliff theory play out in real life, particularly in the world of politics, although perhaps we didn’t really notice. In 2016, Theresa May was appointed British Prime Minister right after the Brexit vote, and was largely held responsible for the chaos that followed. 

 

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You could argue that both Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak are also examples of minorities faced with the glass cliff. Now, as Kamala Harris runs her US presidential election campaign, we can’t help but wonder if she will have to deal with it too.

The current VP was thrown into the campaign unexpectedly and forced to run her campaign in a much shorter length of time than usual, following what was arguably one of the worst years for American politics in a long time. It’s not hard to believe that she’s already looking down from that glass cliff.

None of this is to say that women and people of colour aren’t qualified or worthy enough of the positions they’re being offered. We should always promote more inclusivity in leadership roles. But the glass cliff theory is very real, and when it is put in practice it can damage the careers and reputations of people who already have to fight for higher positions in their fields.