THE GLASS CLIFF- PHENOMENON OR FICTION?
Are women only being hired in leadership positions when a company is in trouble? Does the current variation on ‘Think Manager, Think Male’ ‘Think Crisis, Think Female’ holds true? City Women’s Network in London invited Professor Alex Haslam of the University of Exeter to share his extensive research on the Glass Cliff.
A few years ago, Professor Haslam was about to make a presentation on gender and leadership when he noticed an article in The Times in November 2003 suggesting that women on company boards ‘wreaked havoc on companies’ performance’. This assertion was accompanied by tables showing that high performing companies had fewer or no women on the board, whilst those that had the highest representation of women were mostly under-performing.
Research
Alex Haslam, Professor of Social and Organizational Psychology, was intrigued and wondered if the analysis was correct.
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