Article summary of The glass cliff: Exploring the dynamics surrounding the appointment of women to precarious leadership positions by Ryan & Haslam - 2007 - Chapter

Few women remain in leadership positions in companies. The glass ceiling is the explanation for this, which means that a kind of transparent barrier is holding back women for such a position. A second explanation is the glass escalator, which means that men work their way up faster within an organization. Yet there is an increase in the number of women who hold high positions, but the top positions are often in the hands of men.

Disadvantages of female employees

Female managers are examined more closely and are more often criticized than men. They are also evaluated less positively, even when they perform the same. Employees also prefer male supervisors and they doubt the effectiveness of female leaders. Women find themselves against a glass ceiling, because they associate their leadership position with major risks of failure. If there is indeed a failure, the women have to suffer.

The biggest obstacle that female employees have is the stereotype that a good manager has mainly male characteristics. A few of those characteristics are emotionally stable, competitive, objective and ambitious. These stereotype images influence how men and women are treated in the workplace. This leads to two major prejudices: (1) women who have the potential for a leadership role are assessed less positively and (2) women leaders are evaluated more negatively. If a management position can be properly attributed to male characteristics, an equally qualified man will be seen as more qualified than a woman. Women are less 'spontaneously categorized' in a leadership role. This gives women a loss-loss situation. If they behave like the female stereotype image, they are not seen as a leader, but if they behave like a leader stereotype image, they are not seen as a good woman.

Context matters when looking for a good leader. For example, a task-oriented leader can be structure-oriented, but you can also have a relationship-oriented leader who wants to promote cooperation. There is no perfect leader. In addition, leadership categorization plays a role. The perceptions of employees play a role in this. The leader's success depends on their expectations. These expectations are also influenced by the context. A leader can be effective in one context and not in another. It therefore can explain why there are more female managers in 'female sectors' such as the service sector.

Social identity

The social identity theory looks at perceptions about leadership that arise from the shared social identity that group members share and the needs and interests that come with it. According to the theory, a leader must represent what it is to be a group member, and he must be able to influence and lead the group. The theory also shows that inequalities in the number of men and women can increase, because the leaders are mostly men and show that the group consists of men. The leader is also the prototype of the group.

Leader in crisis situations

If there is a crisis, people think it is better to have certain qualities that women have. Then it's about understanding the situation, helping and being aware of the feelings of others. These characteristics are attributed to women. Successful situations require character traits that are assigned to men. So to get through a glass ceiling for a woman who wants a top position, a crisis would increase the chance. It has been shown to work.

There is a difference in gender in the area of ​​top positions. For example, women in top positions have less authority and face more restrictions. Women also indicated that they are less satisfied with their work than men. They also left their job more often than men because they experienced more stress. They were sometimes seen as too emotional. So breaking through the glass ceiling also brings problems with it.

The question remains why women are placed in risky leadership positions earlier. So in crisis there is more confidence in a woman who can solve it. Women would be better able to cope with the socio-emotional challenges that a crisis entails. Men could not face this challenge. But in normal situations, a glass ceiling can appear on women. This can be explained in two ways: in the first place there can be deliberate open sexism or discrimination in the workplace. For example, a woman may be placed in a risky situation to see her fail. Secondly, it can happen unintentionally and unconsciously because of the belief that women and men differ in competence. The latter can be done in a malignant manner (by designating a woman as a scapegoat) or in a benign manner (by wanting more women in available positions). In benign sexism, for example, a role is presented as attractive, while it is actually problematic. This way it seems as if the woman is being done a favor. Women are usually unable to reject this offer.

Ingroup favoritism

A glass ceiling could also occur because there is discrimination between groups. This would be due to ingroup favoritism, whereby the own group is seen as more attractive. All available positions are then reserved by someone from their own group. In this way men can keep certain men's jobs. Men do not want to put other men in risky positions because they want to help each other. That is why the women get such a function more often. High-risk positions are those in companies that have been bad in the media. In a risky position, students saw an opportunity for women, but as a bad turn for men.

Turn

If a company is not doing well, a female leader can come if there is nothing left to lose. On the contrary, it can also have a stimulating effect because the company is viewed differently. In Japan, an 'outsider' is asked by a poorly performing company to take the lead for a fresh look. Women also break through the glass ceiling sooner if management changes.

Reactions

If women are not treated well or are confronted with a glass ceiling for sexist reasons, or if they are placed in a senior position for sexist reasons, they deny the reason. In this way they do not play the role of the victim and they are not a point of attention for criticism from group members from another group.