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TIL of the concept of the "glass cliff", whereby women or ethnic minorities are often handed the reins of power only as the organisation or government in question is at its most vulnerable to failure (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted 1 month ago by to c/til@lemmy.world
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[–] 11 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Be you: a black woman who has fought her way to upper management, but still not taken seriously and forced to live under a glass ceiling.

You know you are under paid from your colleagues, and had to work twice as hard to get there. You know things are going down.

Now is your chance to get that bag and cash out of a system that has continually oppressed you and fucked you over at every turn.

Do you sail the sinking ship and take the golden parachute? Or do you ride the sinking ship and drown with the third class passengers?

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  • [–] 0 points 1 month ago* (1 child)

    The idea of a “glass cliff” (referencing the glass ceiling) strongly implies that this promotion isn’t voluntary, and that there is some malevolence in the promotion, or at least some unfairness.

    If the company is in obvious distress.. don’t the candidates know better? Can’t they say “no” if it’s a rotten deal?

    Or are they adults with agency who saw the deal for what it was and took it anyway?

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  • [–] 4 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    From the linked Wikipedia article:

    women executives are likelier than men to accept glass cliff positions because they do not have access to the high-quality information and support that would ordinarily warn executives away.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    You conveniently left out the next sentence:

    Additional research has indicated that women and other minorities view risky job offers as the only chance they are likely to get.

    If you’re in the C-suite, you know enough to make an informed decision. And that boards always look for a pliant CEO.

    And if you don’t know those things, why are you in the C-suite?

    They aren’t scooping people up off the street and making them CEOs.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago

    I'm no longer sure what point you're trying to make, but I don't think I'm disagreeing with you. As MrEff described, and as you quoted, an underprivileged person might choose to hold the bag even if they have all the information because it's the best chance they could get. And as I quoted, an underprivileged person might not have all the information. Both of these things can be true, and both show ways that whole classes of people can be mistreated.

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