The top 5 companies of the Nasdaq Stock Exchange today are Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Tesla. While they may seem fairly different at first glance, all 5 of these companies have one thing in common - a cis male CEO.
What about other top performing companies?
The top 5 companies in the FTSE - the Financial Times Stock Exchange today are AstraZeneca, Unilever, HSBC, Diageo, and Rio Tinto. Every one of these 5 companies also happens to have a cis male CEO.
Coincidence? I don’t think so.
The Glass Ceiling is a term that’s used to describe the social barrier that prevents women and misogyny affected people from being promoted to high leadership or management positions. It refers to a metaphorical invisible ceiling that obstructs the path of women and misogyny affected people trying to climb up to reach better roles.
What’s really interesting about this phenomenon is that despite its many real-life examples, many people believe this to be a myth.
I disagree.
By looking at the situation above alone, it is not difficult to discern that the glass ceiling is not just very real, but also very common.
In fact, a 2021 study shows that to this day, women account for only 6% of CEOs for companies on FTSE.
In spite of the fact that a very low number of women and misogyny affected people end up taking positions of leadership, they are still discriminated against. In addition to this, unfortunately, female leaders are only elected under 2 completely different scenarios.
The first scenario shows us a fair and free company, where leaders are elected on the basis of their capabilities and not their gender. Adena Friedman- the CEO of Nasdaq, Renu Karnad- the Managing Director of HDFC, and Sally Krawcheck- the ex-CEO of the Bank of America are all great examples of this.
The second scenario is the exact opposite of fair.
In this case, women or misogyny affected people are selected for high positions in leadership at a time when the company is expecting high losses or has just faced financial woes. These people are now at risk of being pushed off a metaphorical Glass Cliff.
A Glass Cliff is a political and corporate phenomenon where women and misogyny affected people are more likely to be promoted to leadership roles in times of crisis.
This is often seen in struggling companies who employ women in high positions of power under the false pretense of promoting feminism so that when the companies inevitably fail, they have a scapegoat to blame their collapse on.
Often, companies also use the failure as an excuse to fire their female CEOs and replace them with (surprise surprise!) a cis man.
For example, in 2009, Carol Bartz became the first female CEO of what was then a sinking ship- Yahoo. As a company that was already suffering following the 2008 recession, Yahoo was forced to fire over 1,500 employees in the year preceding Bartz’s appointment and was likely to lay off even more. Bartz was hired under circumstances that were nearly impossible to remedy and was fired 2 years later in 2011 for not being able to fix it. She was replaced with Tim Morse and later Scott Thompson, neither of whom were capable of changing the financial position of the company.
Yahoo’s saviour in shining armour came in the form of Marissa Mayer, appointed in 2012, who was another victim of the Glass Cliff. Upon her entry into the company, she was faced with hostility from the board and employees alike. Her arrival brought positive changes to the management and structure of the company and even led to Yahoo exceeding its main competitor Google for the first time in 3 years.
In spite of her positive aspects, Mayer was treated with contempt and received hate. Even the smallest of her mistakes were fixated on. This, and the acquisition of Yahoo by Verizon later led to her ultimate resignation in 2017.
Both Bartz and Mayer were given failing companies and were expected to turn them into successful enterprises. When Bartz failed to do so, she was blamed for the downfall of the company and was fired, and despite Mayer’s success, she was shunned and hated on the basis of being “abrasive.”
It is often women and misogyny affected people like Carol Bartz and Marissa Mayer, with strong-willed personalities who are termed “aggressive” at the most risk of being pushed off the Glass Cliff.
Another case of the Glass Cliff happened in 2016 to someone who was hoping to climb the ladder to leadership in the political world. This time around, the obvious case of Glass Cliff was not only noticed immediately, but also publicised.
In June 2016 the UK sent a formal notice of withdrawal from the EU. This led to a lot of turmoil, including but not limited to the resignation of PM David Cameron and the significant drop in the value of the British Pound. The former led to the election of Theresa May as the new Prime Minister of the UK.
Sounds familiar, right?
If you think that May’s tale sounds familiar to that of Bartz and Mayer, then you are correct. Unfortunately, Theresa May is another one of the many women and misogyny affected people who have been affected by the disease that is the Glass Cliff Phenomenon.
You may ask: If the Glass Cliff really is that dangerous, then why isn’t it publicised more? Why don’t more people work to eradicate it, instead of just watching it happen?
Well, the fact remains that the Glass Cliff is a phenomenon, which means that it is an occurrence based on observations. Because of this, there are people who believe it to be fictional or “made-up,” when in reality, it is a plain and simple fact with evidence scattered throughout history to back it up.
What is even worse is that there are probably millions of women around the planet who notice these injustices as they happen but are convinced by others that their observations are a result of a “wild imagination.” Every day, millions around the world observe discrimination in nooks and corners but are unable to speak out in fear or losing their jobs, or in some cases, their lives.
An article by Forbes from 2018 titled “We Need To Be Careful When Talking About The Glass Cliff” states, “Building a picture of women being lured to the edge of a cliff and then unwittingly falling off it plays into the stereotype that they are less capable and more vulnerable than men.”
This is not true. Women are not being lured to the edge of a cliff. They go there because they don’t have an option. Due to the Glass Ceiling, women and other minorities find it difficult to reach higher management positions, and institutions. The Glass Cliff, while setting them up for failure is among the few options that actually allow them to reach their leadership positions. Therefore, most would actually prefer the chance of failure, because, at the end of the day, that’s how they get into higher positions, even if they have a difficult or shorter timespan.
The Glass Cliff, as metaphorical as it may be, is real and is based on facts. It has ruined not just careers, but also lives and it will keep doing so every day until we as a society decide to take a proper stand against it.
Whether it is inside the workplace or outside it, misogyny affected people all around the world are faced with discrimination and gender stereotypes every day. It’s high time that we change our roles from spectators to fighters and help turn around this intolerant system of sexist beliefs.
Do your part. Educate yourself. Speak up and put an end to this injustice once and for all.
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