Trending Topic: Black Women and the Glass Cliff

Are companies setting up Black women in leadership roles to fail?

At our live, interactive screening of our webinar Black Women and The Glass Cliff (originally hosted on 15 February), we discussed the phenomenon of promoting Black women to leadership positions during times of turmoil.

The term glass cliff (coined in 2005 by Michelle K. Ryan and Alexander Haslam) is the idea that even when women reach the top of the corporate ladder, they do so during periods when the company experiences poor performance or turmoil, and thus their positions are inherently risky. When women of color, especially Black women, experience the glass cliff they face even more scrutiny, aggression, and lack of empathy, making it harder for them to perform at their full potential as leaders.

In this session, our panel of experts examined:

• The origins of the glass cliff
• Why organizations may be more likely to offer high-level positions to women in times of turmoil
• The experiences of Black women in leadership roles with the glass cliff
• Strategies that organizations can implement to support and retain Black women at every level

This watch session included a chat moderated by Kathrina Robotham, Jenn Wells, EdD and Danielle Shelton, Director, Talent Acquisition People & Culture.

Learn more about the glass cliff and women of color on our blog.

Read more insights from the webinar here.

Speakers

Janice Gassam Asare, PhD., DEI Consultant and Author of Decentering Whiteness in the Workplace

Prof. Farai Simoyi, Professor & Founder, The Narativ House

Jenn Wells, EdD, Organizational Change Consultant.

Moderator

Kathrina Robotham, Director, Research, Catalyst