The subtlety of gender stereotypes in the workplace: Current and future directions for research on the glass cliff

Glass cliff effects are context dependent and multiply determined, resulting in mixed evidence and remaining gaps in our understanding of the phenomenon. In this chapter, we review existing evidence about the think crisis-think female association, identifying particular challenges and opportunities that women face as crisis management leaders. We examine how glass cliff research points to three main factors that may attenuate the think male-think manager stereotype in difficult organizational contexts: (1) women's perceived higher communal orientations (stereotype-based explanations), (2) associations of women with organizational transformations (signaling change explanations), and (3) limited ethical standards that expose women to failure (hostile explanations). To better understand these interpretations and identify the specific contexts in which women are likely to emerge as leaders, we call for a theoretical and empirical refinement of current conceptualizations of crises, as well as a more thorough analysis of the many-sided consequences of these associations for women's career.