Exploring the glass-cliff phenomenon in the appointments of female Chairpersons on FTSE350 boards

Project overview

It is reported that women who manage to break the glass ceiling and reach leadership positions often do so in precarious circumstances. Accepting those leadership positions often adversely impacts their professional advancement, a phenomenon known as the glass-cliff phenomenon (Ryan et al., 2010). Recently, in FTSE350 boards, there has been a significant increase in gender diversity. However, positions of power, i.e., Chair and CEO roles, continue to be male-dominated. This indicates that the motivations behind promoting women in leadership are complex and need further exploration.

Through 30 elite interviews with board members of FTSE350 companies and thematic analysis, I intend to explore the motivations behind the appointments of female directors. The study will help develop insights into the impact of recent regulatory initiatives on female leaders and any changes that may be warranted in policy and praxis for the sustainable growth of female leaders and organisations.

Project objectives

This study aims to explore the motivation behind the sharp increase in female Chair appointments during the pandemic years and examine if the glass cliff appointment caused those appointments. I intend to conduct the study through elite interviews with 30 board members of FTSE350 companies and by thematic analysis of data. The study's findings are expected to provide deep insights into the motivation behind the recent rise in female Chair appointments and how those appointments impact the professional progression of female Chairs. In addition, the findings will also provide reflections on if the current policy and corporate practice of improving the representation of female board leaders warrant any modifications.

Impact

The study findings will provide insights into the motivations behind the appointments of female leaders and will help the researcher understand that despite the policy push, industry support and modest achievements in increasing gender diversity on boards why women are not appointed to positions of power. Since the UK’s corporate governance regime is a pioneering governance reform regime that triggered several governance reforms worldwide, the study findings will inform corporate governance policy (such as board gender diversity initiatives) and corporate praxis (on appointing women and minority community directors) worldwide.

The findings may also provide knowledge on if any course corrections or tweaks are required in policy initiatives and/or corporate praxis. Furthermore, detecting any potential glass cliff phenomenon, if present, early on would also ensure that female leaders are objectively assessed for the performance of the organisations they lead and their professional journeys are not unduly stigmatised. Additionally, ensuring that FTSE350 boards are promoting gender diversity and appointing women to other corporate positions of power for the business case of those appointments would ensure that the initiatives are sustainable for organisations and female leaders concerned.

Finally, corporate practitioners, university students, academics, the public, through media articles and PhD scholars, would develop insights on the glass cliff phenomenon and motivations behind appointments of female leaders through the various dissemination and output plans as described below.

Outputs

• Media article: In either The Conversation or in Board Agenda
• Journal articles: The British Journal of Management (The motivations/ or The glass cliff phenomenon in the appointments of female Chairs); The Leadership Quarterly/Journal of Management /Journal of Management Inquiry (Reflections on policy and praxis of promoting representation of women in board leadership)
• Future research funding application: The study's findings will be used for preparing funding applications to the Economic and Social Research Council to undertake a research project involving a survey-based quantitative investigation (from 300+ board members of FTSE350 companies) on the glass cliff phenomenon in board appointments. The findings from the study for which the current application is being made will be used as propositions to be tested in the subsequent quantitative research. I also intend to expand the learnings from this study to other corporate governance regimes including the emerging economies of South Asia and would apply for for suitable grants for that project.
• Engagements with the corporate governance practitioners: I am a member of Women on Boards (WoB) and actively engaged with the International Women’s Forum (UK chapter). I would use the network to present the findings of the study, which would also lead to more opportunities to collect data for future research.
  Conference presentation: The British Academy of Management Conference 2024 (The motivations/ or The glass cliff phenomenon in the appointments of female Chairs)
• On-campus workshop; This workshop will be organised to report the findings and share reflections of the willing participants providing networking opportunities to the academics & PhD students and discussions on policy and praxis on board diversity in the UK corporate governance.
• Online webinars: One online webinar (Semesters 2 and 3) will be organised for learners, e.g., MBA students & Apprenticeship learners, primarily to disseminate the study's findings. The first seminar will only report the initial findings of the study as by then, data collection and analysis of all 30 interviews may not be complete.
• Research Enhanced Learning (REL): The learning from the study and its findings will be integrated into case studies for lectures, seminars and guest lectures as per my teaching plan for 2024-25.