Marissa Mayer and the Glass Cliff -- NYMag:
“Women who assume leadership offices may be differentially exposed to
criticism and in greater danger of being apportioned blame for negative
outcomes that were set in train well before they assumed their new
roles,” the original study’s authors conclude. “This is particularly
problematic in light of evidence that directors who leave the boards of
companies which have performed poorly are likely to suffer from a
‘tarnished reputation.’” That might be why the stock of a company drops after the announcement of a female chief executive, but not a male executive.
The bias is bad enough. It is the feedback loop — the fact that women
are asked to lead failing businesses, then blamed for the failure of
those businesses — that really stings.