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13 Wm. & Mary J. Women & L. 775 (2006-2007)
Legal Work and the Glass Cliff: Evidence That Women Are Preferentially Selected to Lead Problematic Cases

handle is hein.journals/wmjwl13 and id is 781 raw text is: LEGAL WORK AND THE GLASS CLIFF: EVIDENCE THAT WOMEN ARE PREFERENTIALLY SELECTED TO LEAD PROBLEMATIC CASES JULIE S. ASHBY, MICHELLE K. RYAN, AND S. ALEXANDER HASLAM* ABSTRACT Recent archival and experimental research by Ryan and Haslam has revealed the phenomenon of the glass cliff whereby women are more likely than men to be appointed to risky or precarious leader- ship positions in problematic organizational circumstances. This paper extends research on the glass cliff by examining the precari- ousness of the cases women are assigned in a legal context. An exper- imental study conducted with law students (N = 114) investigated the appointment of a candidate to lead a legal case that was defined as either low-risk or high-risk. Commensurate with patterns observed in other domains, results indicated that a male candidate was as likely as a female to be selected as lead counsel for a low-risk case but that there was a strong preference for a female rather than a male ap- pointment for a high-risk case. The study also examines the way in which participants' evaluations of candidates and their perceptions of risk and opportunity related to candidate selection. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. INTRODUCTION Despite evidence that women are beginning to break through the glass ceiling (the invisible barrier preventing them from achieving leadership positions),' gender equality in organizational life has yet to be achieved. On a positive note, just under half of all women in full- time work in Britain are in managerial, professional, and associate professional jobs.2 Indeed, the last fifteen years have seen the num- ber of female executives double.3 Yet in spite of this increase, women * Acknowledgement: We are grateful to Simon Honeyball for his help with data collection and Mark Nolan for his comments on an earlier version of this paper. This research was partially funded by grants from the Leverhulme Trust (Grant F.00144.V) and the European Social Fund (Project Reference 4130). 1. David A. Cotter et al., The Glass Ceiling Effect, 80 Soc. FORCES 655, 656-57 (2001). 2. EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES COMM. (EOC), FACTS ABOUT WOMEN AND MEN IN GREAT BRITAIN 16 (2004), available at http://www.eoc.org.uk/PDF/facts-about_2004-gb.pdf. 3. EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES COMM. (EOC), WOMENAND MEN IN BRITAIN: MANAGEMENT 775

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