The Glass Cliff Phenomenon: Women Experiences and Challenges in Leadership Position

Recent studies indicated that women face extra and invisible barriers beyond glass ceiling which is called glass cliff. This study researches the glass cliff phenomenon in Iran whereby women are more likely than men to be placed in precarious leadership positions. Qualitative grounded theory has been conducted to identify and categorized the antecedents and consequence of glass cliff. Data has been collected through 20 in-depth semi-structured interviews with male and female managers in Bandar-Abbas city. Sample is chosen based on the purpose of the study and with snowballing method until saturation. Data were analyzed and coded based on the coding system of Struss and Corbin (1998). Findings show that Iranian women similar to foreign counterparts face the glass cliff. Women characteristics in leadership, in-group favaurism, lack of women tendency to enter male networks, lake of social support, organizational and cultural factors are found as causes of class cliff. Moreover result of study indicates that glass cliff lead to lack of women competency in managerial positions, and some negative individual and organizational consequences. Through the aggregation of the findings, the research introduced a research framework as a contribution of the study.