Glass Cliff or Glass Myth? Experimental Evidence From Hiring Under Risk

ABSTRACT

The glass cliff hypothesis posits that women and minorities are disproportionately appointed to leadership positions during organisational crisis. We test whether exogenous bankruptcy risk alone is sufficient to trigger it, using an incentivised online experiment in which participants select leaders under stable and crisis conditions in a stereotype‐neutral, performance‐based environment. We find no evidence of a gender‐based glass cliff. For ethnicity, the evidence runs in the opposite direction: Indian candidates are significantly less likely to be selected under crisis. The glass cliff therefore appears context‐dependent, requiring specific environmental features to emerge, rather than a general decision‐making bias activated by risk.