:: COMPARE ::
The short answer
The ceiling stops the promotion. The cliff grants it on doomed terms. The cliff is the crueller mechanism precisely because it looks like a win — and because failure then gets recorded against the person rather than the position.
Side by side
| Aspect | Glass cliff | Glass ceiling |
|---|---|---|
| You get the job | Yes | No |
| Visible as discrimination | Barely | Somewhat |
| Blame lands on | The appointee | Nobody |
| Named | 2005 | 1978 |
What each one means
The pattern where women and minority leaders are disproportionately appointed to precarious roles — either because the unit is already in trouble, or because they are not given the backing needed to succeed in it — so the fall, not just the climb, is built into the promotion.
Full definition of Glass Cliff →An unacknowledged barrier that stops someone rising past a certain level, however qualified — originally and still mainly about women, and extended to other groups held back the same way. Invisible because nobody writes it down.
Full definition of Glass Ceiling →