She is the second, they are the first, and they form an unprecedented trio. Before Elisabeth Borne, alone EDith Watercress had held the office of Prime Minister in the 90s. Yaël Braun-Pivet is the first woman to preside over the National Assembly when Aurore Bergé became the first deputy to chair a majority group in the Assembly.
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These joint arrivals of women in positions of responsibility, while France is going through a crisis that is both economic and political, the MP for the majority Valérie Petit analyzes it as one of the representations of the “glass cliff effect“. This “glass cliff” effect, in reference to the famous “glass ceiling”, “designates the overrepresentation of women in positions of power in times of acute crisis”denounces the deputy on Twitter.
“Glass Cliff Effect”, the “mountain of glass” effect refers to the over-representation of #women in positions of power in times of acute crisis
Those who are usually unaware of their talent say to themselves “We tried everything, let’s do something we never imagined: let’s name 1 woman! pic.twitter.com/IWQpGG2dI7
— Valerie Petit (@ValeriePetit_AN) June 23, 2022
“Those who are usually unaware of their talent are like, ‘We’ve tried everything, let’s do something we never imagined: let’s nominate a woman!'”, writes the deputy. This notion of “glass cliff effect” appeared for the first time in 2005, in a British study [lien en anglais] conducted by Michelle Ryan and Alexander Haslam. They show that women are more often chosen to run a company when it is going through a bad patch.
The typical example is the nomination of Carol Bartz at the head of Yahoo! in 2009 when the Internet giant seems to be at the end of its life. Some attribute to this same “cliff of glass” the choice of Theresa May to lead the British government in 2016, just after Brexit. “These studies are far from reaching a consensus”reports Magali Guaresi, doctor in contemporary history, “because they lend women a supposedly different leadership”. “In general, in times of crisis, we let women go to coal”underlines Professor Eliane Viennot, specialist in women states.
“When it’s complicated, when there are blows to take, we let the women come forward.”
Eliane Viennotat franceinfo
The researcher explains that this is not a new phenomenon, citing Christianity as an example. “During the early Church, women were in the fore. We let them take the hits, literally. But when Christianity became the state religion, there, women, we didn’t want them”she explains.
However, neither of the two specialists attributes the appointment of Elisabeth Borne or the election of Yaël Braun-Pivet to this phenomenon. “There has been a profound evolution in favor of parity”believes Magali Guaresi, for whom there is “a fairly deep pressure for the feminization of power”. “The demands of feminists are much more heard”abounds Eliane Viennot.
“We can no longer say that we must leave time to time. The more time passes, the less the summits are freed, the more it is clear that it is not just a question of time, but of strategies, of networks masculine.”
Eliane Viennotat franceinfo
“I don’t believe in the idea that people don’t rush to the station”, emphasizes the professor again. “Elisabeth Borne a a profile of a good technocrat manager, like other men. I believe that Emmanuel Macron could not have done otherwise. He had so promised a woman to Matignon during his first five-year term. A second term without doing so would have been difficult”analyzes for his part Magali Guaresi.
The historian may even see it as a strategy on the part of Emmanuel Macron. “There have sometimes been strategies on very divisive subjects to appoint a woman to depoliticize certain subjects. The nomination of Simone Veil, with all that she embodied, was a way to depoliticize a super sensitive subject: the legalization of abortion”she concludes.