"When a woman or person of color becomes CEO, white men have a strange reaction"

"When companies appoint a woman or person of color as CEO, white men, on average, don’t appear to react very well, according to a study set to be published in the Academy of Management Journal’s April issue. Instead, the examination of 1,000 executives working at large and mid-sized public companies found that top white male leaders tended to become less helpful to other workers — particularly women and people of color — after the appointment of a minority-status CEO.

“They actually identify less, psychologically, with the organization after the appointment of a minority CEO and that reduces their propensity to help their colleagues,” said James Westphal, a finance professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and one of the authors of the study. “Our theory is that the appointment of minority CEOs triggers biases.”... 

When women and people of color climb all the way to the top of the corporate ladder, they’re often not set up for success. Women and people of color are more likely to be promoted to the highest levels during times of crisis, according to a 2014 study on the phenomenon known as the “glass cliff.” If they can’t turn the firm around quickly, these leaders are swiftly replaced by white men, the study found.

The forthcoming study from the University of Michigan and University of Texas researchers provides insight into other reasons minority CEOs might struggle in their role. If white male leaders in the company react to their appointment by doing less to help their colleagues that could, ironically, wind up reflecting poorly on the new leader."

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/when-a-woman-or-person-of-color-becomes-ceo-white-men-have-a-strange-reaction-2018-02-23

FB: "“They actually identify less, psychologically, with the organization after the appointment of a minority CEO and that reduces their propensity to help their colleagues,” said James Westphal, a finance professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and one of the authors of the study. “Our theory is that the appointment of minority CEOs triggers biases.”"